Hammer and nails are bad enough helpers, especially if it is not your apartment or house, but you are renting it temporarily. But we hasten to please you: there are a huge number of options on how to hang pictures without nails to your wall without causing significant damage to it. We have long been selecting and testing different ways for you to choose the most reliable that will not hurt your time and will not take much effort.
These methods are quite interesting and give good results. So, here are three simple ways to hang heavy frames without damaging the wall:
- The most effective according to tests how to hang a picture with no hook-control strips to hold the frame
- Velcro strips – a method for textured walls
- Command picture hooks without nails for frames that weigh 50 pounds or more
We know you’re already looking forward to hanging beautiful but bulky artwork using our ideas. But we’re also sure you can’t get enough of listing these ways and expect this article to give you a fairly detailed breakdown of each of them. To get clear instructions, we have tested all the methods, and we are ready to tell you about them in every detail. We hope that you will find our article very useful!
How To Hang Pictures Without Nails
You may ask, how to hang a picture without a nail on a concrete wall? It’s hard to believe at first, but it’s quite possible to do. Here is a list of all the things you need for this endeavor and a detailed guide on how to place your favorite painting with sticky hooks:
- Medical alcohol
- Pencil
- Team trap
- Paper towel
Step one: preparing the wall
We will start by thoroughly cleaning the wall with alcohol or a special cleaner to fix the picture as firmly as possible and to avoid having to redo the work several times over. You can even use plain water and detergent added to it. We dip a rag in the prepared solution or lightly apply it to a towel and wipe every inch of the wall surface with the utmost care. This will rid the wall of all kinds of unpleasant substances and debris that can repel the adhesive and prevent the painting from holding firmly on the wall.
Step two: Mark out the surface of the wall
This step can be done quite simply by using an ordinary pencil. By no means use a marker during this step, because it will leave nasty stains, and after all, we have just carefully cleaned the wall to avoid them. Try to make the exact spot where the hook will be located visible. We urge you to be as focused and accurate as possible, otherwise, a mistake could cost you your budget.
Step three: applying the adhesive to the wall
Remove the protective coating from the hook and carefully match it to the marks you made with a simple pencil. When you are sure you have placed it as correctly as possible and it is in the right place, press it down harder and hold it for half a minute to ensure it is stable and firmly held on the surface of the wall.
Step Four: Wait for the glue to dry
Take your time to happily hang your chosen painting on the hook. The glue needs to finish its work and it will take about an hour to do so, during this time you should not touch the hook, it should be pressed firmly against your wall. Once the time is up, test the hook for strength by hanging a heavy painting on it. If the hook comes off or just dangles, you should go back to the beginning of our guide and be more careful.
It’s worth saying that some hooks need to be left on the wall longer before proceeding directly to placing the painting.
Hanging Paintings Without Nails
And here’s what you might need to hang a painting on canvas without nails:
- Level
- Four (sometimes more commanding planks)
- Painting tape or chalk or pencil
Before you do this job, make sure that the painting you want to hang is not tangled under your feet. You don’t want to accidentally crush a new, newly acquired masterpiece of painting. Now we can get started:
We take the control strips, alternative to nails for hanging, and separate them by simply pulling. Matching carefully the lower sides in each strip, we put one on top of the other. A distinctive click is heard when the sides are joined, which is quite handy. This is a reliable way to check how the strips work and if they have any upsetting effects.
Next, we divide the strips and glue them in the corners at the back of the canvas. The number of strips you will use when doing this job depends directly on the size of the painting you purchased. After you finish placing them on the corners of the canvas, carefully rid each strip of its covering.
Next, place your painting in whatever spot you like and place a level over it. Hold it so that it doesn’t fall down, but don’t press it too hard against the wall either. Once the bubble is positioned in the center of the level, aligned with the top edge, be very careful not to change the location of the painting again.
Next, simply press the painting firmly against the wall and apply force to press it against it until it is securely attached. If you have the opportunity, then hit the corners of the picture, just not too hard, so that it sticks better.
Hanging Pictures Without Nails On Textured Walls
Textured walls are considered the best solution to be placed in your home for a reason. But they can very easily get ruined if you drive the first nail into them. In addition to the stripe option above, there are two other nail-free alternatives so you can how to hang a painting without nails, especially the textured ones.
Velcro strips
This type of tape, commonly known as Velcro, is a pretty cool solution, especially if you like to change things around the house regularly and occasionally want to hang your paintings from place to place. In addition to paintings, duct tape will also come in handy for hanging fabric, gluing window decorations, various signs, frames and other things that you may want to attach to your wall.
There’s another useful use for duct tape: adding a patterned base to furniture. In general, duct tape is an indispensable thing in any home, and that’s why we appreciate and love it.
Washi Tape
This tape is the most budget-friendly option for placing a picture on the wall without the use of nails. In this case, you should take into consideration the weight of the painting you want to hang.
Just attach small pieces of vinyl or masking tape to every corner and that’s it.
How To Hang Art Without Nails
But what if you have a picture without frames? Do you have to admire them when you pull them off the bookshelf? What if I told you that you don’t even need nails to hang a plain piece of paper? Here are a few options how to put the frame on a wall without nails:
Clips
Stationery is clearly not designed for decorative purposes, but that doesn’t stop us at all. You won’t have to look for these clips for long, they are available almost everywhere at a reasonable price, and what’s more, they add an industrial look to the wall, which makes them not only practical but also kind of stylish.
Clipboard
Pin your gorgeous picture to the clipboard and change prints as often as you can afford. You can attach anything from little masterpieces to funky captions for your guests. Hang it over the fireplace, attach it to a bookshelf, or place it over your workspace – it’s only limited by your imagination.
Clips and strings
Not only do they give your surroundings a bohemian atmosphere, but they also highlight your creative nature. Using this method is simple enough: stretch the strings from one end of the wall to the other, fasten them with tape, and then hang your wonderful pictures there. The cooler pictures you hang, the more remarkable your room looks. And if you choose the right lighting, you’re guaranteed to delight your tea party guests with this solution.
How To Hang Heavy Pictures Without Nails?
If you’ve ever used command strips in your lifetime, you probably know how hardy they are. They fit perfectly with both lightweight images and very heavy ones. If your painting can’t hang on them for long, then you’ve just done something wrong. We’ve compiled a list of the most common mistakes you unknowingly make when using command strips hanging large pictures without nails.
- You don’t comply with the weight requirements. A special feature of this tool is that command strips are always supplied with information about how much weight they can support. Before you buy them, measure the weight of your painting. Based on this, you can always find the right team strips for you and not waste your money.
- You use them on uneven surfaces. If you have a lot of unevenness on your walls, you need to turn the wall space into a perfectly smooth place before you use this method. You may encounter such a problem if you are dealing with wooden walls, concrete walls, textured wallpaper or brick walls. The most reliable way – get rid of irregularities and roughness, glue the right wallpaper. Do not forget to take into account the interior design, so as not to inadvertently disrupt the overall atmosphere of your home.
- You should not prepare the wall surface. As we have said many times in this article, team strips should only be used on thoroughly cleaned and smooth walls. You should thoroughly wipe down the area where you wish to place the painting with medical alcohol or other proven remedies. Never use regular wet wipes or cheap (or even expensive) sprays. This will only create problems when gluing the slats to your wall, which you absolutely do not need.
- You are not pressing hard enough. You don’t have to be afraid of damaging something while you’re pushing on the hanging picture when you place the strips. You need to apply more force to certain areas if you are unsure of the reliability of the work you have done.
- Do not adjust carefully during installation or make adjustments when the picture is already placed. You should use a level to make sure the composition is properly placed on the wall. If you have already used it and installed the painting correctly, and then move it slightly, the glue will quickly weaken, the bond will not be as reliable and the painting will eventually simply fall off on the floor or on someone’s head.
How Much Can Command Strips Hold?
As we mentioned in this article, each team strip has its own personal limitations on picture size and weight. This information is almost always written on the front of the team strip package. If you choose large size strips, you will be able to place a picture over fifteen pounds on them. If you choose the smaller size strips, remember that they will be able to hold no more than four, rarely five, pounds. We recommend that you always buy a size that is larger than the weight of what you are going to hang with the team strips.
This is great insurance for those who doubt the weight of their picture and don’t want to pay twice. To achieve the perfect result, don’t try to use a combination of two team hooks to hang the frame. Sure, it will be effective, but are you sure that the two strips will be pushed together correctly, and that one won’t fail the other? Better to get one, but with a much higher weight rating. Let you overpay a little, but it will save you from problems that may arise in the future.
Other Methods For Best Way To Hang Pictures On Drywall Without Holes
Curtain rail
A curtain rail is another reliable way to hold weighty items. And if you have an old curtain rod, you can borrow it from there. We’ll also need some sturdy fishing line or kapron string. We will be making a hanging system that will allow us to place several items at once at different heights and will not be conspicuous.
Inside the rail will be small plastic hooks, to which you need to tie the fishing line or thread, given the desired length and distance between the objects. Now you need to glue the rail to the wall and fasten the ends of the thread to the picture. The improvised installation is ready. The advantage of such a design is that at any time you can add or, on the contrary, remove several objects.
READ ALSO: Top 10 Types Of Kitchen Curtains
Wine cork
This object will serve as a layer between the wall and the picture, into which you can easily screw a small self-tapping screw and hang anything on it. It is necessary to cut the cork into circles, 1-1,5 cm thick. It should be done with a sharp office knife. Glue the resulting circle to the wall with a strong glue. After it is completely dry, take a short self-tapping screw and simply screw it into the cork.
The threaded elements will hold tightly in such a structure. Only you need to choose very tight corks. Silicone wine corks will also work. Reliability will depend on the chosen adhesive.
Adhesive compositions
Adhesive compositions will help to fix heavy objects without much effort. Well-proven “liquid nails”, “cold welding” and polymer glue. The backside of the frame, plate, or other objects should be degreased beforehand. The wall on which the object will be glued should be dry and clean. Apply any of the products to the back of the picture and simply lean it against the wall, adhering to the markings.
Heavy objects should be glued all around the frame, for lighter objects, only the top part can be covered with glue. Hold the picture for a while until the glue sets. You can learn something on it for added effect. Polymer glue has a slight advantage – after removal, it does not leave a greasy residue on the surface of the wall. Some experts say that the shelf life of such fasteners is about 1 year. Therefore, be prepared to periodically renew the adhesive layer.
With these uncomplicated ways, you can hang a picture, frame and other items on the wall without having to drill holes in it.
VIDEO THAT WILL HELP YOU
Find more useful articles and updates in our blog.