Bathroom Decorating & DIY Condo Breakfast Room DIY Basics Kitchen Decorating & DIY

How To Hanging Pictures On Tile

Last Updated on December 27, 2013 by Kristi Linauer

It’s not often that I’ll just endorse a product outright, but when it comes to hanging pictures on tile, there’s only one product I’ll use:  Command Picture Hanging Strips.

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Generally when I mention these, people confuse them with the Command strips that have adhesive on both sides.  Those double-sided adhesive strips are good for some purposes, but I’ve actually had some problems with them not holding.

These Picture Hanging Strips are a different story, though.   These things are incredibly strong, and I’ve never had a problem with them not holding.

They’re a bit different, as you can see.  They have hundreds of these little plastic “fingers” and each one has a tiny little plastic ball at the end.

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I believe the package says that six strips are enough to hold six pounds.  I generally use more than necessary just to be really sure that my item is secure on the wall.

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The first thing you do is “snap” two strips together.  It’s similar to hook and loop tape, but you really can hear a snapping sound as the pieces go together.

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So a package of six strips gives you enough to use in three different spots on the back of your item.

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After peeling off the protective paper on one side, I placed two at the top, and one at the bottom.  Again, according to the package, this is enough to hold six pounds.  This was overkill for my artwork, which probably weighed around two pounds, but I just really like things to be secure.

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Then after pressing these down to be sure they were really stuck on there well, I peeled the other protective paper off and placed the artwork against the wall.  It stuck immediately, but the instructions say to press for 30 seconds on each strip.

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After each one is pressed for 30 seconds, you’re supposed to remove the item from the wall, and wait for one hour before re-hanging the artwork.  And of course, re-hanging the artwork just takes “snapping” the strips back together.

water resistant artwork 3

I’ve only ever used these on tile, but I would imagine they work great on drywall as well.  These would be perfect for renters who don’t want to risk losing their deposit because of nail holes in the wall.

The first time I used these was to hang my hand painted family name sign…

I didn’t want to drill a hole in my new tile or grout for a nail.  I considered other options, like hanging it from the cubbies above with fishing wire and eye hooks.  Then I just happened upon these Command strips in Home Depot and decided to give them a try.  Well, it’s been up there for over a year now, and the thing hasn’t budged a bit!

So when it comes to hanging things on tile, this is the only product I’ll use.  Have you tried them?  What did you think about them?  Have you tried them on drywall?  Do they work just as well on drywall as they do on tile?

*Note–I wasn’t paid or perked for writing this post.  I just really, sincerely like this product, I use this product, and I wanted to share it with you.

Additional picture hanging hardware Resources:

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26 Comments

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  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Jeri
    June 1, 2011 at 6:10 pm

    I just found these a couple of months ago.  They do work great.  The only thing I've found is to buy the bigger ones no matter what, they have the strongest strength to them.  Like yours shows, it doesn't hurt to add more than the two it requires.  

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Deb Cadene
    June 1, 2011 at 7:38 pm

    These would have come in handy for hanging on my wall with the pocket door.Is it tricky to realign it to the velcrow on the wall once you remove your picture to cure the tape, or did you mark the wall before removing it?

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Amelia @ Home Decor
    June 1, 2011 at 8:57 pm

    I always use 3M strips whenever I have to stick something on my wall. It's not only just for pictures, some of my home and garden decor were glued together using this strips – my wind chimes, wind arts, design posts, and some paintings. I also hate seeing holes or some scratches on my walls.

    My hubby also uses this strip in his garage to stick together some of his motorcycle decals.

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Shannon
    June 2, 2011 at 1:41 am

    I've never used the picture strips, but I have used the regular ones on small 5 x 7 frames.  I'm just going to be moving from a rental into our first home – YEAH!- and will definitely be using more of these on my nice, newly painted walls.  In a rental with a bazillion holes already in the walls, I don't mind making a few more, but that won't be the case anymore.

    Thanks for all of the great tips!!!

    Shannon

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    anna
    June 2, 2011 at 2:36 am

    I was a complete devotee of Command Picture Strips and used them everywhere. Recently however a builder I worked with asked me to use them to hang art in a display home so he wouldn't have to patch the walls later. Almost every picture in the house fell off, and I was particularly careful with following the instructions because it was a display home. I don't know if it was humidity, or fresh paint, but I'm very  reluctant to use them again now!

    • Reply To This Comment ↓
      john
      February 6, 2013 at 6:39 am

      I’ve had similar problems – definitely the fresh paint is a problem.

    • Reply To This Comment ↓
      Denise Hunse
      October 29, 2022 at 8:31 am

      Same here. We used them 2x on a porcelain tile wall for a 24×36 framed canvas. The longest the picture stayed up was a week. Gravity wins every time. We are going to try glue next.

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Kristi @ Addicted 2 Decorating
    June 2, 2011 at 2:40 am

    I can see how they might be less reliable on a painted wall.  That's why I only use them on tile.  But they work wonderful on tile!  I'm not one of those people who freaks out over nail holes in my drywall, so I can't see myself ever using these on drywall.  Plus, they're considerably more expensive than a small package of picture hanging nails.

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Kim Thibodeaux
    February 8, 2012 at 8:31 pm

    I love, LoVe, LOVE these! I use them on drywall. I’m a photographer so I’m constantly changing out my framed photography. I’ve never had them fail and I live in humid South Louisiana. I recently moved into an office at work and I’m using them to hang my photography there as well.

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Suzanne Murray
    February 9, 2012 at 9:15 pm

    These sound promising…but I’m wondering if they leave a residue or marks on the tile if you need to remove the picture? Anyone have insight?

    • Reply To This Comment ↓
      Kristi
      February 9, 2012 at 9:25 pm

      Mine are still hanging, so I can’t say for sure. I do know that I’ve used the 3M sticky strips before, and they came off clean with no residue.

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    jan jones
    May 22, 2012 at 3:46 pm

    I have used these successfully all over the place, and they do not leave residue. The onlt warning I have is to be sure to pull straight down on the strip when removing, otherwise it may pull the paint off the wall (this happened to me!) Also, when I take them off the wall, I remove the sticky part from both of the velcro-like tape. I save these, then later, I buy just the white regular command strips, and adhere them to the velcro I saved. It is less expensive, and i have had no problems whatsoever!

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    herpopeness
    September 2, 2012 at 12:12 pm

    We have used these in the past 3 rental places and they have come off clean and without any residue every time. As previous comment has said though make sure you pull straight down fully before removing from the wall as they do take a little paint off then. We are using them again now we have moved and have recommended to everyone! We have only used them on dry painted wall and they have always worked well. I found this website by searching on google for ‘hanging pictures on tile’ as I wasn’t sure they could be used on tile in the bathroom. Very happy to have found this site and see that they obviously can!!

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Mark
    December 5, 2012 at 2:23 pm

    There’s actually an App for that!!
    We used a cool app recently for the iphone and ipad called “Hand-a-Pic”. Made it super easy to hang a series of pictures across the wall without having to figure out where the nails go to make things even. We used it a couple of times already, once for hanging pictures and the more recently to hang 4 plates on the wall. Walks you through through the steps and tells you exactly where every nail goes for evenly spaced pictures across the wall. Worked perfectly!

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    KATHYSUE
    December 29, 2012 at 7:45 pm

    Hi Kristi, I am thinking of hanging a lantern from my mirror, do you think these command picture hanging strips would work? they are not that heavy, but I was wondering if you have hung anything on an actual mirror front. Thank you,
    Kathysue
    Goodlifeofdesign.blogspot.com

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    KATHYSUE
    December 29, 2012 at 10:18 pm

    Thank you so much for your response Kristi, now all I have to do is convince hubby!! wish me luck,
    Kathysue
    Goodlifeofdesign.blogspot.com

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Mike
    July 30, 2013 at 8:58 am

    It sure is a great solution if you rent somewhere that holes are not permitted. I also like how you showed using them on tile – creative!

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Carol
    October 27, 2013 at 11:55 am

    Will these hold a pewter tray over a gas cook top where it will be exposed to lots of heat?

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Jen
    June 16, 2014 at 2:28 pm

    I just recently attempted to hang a picture on my tile in the bathroom. They failed after 40 minutes, fell right off the wall. When I called 3M they told me these aren’t intended for the bathroom too much moisture. Even so there was no moisture in there when I hung them or in the 40 minutes after. So I was very disappointed. 🙁

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Susan
    June 30, 2014 at 2:50 pm

    I used these to hang a ceramic platter on the tile backsplash behind my gas stovetop. Apparently the heat softens the glue in these almost immediately and the platter fell off the wall. Thankfully it didn’t break.

    • Reply To This Comment ↓
      Christy
      July 14, 2018 at 10:33 am

      Great to know. I am trying to hang a melamine platter on the backsplash over my gas range. What do you recommend??

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    ERg
    July 11, 2014 at 12:05 pm

    I have an outdoor kitchen. Live in the northeast so every extreme in weather is inevitable. Do you think I could use the picture ones to hang signs on my tile outdoors?? It is under roof but it does get the extremes in temperatures year round.
    Thank you

  • Reply To This Comment ↓
    Harriet Soto
    November 13, 2018 at 1:14 pm

    How about on a Marble fireplace