Clothes rail
A clothes rail, also known by various names such as garment rail, hanging rail, clothes rack or coat stand, is a railing used in wardrobes for holding clothes hangers. They can provide space-efficient storage and easy access to clothing.
Several types of clothes rails exist. In wardrobes, clothes rails are typically either wall mounted or secured inside the walls of cabinets. Freestanding racks may be suitable as a solution that does not require drilling in walls. There are also special variants such as telescopic rails or over-the-door storage. In retail stores, clothes racks are used for retail display, and often have wheels to make them portable so they can be more easily moved for storage outside shopping hours.
Materials
The closet rod is often made of a metal pipe such as tubular steel, but can also be made of other materials such as wood or plastic. Metal rods have the advantage that they provide low friction against the metal hooks commonly used on clothes hangers, which can make it easier to sort through clothing. Solutions to further reduce the friction have also been patented.Load capacity
The rail should have a suitable load capacity to be able to carry the weight of any heavy garments that can be expected to be placed on it with a factor of safety. For example, some consumer racks are rated at 15 kg or 30 kg, while some heavy-duty clothing rails are rated for up to 100 kg when the load is evenly spread across the rail. It is also beneficial that the rail does not bend from the weight. Some considerations are the distance between mounting points, weight of the clothes that may be used, and the length of the rail. The stability of the stand is also important to ensure that it does not tip over.Ergonomics
For clothes rails to be user-friendly, they need to account for different ergonomic considerations. The rail should be placed at a height that takes into account:- Clothing types and styles: Types of garments, as well as style and fashion trends, dictate how much free vertical space a rail section requires.
- Comfortable reach: The user's height should be taken into consideration. For example, the most ergonomic height lifting-wise is between shoulder or elbow and hip height, but clothes racks are often hung a little higher for visibility and storage considerations.
- Storage: Whether it is desirable to hang only one clothes rail, or if two clothes rails above each is desirable to maximize storage.
- Visibility: For observability, the clothing should hang around eye level, and with sufficient vertical spacing to hang freely and not clutter surrounding clothing at the next level.
Garment lengths
- Double hanging: When hanging two rails above each other, a top rail height of around 190 cm or 200 cm or 210 cm or 215 cm may be recommended. A lower or higher height may be useful depending on the user. The second rail may be placed at half of the overall height, or perhaps slightly lower or slightly higher. One source recommends minimum of about 100–110 cm per section to avoid overlapping which can create a crammed appearance.
- Shirts and suits: ~95–105 cm is sometimes recommended for shirts and suit jackets, but up to ~130–140 cm may be required for long blazers or more formal suits like black tie.
- Short clothes: ~80–90 cm may be recommended for short items such as shorts, skirts and folded trousers hanged from clothes hangers.
- Short dresses and waist pants: ~140–180 cm may be suitable for short dresses or non-folded wait pants. Such storage may also be suited for longer suit jackets for men.
- Long dresses and coats: ~180–190 cm. Some recommend that at least a quarter of the wardrobe should be able to facilitate longer garments such as long dresses and coats.