The Check-Out Line: Hanky Tanky

Welcome to The Check-Out Line, where I review products (and services) that are designed to make your life easier. I give you my opinion and my opinion only. You decide for yourself. You can see my past product reviews here. This week, I'm reviewing the Hanky Tanky. Cute name. But what is it? Let's find out...

Purpose: To organize and simplify your closet, allowing you to hang twelve of almost anything in very little space. 

Suggested Retail:  $29.99

Pros: The Hanky Tanky does what it says it does. It does let you hang twelve tank tops, pants, bras, kids' outfits, or anything else you can fit on the little bars. It considerably reduced the number of linear inches all my tanks were using on my closet rod. I had about 24 inches of rod space dedicated to tank tops and camisoles and now it's down to about 6 inches, so that's a significant space savings! For my small closet, that's a good deal. Another pro is that I can see all my tanks at once so I don't forget what colors I have available to me when I'm getting dressed in the morning. Even if one is behind the other, I can still see the straps and the top, so the net result is that they are all visible. I like that. I also like the fact that the top hook swivels. I can see if you had several of these for various kinds of clothing, you could really get a lot more clothes into your closet.

Cons: I admit I had a hard time putting the thing together. I know, I know, only a dork could make assembling something so simple into something difficult. But it looks easier than it is.

It comes in a box, so it requires assembly. Ok, not a big deal and you can see it's a simple design: each of the hollow plastic horizontal bars simply slide through a hole in the vertical center rod. That's it. The trouble was I didn't realize how tightly they fit. So as I was pushing and twisting with my right hand to get them through each hole, the end of the horizontal plastic bar slipped across the rounded vertical rod and cut my finger on my left hand, but dangit I perservered! And I will say this... once they're in, they're in! The  Hanky Tanky comes with end caps, which fit easily on each bar (they recommend gluing them on) so that was no problem.

Outside of the assembly, as for cons on how the product works, there's not much to its design, so yes, it works. It's a pretty straightforward, so there's not really much to dislike about it. I don't love having to dig a tank out of the middle, but if I alternate them front-back-front-back from the bottom to the top, it makes it a little easier to access the ones in the center. This isn't a huge con, it's just the nature of the design. After all, when you stack things, something has to end up in the middle by default.

Value: This is a tough one. I think if I saw this at the store, I'd be unlikely to pay full retail for it. (despite that it holds twelve items). But having tried it out, I would pay $20 or even $24 for it, especially if I had a small closet (which I do). On the other hand, to those people with really small closets, $29.99 might well be worth the long term space savings.

Where to Buy: You can order directly from their website. Use the coupon code for five dollars off!

Overall Score Out of Five Stars: 

Comments

[Misty McClelland]

I couldn't agree with you more about the pros of the Hanky Tanky. I too, have a small closet, too small for my love of fashion. I looked everywhere for a product that could give me more space and easy access to my clothes. I about gave up until I came across the Hanky Tanky web site. I ordered 2 and got a great deal doing so!
Receiving the product was fast! I couldn't wait to see how much more room I would have.. After a fast assembly and hanging my clothes, I gained 2.5 FEET of space!! I am very pleased with this product. So pleased, I plan on ordering more for my kids closets.

[Monica Ricci]

Misty, thanks for your comments. I'm glad you dig the Hanky Tanky hanger. I too have a pretty small closet and could benefit from a few more of these. I appreciate you stopping by!
~Monica

[Terry Lessig]

So horribly misleading. I thought it was a tank to store your hankies in, and I have alot of hankies leftover since we switched to Kleenex. I was hoping to find an economical place to store them. The rent at U-Stor-Mor is killing me.

I recognize that girl, though. Wasn't she the one last year who wore that patent leather outfit that I liked?

She has hankies, too? Who knew?
Perhaps I'll run into her at the U-Stor-Mor.

[Monica Ricci]

Terry, she's a fine lady, so if you do run into her, for Pete's sake, please help her up. It's the only polite thing to do. ;)
~Monica