Many herbs are dried by hanging them from the ceiling, rafters or some other hanging area. By turning a pants or skirt hanger into a herb dryer, you get the benefit of the clamp for the herbs and a neat hook for hanging it from the high spot.
Converting the pants hanger into a herb dryer[edit | edit source]
- Find a suitable pants or skirt hanger. You're looking for the type of hanger with a clamp, as pictured. It doesn't matter how old the hanger is, as long as it is still strong and its clamp mechanism still works. If the clamp mechanism is weak, try to fix it first before discarding the hanger.
- Decorate the hanger. To help you to remember the purpose of the hanger, it can be helpful to label the hanger. Either print, paint or stick on a label that says something like "Herbs" or "Herb hanger".
- You could even make the hanger more fancy by gluing on ribbon bands, artificial flowers or lace edging at either end.
- You can skip decorating if you don't want to do this; there's no need, it's just a bit of fun.
- Choose the herbs for hanging upside down from the repurposed hanger. Suitable herbs that like air drying while hanging include rosemary, thyme, oregano and lavender. When preparing the herbs, strip some of the ends off the stems where they will be clamped into the hanger.
- Add the herbs to the hanger clamp. Place the stripped ends into the open clamp part of the hanger. Arrange the herbs so that they have plenty of room to hang alongside each other. When you're satisfied with the amount of herbs added, close the clamp over the stem ends, taking care to capture them all.
- Choose a hanging place for the repurposed hanger. The hook can hang from a nail, a line of string or wire, a window handle, or anything else that is up high. Choose a spot that is dry and has good air ventilation.
- Leave to dry. Over time the herbs will dry out completely. When done, you can transfer the dried leaves to storage containers or use in crafts, cuisine and medicine, etc. Remove the stems from the clamp and give the hanger a wipe and clean before using it again.
Tips[edit | edit source]
- These make lovely gifts for gardeners and herb lovers.
