How to Prevent Shoulder Bumps
The good news is that you can avoid shoulder bumps by correctly folding your sweaters before you put them up on a hanger. The main goal is to change the way your sweater hangs so no points – like the shoulders – are bearing all the weight on the hangers. Keep reading and we’ll show you how!
What You Need to Avoid Hanger Marks on Sweaters
- The sweater or sweaters you want to fold
- A hanger for each sweater
- Tissue paper
- A space to fold your clothes
- It’s easiest to do this on a smooth surface. So, you can rely on a table, bed, or even ironing board to make things easier
How to Avoid Hanger Marks on Sweaters
Step 1: Work with the Buttons
The key to making sure that you don’t experience those unfortunate hanger bumps, the first thing you’ll want to do is make sure that you aren’t hanging your sweater by the shoulders. So, you’ll want to fold the sweater before bringing in the hanger.
To start off, if your sweater has buttons, lay it with the buttons facing up and fasten them. If you’re working with a sweater with a lot of buttons, you can opt to fasten every other one rather than every single one.
If your sweater has buttons, do them up (every other one if there are a lot).
Lay the sweater flat with side seams matching up, front side down.
Step 2: Adding the Tissue Paper
Note: To prevent wrinkles, place a piece of tissue paper (cut to size) on sweater. Fold over one sleeve so that there are 1-2 inches between the fold and the collar.
To start the next part of the fold, you’ll want to flip the sweater over so that the back is facing you. Then, take out the tissue paper we mentioned earlier and place it to cover the entire back of the torso of the sweater with the sleeves uncovered and a space of about an inch or two between the collar and tissue paper.
You’ll probably find it helpful to take a second to cut the tissue paper to fit the garment that you’re folding.
Step 3: Fold the Sleeves
Now that the tissue paper is in place, fold the sleeves in so the outer edge of the sleeve is lined up with the edge of the tissue paper. Repeat this step so that both arms of the sweater are folded in properly.
Then fold the sleeve against itself so that it’s edge lines up parallel to the fold.
Do the same with the other sleeve.
Step 4: Folding It Over the Hanger
Without lifting your sweater entirely, grab your hanger so that you can finally hang your sweater. Rather than picking it up all at once, though, just pick up the end of your sweater and slide the hanger about halfway up.
When you do this, make sure the bottom of the hanger is touching the tissue paper and sleeves. Once you have the hanger halfway up the garment, fold it in half over the hang and you’re ready to go!
Folding Your Sweaters to Hang Without Tissue Paper
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hh7zLdrWhEE
Step 1: Fold Your Sweater in Half
For the first part of this method, all you have to do is fold your sweater in half. To be more specific, fold the sweater so that the shoulders and sleeves on either arm line up with one another.
Step 2: Drape It Over the Hanger
Now that you’ve done this, you can simply feed the sweater through the center of the hanger. Once it’s halfway through, just drape the sweater over the hanger.
Using a Diagonal Fold to Avoid Shoulder Bumps
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxw7d_vGSkc
Step 1: Fold the Sweater in Half
Start by folding your sweater in half so that the sleeves line up with one another. When you’re done, you should be left with a folded garment with the sleeves and the torso of the sweater meet at a point.
Step 2: Place the Hanger
In this case, you’ll want to place the hanger inverse to the sweater so that the hooked part rests between the sleeves and the body of the sweater. Now, you can fold the sleeves and torso down diagonally to cross over each other on the front of the hanger.
Use a Different Hanger
Folding your sweater over a hanger is an easy and quick way to avoid shoulder bumps with items you’d already be using anyways.
However, you can also choose to invest in a hanger that’s made to prevent shoulder bumps including options with a little more padding like a set of velvet suit hangers.
What Hangers Don’t Leave Shoulder Marks?
If you don’t want shoulder marks, you don’t want a hanger that will cause too much tension in the shoulders of your sweaters. So, it’s a good idea to opt for something with some padding like satin-padded hangers or hangers with rounded edges. Both of these options aren’t going to cause narrow, angled points of tension that cause shoulder marks.
How to Remove Hanger Bumps from Sweaters?
Of course, there are times that it’s simply too late to prevent shoulder bumps. So, what can you do if you already have hanger bumps on a sweater that you’re wearing?
The best thing to do is to take a chance to remold the way the fibers in the sweater are sitting and the key to that might actually just be water. Dampen your fingers and start to massage the hanger bumps. You’ll have to put some vigor into it and work at it for up to 10 minutes but you’ll see the shape of the bumps start to loosen.
How to Hang T-Shirts Without Stretching?
While wire hangers can wreak havoc on sweaters, another problem you might run into is the fact that hanging t-shirts can cause them to stretch. How can you avoid it?
The fix for this issue is simple. When you’re getting ready to hang up your t-shirts, insert the hanger from the bottom, the way you put the t-shirt on, rather than stretching the collar.
Is It Better to Hang or Fold Sweaters?
As we discussed, if you want to hang a sweater, it’s better to fold them first to avoid hanger marks. However, there are some sweaters you should just jump straight to folding.
For instance, heavier fabrics like wool or winter cashmere are more likely to stretch under their own weight if you hang them up. Alternatively, lighter materials like cotton are fine to hang in a closet.
Conclusion
Did you like this tutorial? With these tips, you’ll never have to deal with those annoying hanger marks on sweaters again! Let us know what you think about this guide in the comments and share it with your friends if you liked it!