The Space-Saving Technique That'll Revolutionize The Way You Hang & Store Jeans

Everywhere you look on social media, you'll find that influencers, designers, and DIYers are constantly sharing jaw-dropping closet makeovers and endless clothing organization ideas to make your closet the orderly and gorgeous space of your dreams. In fact, according to a 2024 report by Reports and Insights, the closet organization market reached a whopping $7.93 billion dollars the prior year, and the forecast is for it to keep growing by 8% per year. The world is pretty serious about getting a step ahead of their unruly wardrobes!

But when a closet organization hack comes along that is free (or nearly so), the urge to jump up from your screen and give it a go is hard to resist. One such tip was shared on TikTok by Miks_tiks, who demonstrated how she saved some serious storage space and created a very chic-looking, well-organized closet by using a velvet hanger to tri-fold her jeans, securing them in place with the rear belt loop. Grab your longest pair of jeans and a velvet hanger to see if this revolutionary hanging hack could be just the things your closet needs.

To try this space-saving jeans hanging hack, begin with a velvet hanger to prevent the jeans from slipping. Fold your jeans in half vertically so the rear pockets are facing outward. With the butt of the jeans facing the open side of the metal hanger loop, slide the bottom of the pant legs into the hanger. About a third of the way up the pant legs, rest them onto the rung of the hanger to create a fold. Finally, loop the back belt loop over the metal hanger loop at the top to finish your tri-fold hanging technique.

But how much space does this really save? Can't you just fold them in half over the hanger? Let's get a little nerdy and break down the math to see how this hanging technique works. 

Keep in mind that every size and style will have different dimensions, but in this example, when measuring out an average pair of women's jeans with a 30 inch inseam, the total overall length of the jean was approximately 42 inches. If you simply folded them in half over the rung of the hanger (21 inches) and then added the height of the hanger itself (approximately nine inches), you would need about 30 inches from top of the rod to the bottom of your jeans to hang them. Most proper height closet rods are 40 inches apart, leaving you 10 inches of storage below. In the case of the TikTok technique, you're essentially folding the jeans in imperfect thirds, as well as hanging them higher on the hanger, so you're gaining about 10 inches of vertical space, leaving you 20-ish inches for storage. When organizing a small closet, those extra inches are precious!

Yes, it looks cool and gives you ten extra inches of much-needed vertical storage space. Seems like a no-brainer, right? Well, before you go hanging your jeans, there are a few things to consider to decide if it is the right method for your specific closet.

One complaint from the comments of the TikTok video was that this technique can stretch out the rear belt loop. To remedy this, you could try flipping the direction of the jeans so that the butt of the jeans faces the closed side of the metal hanger loop, meaning you would disperse the weight of the jeans onto the two side belt loops instead of having it all on one. However, depending on how heavy your jeans are, you could just end up with two deformed belt loops instead of one. Therefore, you may want to skip this technique to preserve the integrity of your belt loops if you are seeing stretching issues.

Additionally, if the vertical space in your closet is just fine, but you are lacking in width, then the TikTok method may not be the right fit. Because it folds the jeans in thirds, there are three layers of pant legs stacked side by side. By simply folding in half, you would save the width of one fold per every pair of pants, meaning you can get a closer, tighter stack. Alternatively, opt for a hanger with clips to hang your jeans full-height from the waistband to further reduce the width they take up as long as you have the height to do so. But if it is vertical storage space and empty drawers you're after, this TikTok tri-fold hanging technique really can transform the way you store your jeans.