Category: Tutorials

One of the most frustrating feelings is when your wall decal finally arrives or it’s been three weeks since you painted your wall and you try to apply your decal, but it falls off. You followed the instructions that came with your vinyl, used the backing paper, and after all that hassle, it won’t even stick to the wall!

Vinyl wall decals can be notoriously finicky. There are a variety of reasons why a decal might not stick- some having to do with the decal, some having to do with the wall. To figure out how to get your wall decal to stick, you first need to diagnose why it isn’t staying on the wall.

Why Wall Decals Sometimes Don’t Stick

A lot of different factors can impact how well a vinyl decal adheres to the wall. Some of the most common ones include:

Dirty Walls: If your walls aren’t totally clean, the wall decal will stick to the dirt and grime, not the wall.

New Paint: If you painted your wall recently, the paint emits gases up to 2 weeks after it dries. These gases can cause the adhesive to fail.

Cold Walls/Vinyl: When the walls or the decal are too cold, the vinyl won’t stick properly to the wall.

Unfinished Walls: Wall decals stick poorly to unfinished or unpainted walls (including brick walls). Old, peeling paint can also keep your decal from sticking. If your walls are unfinished or unpainted, take care of that before applying your decal.

Textured Walls: Some vinyl types don’t adhere to walls with any sort of texturing.

Too Dry: If you wait too long after receiving your wall decal before applying it, the adhesive will dry out, much like glue.

Sealants: Using sealants on your wall can actually prevent the decal from sticking. If a sealant gets under the vinyl wall decal, it can cause it to bubble and curl.

Cheap Vinyl: Lower quality vinyl often doesn’t have as much adhesive, which results in it falling off the wall or peeling.

How to Make Wall Decals Stick

Related: How to Reuse a Wall Decal

Generally, most issues with getting your vinyl wall decal to stick to the wall can be avoided through proper preparation and research. It is cheaper to buy high-quality, commercial grade vinyl in the first place than to spend hours trying to find a band-aid solution before ultimately replacing your wall decal. Make sure to follow the instructions that came with your vinyl exactly, and you shouldn’t have any problems applying your decal!

Perhaps you’re moving, and want to take your decor with you. Maybe you just think that a vinyl wall quote would look better somewhere else. Whatever the case may be, reusing wall decals may seem like a promising alternative to purchasing entirely new ones. However, it is easier said than done. In this article I’ll cover the two main obstacles to removing, saving, and reusing reusing vinyl wall decals, as well as how you can try to work around them.

Removing the Decal

While wall decals are easily removable, it can be difficult to get them off the wall in one piece, especially if it is a larger decal or one that was shipped in multiple pieces. Cheap vinyl will also often tear. Following best practices like heating the decal with a hairdryer can help, but successfully removing your decal in one piece is still a tall task.

Weakened Adhesive

In order to remove a wall decal, it is usually necessary to weaken the adhesive. The most common form of this is by heat. However, the adhesive on a wall decal naturally weakens when it is removed. Often some adhesive remains on the wall, or microscopic bits of paint or dirt stick to the decal, lessening its stickiness. This makes it hard to reuse- the vinyl just won’t stick to the wall again.

Important Disclaimer

While wall decals can sometimes be reused, we don’t recommend it. Attempting to reuse a vinyl decal can cause a mess, destroy your decal, and often doesn’t work. If your design breaks and you need to create a new one, visit our lettering designer or contact us. However, if you decide to try it, following the steps listed below will give you the best chance of successfully reapplying your wall decal.

How to Reuse Wall Decals

Despite the challenges of adhesive and removing the decal, under some circumstances wall decals can be reused. It takes patience and a steady hand, and requires the vinyl to be high quality. This works better with glossy vinyl, which has a stronger adhesive than matte vinyl.

Once you’ve started the process, try to finish within half an hour. The adhesive on the wall decal dries out when exposed, which weakens it further. If you’re planning to save your vinyl wall decal for a longer period of time, you will have to add extra glue.

1. Prepare the New Location

Before you remove the vinyl, it is important to prepare the decal’s new resting place. Wash off any dirt or accumulated grime that may have built up on the wall, then dry it off. This will help ensure the adhesive sticks.

2. Remove the Decal in One Piece

Next, carefully remove the wall decal in one piece. The best process involves using a hairdryer and tweezers, and is also less likely to damage the paint.

3. Strengthen the Adhesive

Place the decal sticky side up on a table or workbench. Brush or dab watered-down white glue (Elmer’s works just fine) onto the adhesive. This will supplement and strengthen the weakened adhesive.

4. Place the Wall Decal

Once you’ve prepared the decal to be reused, place it in the location that you cleaned earlier. Putting the decal on the wall is the same as when you first placed it. If the adhesive doesn’t stick, you can try rubbing the back of the decal with a tennis ball. If it still won’t stick, you can either add more glue and try again (cleaning the location in between) or order a new decal.

One of the biggest upsides to vinyl wall decals is that they are easily removable. However, sometimes the paint under the decal sticks to the vinyl when it is removed. This can ruin the wall by removing spots of paint and resulting in a patchy look.

To avoid this, there are a few important steps to take to ensure that your wall decal will remove easily and cleanly, without damaging your paint job.

1. Warm the vinyl with a hairdryer

Turn your hairdryer on low power and gently run it back and forth over the wall decal. The heat from the hairdryer weakens the adhesive on the vinyl. This makes it much less likely to remove any paint when you take your decal off. Focus on the corners, as that’s where it is easiest to begin removing the wall decal.

2. Peel the corner with tweezers

Using a pair of tweezers or your fingernails, gently peel back one corner of the wall decal. Once the corner is peeled back, check to see if there is any paint sticking to the vinyl. If there is, spend a few more minutes heating it with the hairdryer. If no paint is removed, peel back the rest of the decal. Work slowly and reheat sections with the hairdryer as needed.

3. Remove leftover adhesive

Scrub the wall gently with warm, soapy water to remove any adhesive residue from the wall decal. Be careful not to scrub too hard, which can damage the paint, especially if it was weakened by the vinyl removal. If the adhesive doesn’t come off, you may need to use a specialized adhesive remover (just make sure to test it first so it doesn’t harm the paint either). This step is especially important if you are removing a decal from a window or glass door, where traces of leftover adhesive are easy to see.

What to do if your decal damages the paint

If you used high-quality vinyl for your decal and removed it following the steps above, it is extremely unlikely that your paint will be damaged in any way. However, it does sometimes happen. If the wall decal ruins a section of paint on your wall, use a scraper to gently remove any flecks or curls of paint. If you don’t have a textured wall, you can also use sandpaper. Then, find a matching color of paint and repaint over the section. As a low-budget alternative, you can also cover up the damage by hanging a poster or moving furniture.

If you have any other questions about vinyl wall decals, please check out our FAQ page.