Anybody know anything about a product called InstaHang?
I ask, because whenever I see an ad on TV I think, "what a great idea!", but then usually find out that the Competitor's Product to what is shown works MUCH better.
Just one historical example, Dirt Devil vs Hoover where the TV ads ran, and ran, and ran, the function shown on TV was great, but the Hoover competitor product was about twice the product.
So, I ask the group, is this a good product? is there a competitor to this product that will work better?
Have you looked at the 3M Command Strips line of products?
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No holes, no damage, and no gadgets that need a commercial that begins with klutzes trying to use a hammer and ends with "But wait...there's more!" in order to sell them.
I've used various styles of Command Strips to hang all sorts of stuff and I love 'em.
I've been pushing the Command Strips here for a while and yours is the first post I've seen that agrees with me. They really stick and they are removable with no damage. I'm not sure if they have some small enough for small picture hanging though. For smallish pictures in drywall I use a pin at about a 33º angle inserted with a pair of needle nose pliers.
I'm not sure what you consider a "smallish picture."
They have strips with a max load rating of 1 pound. I'd consider any picture under a pound to be pretty small-ish.
They also have poster hanging strips for hanging - and I quote - "schedules, posters, calendars and pictures without frames, or as an alternative to double-sided tape."
Why wouldn't either of those work in place of your pin?
That sounds like they have them smaller than any I have seen or used, I'll have to take a look next time. I'm sure I'll be buying them, Thanks! In a pinch one time when I couldn't find my "refills" I heated the old stretched out one over the toaster and it shrank back to original size. That reused one has been holding a soap dish in the shower for 5 or so years now. So much better than those silly suction cups that always fall off.
I agree with you that a nail would be simpler, quicker, cheaper, and just as good as InstaHang.
They too go in at an upward slant and the weight is born by the nail right up at the wall, so even a thinner nail can hold plenty. When one removes the nail, there's a tiny hole to spackle.
But what is even better than that is two nails, 1 to 4 inches apart (the wider the thing you are hanging, the farther apart the nails can be.) With two nails pictures and whatever never tilt. Put them in place once and they stay for years. Even dusting doesn't bother them.
I've seen loads of people use nails, but I don't understand why two nails aren't more common.
Yes the compatator is a proper picture hanger with a nail (and the knowledge of how to use a hammer :-) ). Just a nail may work but when you add the correct hanger it can hold more.
The problem with finishing nails, or any nails, by themselves is that they can easily be pushed all the way into the wall while trying to hang the picture.
Plus, the angle is NOT constant, AND the angle can be torn downwards by the hanging pressure. It would seem there could be advantage to having a widget that holds the angle of the nail in place, not letting it tear down.
With these promos, I hate to pay the extra $20 to $40 just to 'reimburse' the vendor for trying to sell it to me.
Don't know about "insta-Hang" but the brass hooks that are fastended to the wall by nails or pins pointed 45 degrees down work GREAT. We've used them at the office to hang rather heavy framed pictures, with no issues. I think they cost less than a buck a piece (Packiage of 4 or
5, if memory searves correctly, for about 3 or 4 bucks) Bought them at the local Home Hardware store.
For picture hanging I used finishing nails for years with no problem. For heavier hangings a short drywall screw. Some years ago my wife stopped asking me to do it, because I wasn't around or she figured it was faster to do it herself. Now I only do the stuff that requires plugging. What does she use? For light unbreakable hangings, maybe up to a near 2 pounds, pushpins like this.
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Yeah, it's as simple as that. Nothing ever fell, and the pushpins don't pull down. Their flat base gives them a mechanical advantage over a nail.
But she said they're not "safe" for something that would break if it fell, so for that she uses 1" drywall screw. I just had her show me her kit. She keeps it in a kitchen drawer. Pushpins, some brass screw-in hooks, and screws. Her favorite is the 1" drywall screw. She's got a cheap flat screwdriver and a phillips in there. I just looked and most hangings are on a 1" drywall screw.
Recently, she bought a pack of these.
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she says, and I agree. Besides, they don't work over studs. She won't buy any more.
That 3M stick-on looks good if you don't want holes in the wall. Assuming it won't pull paint off. In our house how it works is once a wall space is used to hang something, the holes never show until repainting. If a hanging is removed it gets replaced with something else. When I repaint my favorite part is spackling and sanding the holes. Makes me feel like I accomplished something. Merry Christmas!
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