No Stretch Coat Rack Mod

This instructable is to fix thin-hooked coat racks so you don't end up with those little bumps in the backs of all of your jackets, hoodies, coats, and other hangable wear. Most thin-hooked coat racks stretch clothes out because all of the weight of the jacket is resting on one small point, pulling all of the threads in the weave out of place. If the jacket has more space to rest on, the jacket won't stretch out; it's simple weight distribution.
Most over-the-door coat racks, like the one I bought, have the thin, wire hooks, making them the worst for stretching out clothes. I have put wooden craft balls on the ends, so the jackets sit on a nice, rounded, and comparably wide surface. I bought the craft balls at Hobby Lobby and the coat rack was from Target or Wal-Mart. I left the balls unpainted, but you can easily paint them to match the coat rack. I kind of liked the wooden end look.

Parts:
1) Wire Coat Rack
2) Wooden Craft Balls
3) Super Glue
4) Paint (optional)

Tools:
1) Drill
2) Drill Bit the size of the coat rack wires
3) Pliers (if needed)
4) Clamp
 

So.... The balls need to attach to the ends of the coat rack wires somehow and I though that drilling holes and putting the wires into them would be more secure than scotch tape (I know, big gambler there).

To pick the right drill bit, you need to find the one that is about the same size as the coat rack wire. I ended up using a 5/32 inch bit, and might have even been able to use a 1/8, but the bent wires may not have gone all the way into the balls with a 1/8 inch bit. Make sure you try one and make sure it fits BEFORE you drill holes in all of the balls.

To make all of the balls sit evenly and to make sure that you do not punch through the balls, you need to mark the drill bit, unless you have a drill press at home. I wrapped a piece of duct tape, 3/4 of the length of ball away from the tip, around the bit. This gave me a consistent stopping point and can be done with a paint marker or white out also.
 
To drill a good hole in the balls, you need a way to keep them steady. There are probably a million jury-rigged ways to do this, but a clamp is probably the safest way, possibly excluding a drill press if you have one. Set up a clamp, one with rubber ends is probably best for gripping the balls.

For this to all work right and look good, you need to center the hole in the ball and drill as straight as you can. A little bit off is probably not noticeable, but if you don't make the effort, all of your balls will be off, looks weird, and you may end up drilling through them anyways,

Drill holes in as many balls as you need. Keep in mind that you may want to leave a few hooks for jackets that actually have hanging loops sewn into them. I left a couple balls (the ones on the outside of the bottom row) unglued so I can remove them for that purpose.

If your coat rack has the little rubber ends so the wire doesn't cut your jackets, you need to remove them. The ones on mine were a little stiff, and came off a lot easier if I used a pair of pliers to twist them first. Twisting them seemed to break them free, so I could pop them off with my finger. Now, it's time to glue the balls in place. Make sure that they all fit first, you don't want to have glue in them, then find out the holes aren't big enough, or some vice-versa. Also, remember you may want to leave two without glue for coats that have sewn in hanging loops.
Put a little bit of super glue in the holes of the balls and push the balls onto the coat rack wires, making sure they go all the way into the holes. They should be pretty sturdy without the glue, as long as the holes were the right size, but will eventually wear down and get loose from slight movement if you don't glue them. Once you've glued them all on, you are done!  ....unless you want to paint it. Then, wait for the glue to dry and go paint it.