How to Attach Stuff to the Wall Without Drilling a Hole

Intro: How to Attach Stuff to the Wall Without Drilling a Hole

I didn't want to ruin my kitchen tiles and wall by drilling a giant hole through it, but I did want to hang my knife and paper/foil thing to the wall. Solution: superglue and magnets.

STEP 1: Stuff You Need.

*magnets (I got 250 rare earth magnets on Ebay quite cheap. diameter 0.5mm/0.25 inch but you might want slightly larger ones)
*superglue
*stuff to put on your wall.

STEP 2: Knife

I got this really beautiful kitchen knife from a friend. (we call it my Dexter knife because of its size ;) )
I already had a cheap knifeblock, but there was no spare slot for another knife, and I needed some place to put it.

Because the knife is quite heave, 1 magnet was not enough.
I grabbed 3x6 magnets, and superglued them to the wall.
Note that it says *dries within a few seconds* you should really be prepared to hold the lot for a few minutes. Make sure you dont get any glue on your fingers.

When the glue is dry, stick the knife to the magnets and make sure it holds ( as you can see, I touched the glue, and got some on the knife...)

STEP 3: Paper Thingie

The paper thingie was even heavier than the knife, so I glued 4 rows of 6 magnets to it.
When those are dry, put glue on the top magnets, and stick it to the wall - hold for ages until dry.
This way you do not have to measure out where to put the magnets on the wall, and you dont have to keep the polarity in mind either.
(Im really sorry, I know how to spell, but ever since Firefox 3 my single and double quote are frequently not working in text fields..?!)

STEP 4: Edit - My Cat's Really Not That Scary!

Edit.
Several people commented that my cat was scary..
Oh, come on ;) - My cat's not scary! Look - pure cuteness in this slightly better picture :)!

STEP 5: Removal

Confirmed Nov 2009: The glue/magnets can be removed with acetone (nail polish remover) and a dull knife (to scrape remains off tile) with absolutely no damage to the tile.

Comments

[nlmlane]

I have a Gojo automatic soap dispenser new with soap that fits. I would like to put it up on the bathroom sink wall and wonder if glue and magnets would work or what would be suggested in not creating a hole in the wall I just got the dispenser today brand new. nlm

[19samman98]

i want that cat!!!! :)

[highwaykind]

*wide grin* MINE!

[19samman98]

dang it but he/she is so cute

[cyberian]

Let me understand. You didn't want to drill, but super glue and acetone are OK? Are there any pictures of what the wall looked like after? You have got to be a renter! No home owner would ruin paneling like you did.

[highwaykind]

Picture of the wall 'after' uploaded to step 5, no damage at all.

[highwaykind]

Remember : *tiny* magnets! The mess you see is not that much bigger than a hole in the wall. Drilling through tiles that big doesn't always go too well (the pro who put them on cracked a lot, and warned me about it).
And if I want to get rid of them again, apparently a little acetone erases all traces. Haven't tried it yet, but will post a picture when I've cleaned up the excess glue. Try that with a drilled hole :)
Also: I don't have a drill.
Home owner by the way.

[pyper]

Tile glaze is quite hard (in the material science sense) and you should be able to happily scrape away with a steel scraper without worrying about scratching the tiles. The trapezoid shaped utility knife blades are a tradesman favourite for scrapping stuff off tiles / glass etc, just don't get anything too expensive or use a chisel because hard tool steels can scratch glass.

[Matt4_16]

um ya so instead of a hole you just have a glob of super glue and some magnets i don't see how that solves the problem of not damaging the walls?

[highwaykind]

Just removed the lot, zero damage to the tile :)

[illdoyourdrugs]

Now what do you do when you want to take it down. the glue will probably be all stuck to your tile. scraping it off will scratch it up and leave a rough looking mess.

[ItsTheHobbs]

ummmm.. yeah, I'm gonna go with scary.

[highwaykind]

check updated step 4, gotta defend the furball here.

[ItsTheHobbs]

ummm..... yeah still scary

[mcgurk]

I would NOT recommend super glue. It doesn't stand up well to shearing forces and is brittle. I'd go with a nice polyurethane glue or an epoxy. Since you're gluing to tile (and don't want to scuff the surface) poly is probably better. Its slightly flexible, which is nice when glueing two ridgid things like magnets and tile together, and adheres well to smooth surfaces (a variant of poly is used on car windshields, which requires both of these properties).

[highwaykind]

Thank you very much!! I will see if I can find that in the store (together with some acetone), superglue was the only thing I had here. So far everything is holding perfectly fine, but I wouldn't want the knife to come crashing down on, say, my foot, someday! Would polyurethane be solvable with something (like the acetone/superglue)? And how long does that have to dry? (I can probably tape it to the wall?)

[mcgurk]

Poly is pretty much resistant to anything. You might get it off with naptha or gas. But, if you want to get it off of tile, all you need is a razor. Poly glues (like gorilla glue) actually require moisture to cure. They can take anywhere from ten minutes to a few hours to cure, depending on the humidity. They also expand as they cure, so you don't want to use too much. Use a little more poly as superglue to start with. Use tape to hold the magnets down while the poly sets. After it is taped, use a spray bottle to mist the parts . After it sets, add a little more around the outside to reinforce. Follow the directions on the glue you buy for more help. Good luck!

[jespo0o]

Your cat ís cute,it;s a persian right (or something) But you have to groom him/her every day?

[shooby]

Hey, this is a really good idea. How much did you get the rare earth magnets for?

[killbox]

Best cheap source for magnets i have found is DealExtreme, free shipping rocks too, takes a while but cheap.
magets at DX