Hang a picture without drilling

A picture on the wall makes a room feel like yours, and nothing says a renter has to leave holes behind. Adhesive fixings hold much heavier frames than most people expect, as long as you choose them for your wall and your picture. This guide follows the order you do things in: think before you buy, hang, then take it down.

Why avoid drilling when you rent

Unless your landlord agrees, drilling into a wall can be treated as damage, and the cost of repairing it can come out of your security deposit. If you are not sure what your lease allows, ask in writing: a two-line reply is better than an argument at the move-out inspection.

An adhesive fixing comes off when you leave, with no hole to fill. It is the simplest answer for a picture, a poster, a light mirror or any decoration you will want to move around.

Three questions before you choose

What is the wall made of?

This decides everything, because every product has its own compatible surfaces, stated by the manufacturer.

• Smooth paint: the most common case, and the one Command picture products are made for.
• Tiles, glass, metal, varnished wood: Command picture strips and Powerstrips hooks suit smooth, firm surfaces.
• Wallpaper: most adhesives advise against it, because you risk tearing it off when you remove the fixing. One adhesive nail is made for it, limited to 1 kg.
• Plasterboard (a stud partition wall, often hollow when you knock on it): adhesives work if the surface is painted and smooth. For heavy pictures, 3M CLAW hooks exist, but they leave a small hole (see below).

If the paint is recent, matt or flaking, try the adhesive somewhere out of sight first: if the paint does not hold well, it is the paint that will come away with the adhesive.

How much does the picture weigh?

Actually weigh it, on kitchen or bathroom scales: a frame with glass and a mount is heavier than it looks. Then pick a fixing whose maximum load is higher than the picture’s weight, with room to spare, and keep the size in mind too, because some products also state a maximum frame size.

The higher the load, the more strips you need: for the picture strips in our selection, you only reach the maximum load with 4 pairs.

Can you live with a tiny hole?

Almost every product on this site comes off without a hole. The 3M CLAW hooks are the exception: you push them into plasterboard by hand, with no tools, but they leave a small hole. If you want to hang a really heavy picture on a plasterboard wall, that is an option, as long as you are ready to fill the hole when you leave (and to tell your landlord if you have any doubt).

Which product for which picture?

The loads below are the ones the manufacturers state and our product pages repeat. Always check the instructions on the packaging before you hang anything.

• Light picture up to 3.6 kg and 45 × 60 cm, on a painted wall: Command universal picture hanger 17048, one hook and four strips.
• Picture up to 7 kg and 60 × 90 cm: Command picture hanging strips, large, with 4 pairs (2 pairs are enough for 3.5 kg and 45 × 60 cm). They also stick to tiles and glass.
• Large picture up to 9 kg and 70 × 100 cm: Command XL picture strips 17217, with 4 pairs (2 pairs for 4.5 kg and 45 × 60 cm).
• Picture on wallpaper: Adhesive nail for wallpaper & plaster, 1 kg per nail, 2 kg with two nails. Keep it for light pictures.
• Very heavy picture on plasterboard: 3M CLAW picture hanger 20 kg or 3M CLAW picture hanger 30 kg (plasterboard only, with a small hole). The 3M CLAW picture hanger 7 kg and 3M CLAW picture hanger 11 kg versions are there for lighter pictures.

With strips, the picture lifts off and goes back on: handy for straightening a frame or moving it to another wall without starting again.

Hanging the picture, step by step

1. Choose the spot and mark it with a light pencil line or a small piece of masking tape. A spirit level, or a level app on your phone, saves you from a crooked picture.
2. Clean the wall where the fixing will go with household alcohol, to remove dust, grease and soap residue, then let it dry completely.
3. Check the maximum load of the product against the weight of the picture: if the margin is thin, choose a stronger one.
4. Put the strips on by pressing firmly, for as long as the instructions say, on the picture first and then on the wall. How many strips depends on the weight, and the packaging tells you.
5. Let the adhesive set before you hang the picture: depending on the product, the instructions ask you to wait for a while, often around an hour.
6. Hang the picture and check that it is straight. Do not let go straight away: hold it for a moment to feel that it does not move.

Mistakes to avoid

• Sticking onto a dirty, dusty or damp wall. It is the first reason a picture comes off.
• Sticking onto fresh paint. Let it cure for much longer than the time it takes to feel dry, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
• Going close to the maximum load. Keep a margin, and be even more careful above a bed, a sofa or a walkway.
• Using a product that is not made for the room. In a bathroom or near a shower, pick water-resistant products, like the ones in our bathroom selection.
• Skipping the instructions. They give the surface, the setting time, the temperatures for fixing and the way to remove the product, and these details vary from one brand to another.

Taking the picture down when you move out

With strips, do not pull the picture towards you. Slowly pull the strip downwards, keeping it parallel to the wall, until the adhesive lets go. The manufacturers say they come off without marks or residue on a surface in good condition. If a little glue is left, take it off gently, without scraping hard, using the method in the instructions.

If you put up a 3M CLAW hook, the small hole needs filling: a light filler, scraped flat, then a touch of matching paint is enough on a white wall.

Before you hand back the keys, walk around the walls: clean walls with no visible holes are your best guarantee of getting your security deposit back.