Advanced options
Hanging space needs 55-60cm of DEPTH (a hanger's span): the standard wardrobe dimension. Height: 100cm per rail for shirts/trousers-folded-over, so double-hanging two rails needs ~200cm and doubles capacity for short garments; dresses and coats want 130-160cm of drop. A rail crammed past capacity creases everything on it: the calculator's numbers are the wrinkle-free ones.
What The Hanging Rail Calculator Works Out
- Rail capacity: rail length divided by the space each garment takes, rounded down. Shirts and blouses need about 2.5 cm apiece, a typical mixed run 3 cm, suits and knitwear on hangers 4 cm, and coats 6 cm or more, so a metre of rail holds thirty-something everyday garments before compression sets in.
- Rail per garment: the spacing used, which is the furniture trade's standard planning figure rather than the crammed reality of most wardrobes. A crammed rail creases everything and hides half of it.
- Planning a wardrobe: the rule of thumb is 100 cm of rail per person for the working wardrobe, before coats and occasionwear. Depth of 55-60 cm (a hanger's span) is non-negotiable; shallower alcove wardrobes end up with rails front-to-back.
- Number of rails (advanced): multiplies capacity for double-hung wardrobes. Two 100 cm rails stacked need about 200 cm of height and double the capacity for short garments; the standard fitted layout is one long-hang bay (130-160 cm drop for dresses and coats) to two double-hung.
- Hanger type (advanced): slim velvet hangers reclaim a genuine 20% of rail compared with the chunky wood and plastic mixture most rails accumulate; uniform chunky wooden hangers take about 15% more.
- People sharing (advanced): divides the total rail and garment count equally and flags when each person falls below the 100 cm guide.
- Rail your garments need (advanced): enter how many items you want to hang and the calculator sizes the rail for them, so you can plan a wardrobe from the clothes rather than the alcove.
- Spare or short (advanced): the difference between the rail you have and the rail you need, in garments as well as centimetres. Seasonal rotation into vacuum bags or a suitcase under the bed halves the standing population, and knitwear should be folded, never hung.
- Units (advanced): switch lengths to inches for US hardware and flat-pack instructions still written that way.