If you’re living in student accommodation or in a rented property, you may be worried about sticking posters up on the walls because they might leave hideous marks behind when they’re removed. And this may then result in you losing your deposit!
So, how can you spruce up your home without damaging the walls? After all, posters on walls help to make a home feel like a home, and it makes you feel like you belong there.
Keep on reading to learn how you can stick posters on walls without them leaving marks behind!
A Few Points to Keep in Mind
There are a number of factors that can influence whether or not your wall will be marked when you pull a poster down. These factors include:
- What sticky method you decide to use – Always read the small print on the box as this will tell you more about what surfaces the product should/shouldn’t be stuck to.
- How hard you press the sticky substance onto the wall – The harder you press it, the more likely you are to leave a mark.
- How long the sticky substance has been left on the wall – Sticky solutions that have been on a wall for years will have bound quite well, and when they’re pulled off, they’re likely to cause damage.
- What type of wall do you have? – Bare plaster, brick, wood, painted or wallpapered, for example.
- How much force you use to remove the poster and the sticky product from the wall – If you rip the poster off, then it will probably get damaged, as will the wall.
Remember: There is always a very small chance that you will damage a wall when you pop a poster up/remove it, no matter how careful you are. The key is to pick the right adhesive and to be careful.
How to Stick Posters on Walls Without Leaving Marks
Sticking a poster up on a wall is really simple, but it’s always helpful if you carry out these steps. Doing so may limit any unnecessary damage to your walls.
1. Decide where you want to put your poster
It may seem like a really silly step to take, but deciding where you actually want your poster to go is vital!
I’ve put many posters up on my walls only to find that they catch the sunlight when I’m watching TV, or they don’t look right on a specific wall.
This little check can save you a lot of stress later on, because putting posters up, removing them and sticking them up again isn’t fun! Plus, it’s a lot of needless work for the sake of a poster or two!
So, decide where you want your posters to go beforehand!
2. Lay your poster out on a hard flat surface to stop it curling up
Posters usually come in tubes, which means that they’ve got a tendency to curl back in on themselves.
This is quite a normal thing and can be cured by setting your poster out on a flat surface, covering it with a piece of cloth, then laying heavy objects down on top of it. The pressure from the heavy objects helps to straighten out the poster.
Putting a poster that is flat and not curling up at the edges onto a wall is a lot easier to do, rather than trying to tame a spiralling poster.
3. Clean the wall you plan on putting your poster on
Walls like any other surface in a house get dirty. And while the dirt on walls may not be as obvious, it really is there.
So, before you start sticking things to your wall you should wipe the wall down with a microfiber cloth. This cloth will help to remove any dust particles and cobwebs, so adhesives will stick better. You don’t need to wet the cloth to clean the wall.
4. Choose a sticky product and apply it
There are lots of different products that you can buy to stick posters onto walls. Check out your options below:
3M Command Strips
3M’s Command Strips are great for hanging up posters because they’re super easy to use, and they don’t usually leave marks on walls when you pull them off.
To use these Command Strips you just peel the tape off one strip, stick it onto the back of the poster, velcro a second strip to the first strip, remove the second strip’s backing tape and pop the poster on the wall. Lightly press on the Command Strips to make sure they’re stuck firmly onto the wall.
The poster will stick immediately to the wall from this point. When you want to remove the poster, all you need to do is pull the tag at the end of the Command Strip gently and it will come away from the wall.
White Tack
If you need to pop a poster up on your wall, but you know it’s not going to be on the wall for very long, you could use White Tack. This is essentially a form of Blue Tack, except it’s a different colour.
All you need to do is cut a small piece of White Tack off, roll it between your fingers and pop a blob in each corner of your poster. Then stick the poster to the wall.
This will work much better if you have a white wall in the first place. If you’ve got a feature wall that’s painted a colour other than white, you may have issues, as White Tack will still leave marks behind.
3M Command Decorating Clips
A little unconventional trick is to not put your poster directly onto the wall in the first place. Stick with me as I explain!
Sadly, when you stick posters up on a wall, there’s a good chance that either you will rip the poster when you pull it off, or the sticky product you’ve decided to use will tear the poster.
So, to prevent this from happening you could buy a pack of 3M Command Decorating Clips to stick up on your wall. You can then run a tight line between two or more decorating strips, and clip your posters onto the line by using pegs.
The Command Decorating Clips are very small and are clear in colour, so you’ll not notice them on your walls. Plus they can be removed very quickly and they leave very little adhesive behind.
This may not seem as fun as sticking your posters directly onto the wall, but you could really get creative with this option. You could even hang lights up between your posters.
3M Spring Clips
If you don’t mind seeing a peg shape on your wall then you should try these 3M Spring Clips. These clips are strong enough to hold up a handful of posters, and they won’t leave any marks on your wall when you pull them off. They also won’t cause damage to your posters either.
As with other 3M Command products, you just peel the backing off the sticky side of the clip and pop it onto the wall.
Masking tape
If you’re looking for a very quick solution, then some people use masking tape to stick their posters onto a wall.
This is likely to result in the poster suffering some small damage, if you decide to stick the masking tape across the poster itself to stick it to the wall.
But if you’re just looking for a simple way of sticking up some revision posters that’ll come down in a few days, this way really is worth trying. For more expensive posters, and collectors items, this would be a bad idea.
Glue dots
Posters are typically very light, so you don’t really need heavy duty hooks to hold them up (assuming they’re not in a frame). So, one option worth trying are glue dots.
Glue dots are very small in size and can be stuck onto the back corners of your posters with ease. When you want to pop the poster on the wall you just hold the poster up, and press down on the glue dots to secure the poster in place.
These dots are super easy to remove and leave very little adhesive behind, if used correctly. Plus, they can be reused in other areas around the home, so they’re multipurpose.
5. Wash your hands
Once you’ve done the steps above it’s time to wash your hands and pop the poster up on the wall.
It’s important that you wash your hands before fixing any poster onto a wall because you may have some sticky product on your fingers. If you don’t notice this in time, you risk spreading this mess onto your poster. This would probably ruin your poster and you’d have to start this whole process over again!
Other Options Worth Thinking About When Sticking Posters Up
The options above are all worth trying, and if used correctly they leave no to very few marks on a wall. However, for those of you who are still not sure about the products above, check out these alternative options you could try in order to stick your posters up!
Double-sided tape
A lot of people comment that double-sided tape is excellent for keeping things on walls. While this is actually true, sometimes double-sided tape is so strong it can remove paint from a wall and even wallpaper.
So, if you want to try out this option you can, but keep in mind that it’s strong and is more likely to cause issues to your wall.
Placing posters on other surfaces
Of course, posters look amazing on walls, but if you really can’t find the right sticky solution perhaps you should consider a different surface aside from your wall.
While it’s not ideal you could pop your posters up on a window, on a door or on a wardrobe. There’s not much you can rip off a window, so you’re not very likely to damage it by sticking a poster on it.
Similarly, doors are usually more robust, so you can stick things to them with. It’s also a lot easier and quicker to repaint a door, if the paint does come off. And you can always sand a door back if your sticky solution causes mayhem!
Cork board
A really easy way to stick posters up in a home is to pop them up on a cork board. Then you can pop the cork board on a high surface, like a mantlepiece.
This is not an ideal situation, but it does mean that you can have your posters and photos on display in your home! And they can be moved around whenever you like.
Removable putty
Many people suggest using a putty to stick posters up on a wall, however this does get mixed results.
Putty can hold posters up on a wall very effectively, if applied correctly and for a short period of time. But if the putty stays on a wall for a lengthy period of time, then it can damage the wall when it is being removed.
Wall trellis
If you’re really sceptical about putting anything on your wall, you could invest in a wall trellis and slot it behind your sofa to keep it in place.
If you have a big wall trellis you need to make sure it’s secure before using it. But once it’s all set up you can stick your posters on it as and when you like. You can even move them around freely knowing that you’re not actually touching the wall at all.
Suction cups
This option is very similar to the 3M Command Decorating Strips option above. All you need to do is put two suction cups on either side of your wall, and run a line in between the two cups to hang posters on it.
This would be very handy for a student who needs to hang up revision cards.
Bethan has a passion for exploring, reading, cooking and gardening! When she’s not creating culinary delights for her family, she’s concocting potions to keep her house clean!
