diy // copper pipe clothing rack

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I made this copper pipe clothing rack recently and you guys have been asking me how I made it. I love this piece, it has added such a flair to my bedroom and it looks so stylish. I tried vlogging the process but it was quite tricky and I had bought some wrong parts and I had to go back to Builder’s Warehouse to exchange so it the whole process ended up being long so I didn’t carry on with the vlog! However, I do think that this tutorial will be sufficient for you guys to be able to do it.

Materials
You basically need copper pipe, elbows, t-pieces, end caps, a pipe cutter, measuring tape and super glue.

Here is what I used for my rack:

  • 2 x 1.5 m 22mm copper pipe
  • 1 x 1m 22 mm copper pipe
  • 2 x 1m 15 mm copper pipe
  • 16 x 7.5 cm copper pipe
  • 6 x 22mm end caps
  • 4 x 22mm t-piece
  • 4 x 22mm –> 15 mm t-piece
  • 8 x 22mm 90 degree elbows
diy copper pipe clothing rack materials needed
          These are some of materials that I used. Unfortunately I took the photo before I realised that I had bought the wrong t-pieces

Cleaning
Copper pipes are pretty dirty and grimey looking when you buy them so you have to clean them if you want the shiny look. You will need acetone to get rid of any of the black writing on the pipe. To make it shiny you will need to wipe it with tomato sauce (!) – trust me it works.

Cleaning copper pipe using tomato sauce

Assembly
I wasn’t going to use super glue at first but when I assembled it sans super glue I found that the rack was wobbly. So I ended up super gluing all the connections and left it overnight to bond and all was well. It is really easy to assemble it, I did it all by myself and it didn’t take more than 30 minutes.

Cost
Copper is not the cheapest material out there but assembling your own rack is much more affordable than buying one off the shelf. Similar racks cost > R1000 and you can’t even customise them. The total cost of my one came up to:

R 705 (copper pipe and fittings only),

R 835  (copper pipe, fittings and pipe cutter) and

R 900 (copper pipe, fittings, pipe cutter, super glue, acetone and tomato sauce)

Accessorising
I knew that I wanted to get nice hangers for this rack and not the normal plastic ones. I was lucky to find these gorgeous white wire ones from Osman’s for R40 for a pack of 10. I also bought a basket planter from Sheet Street for R200. My other accessory pieces are my bags, hats and scarves.

copper pipe clothing rack

Tips
**Buy the full length 22mm copper pipe (5.5 m) and have it cut at the hardware store. I asked them to cut 2 x 1.5 m pieces and a 1 m piece.

**Clean the copper pipe before you cut it into pieces, it’s less of a hassle. I didn’t do this and ended up having to clean all the pieces individually – I was up to my elbows in tomato sauce!

**Write out all the pieces you need on a piece of paper before you go to the hardware store and tick them off as you put them in the basket, it is so easy to lose track.

copper pipe clothing rack

There are so many ways to customise this DIY project, I decided to add the bag hooks but you can add extra shoe space, horizontal bars on the side, the list is endless!

There you have it for my copper pipe clothing rack DIY! I told you it was easy peasy. If you have any more questions of need more clarity, you can ask in the comments section and I will answer. I’m so obsessed with copper DIYs now I have sooo many ideas floating in my head!

*prices are based on September 2018 prices

This Post Has 12 Comments

  1. Nomali

    This is stunning Lungi. I really like the rosegold hue of the copper

  2. MaDlaba

    This is brilliant. I love it. I need a shoe rack, any ideas?

    1. Lungi

      That’s actually next on my list. I still need to figure out sizes and material that i need

  3. Yolanda

    Genius

  4. whitney

    This is so cool!

  5. Juwayra

    This is so cool! Would never work for me but I love this idea. Maybe it can work for my daughter’s room when she’s a bit bigger.

    1. Lungi

      Thank you Juwayra 🙂 this is a great accessory for any little girl’s bedroom

  6. Alistair Jackson

    LOVE THIS dudette. Such a great idea and looks super impressive.

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