Introduction

In the field of Picture Hanging there’s one product everyone uses that has different names. It’s the ‘wall hanger’.

This makes things really confusing – what should you call it when you can choose from an array of names?

In this post, we explain what the term ‘wall hanger’ means when hanging pictures and list various terms people use for this one and same object.
We give you examples of various wall hangers, starting with low-grade wall hanging solutions, moving through to the best, high-grade wall hanger.

You’ll also get to read about the best way to use a wall hanger to optimally display your pictures.

What is A Wall Hanger?

In the ‘science’ of picture hanging a wall hanger is simply what you use to hang your pictures on your wall.

In the construction industry a wall hanger is something else: it’s “A support of steel or cast iron, partially built into a wall for carrying the end of a structural timber.”

We’ll use the term wall hanger to refer to all those nifty products that allow you to hang your art, your posters, your photos and your diplomas on your walls. After all, the intention of this article is to explain how to best use wall hangers to hang up your pictures.

There are many different ways to hang pictures on walls. Some are simple, risky and crude; others are simple and sleek. All of them use wall hangers.

But in actual fact, this is where the confusion begins- people wield the term ‘wall hanger’ to talk about two opposing concepts. They employ it to refer to both the hook and the hanging wire (aka cable, cord, line) which can be used to hang a picture.

The simple yet lumbering solution to wall hanging is to just use a hook, a nail or a screw. The simple, safe and sleek solution takes advantage of both a hook and the hanging wire. That people refer to both of these as a wall hanger is easy to understand. You require the hook as well as the hanging wire to hang a picture on your wall when using a picture hanging system.

Let’s unravel what makes up a picture hanging system. It consists of

• a hanging rail (also called track, wall rail, picture rail, art track, picture track, strips, picture strips, art strips. Locator, mount, picture rail system or rod) that you attach to your wall by means of plastic clips.
• hanging wires you insert into the rod, they hang down from the rod
• the hooks you slide onto the hanging wire. They are what you hang your pictures on.

When the term ‘wall hanger’ refers to a hanging wire people also use other terms such as: cord, wire, able, picture wire, picture hanging wire, picture frame hanging wire, slider cobra, twister, line, string, or hanging thingy.

When ‘wall hanger’ is used to refer to the hook it can also be called cleat, picture hanger, art hanger, wall hook, picture hook, picture hanging hook, connector, D ring, picture triangles, or picture thingies.

You might think I’m exaggerating by listing all the above terms. But alas, no! I speak from experience. I own a business that sells and installs picture hanging systems. And these are just some of the terms that clients use when they explain to me what they’d like to buy.

Why is a Wall Hanger Important?

If you’re hanging something on your wall there are two things you MUST get right.
First, you want it to look good.
Second, you want it to hang safely.

In our line of business, we hear many tales of woe. Like: “It took me several hours (7 different attempts & heated arguments with my wife) to get the screw in just the right spot so that the picture hung at the desired height. That night I was woken from my sleep by a loud bang and shattered glass. It wasn’t a robber; it was our beloved picture. Not only did we have glass all over our carpet and a ruined picture, there was also an unsightly hole in my Gyprock wall where the hook had once hung. On top of it all, my wife is Irish and in Ireland a picture falling from the wall is said to foretell a death. This did not make me popular with my wife, believe me.

This gentleman ended up choosing a simple, safe and sleek option and installed the Artiteq picture hanging system. Customer satisfaction rating 100% – it has the advantage that you can hang your pictures within seconds anywhere you want in your walls. Why? Because you can slide the wall hangers (the hanging wires) to the left and right along your hanging rail and also move the wall hangers (haha this time I’m referring to the hooks) up and down the hanging wires. You get to choose your most aesthetically pleasing spot to hang your art, it’s safe and you won’t ever have to drill another hole in your wall. This is definitely the most efficient solution.

Here’s a review he wrote: “The ArtiTeq picture hanging system products have made my life a lot easier. At least twice a year my wife likes to change ‘the hang’ of our paintings and framed prints from room to room. No more drilling holes, fitting plastic plugs and hangers, then having to remove and repair, and repaint them when the next ‘hang’ is required. Get the Twister perlon cables, and the Micro Grip connectors. You can’t go wrong with them. If you have some practical skills you can install the wall rails yourself.”

In a nutshell, the reasons why a wall hanger is so important is because it enables you to hang your pictures (and your paintings, your photos, in fact anything else your heart desires) in an aesthetically pleasing and safe manner on your walls.

Wall Hanger Examples

If you indulge in a Google picture search for ‘picture hooks Bunnings’ into Google you’ll discover an array of wall hangers to choose from. Here are the main examples:

1.  Ever Hang Picture Hooks
The brass plated Everhang picture hooks is what most neophytes end up with. Hang Logic also installs art. We regularly find such wall hangers in client’s homes and offices and need to break the bad news that the weight of the pictures the client would like hung on the walls will tear these hooks down.

2 – 3M Command Hook
Another wall hanger example you may have come across are the 3M command hooks. I quote a product review: ‘They are useless all the pictures fell off the wall (followed their instruction to the letter).”

3. Velcro Hook and Loop Strips
Some people opt for the Velcro hook and loop strips. They come with adhesive strips that you stick to the mounting surface and also to the picture you want to mount to your wall. They work by means of hook and loop fasteners. Some people like them others don’t:  “I was not satisfied.I I bought because supposedly be waterproof and strong but was not either.” The problem is that when you want to move your picture and go to pull off the strip on the wall it often also takes off your wall paint as well.

4 – Nails, screws and wall plug anchor or toggle bolt anchor
If you have a small, light picture and a good wall a nail will often do the trick. But be sure you put the nail in the right spot because once the hole is made it’s tedious to fill it up again. The heavy pictures people often choose some kind of anchor for Gyprock walls when they don’t know where the studs are. They do have a higher load capacity but once again, once they’re in they’re in and aesthetically speaking changing your mind will not turn out well.

5. Picture Hanging Systems
Another type of wall hanger solution is what’s called a picture hanging system. It’s a flexible; it allows you to hang and move your pictures quickly and easily. It’s also user-friendly, you install it once and it will last you a lifetime. It also preserves your walls – no more Swiss cheese walls!
Instead you can have fun creating a salon hang where you hang many pictures just on one wall without using a single screw or nail.

The Best Way to Use a Wall Hanger to Optimally Show off Your Pictures

The simplest, most versatile, most elegant, safest and long-term wall hanger solution is a picture hanging system. I’ve worked with picture hanging systems for the past 15 years and have come to the conclusion that the very best picture hanging system is the one manufactured by a company called ‘Artiteq’ that is based in the Netherlands. They have a research and development department, a quality control department and all their product are TÜV certified. The TÜV certification guarantees that their products fulfil quality and safety requirements and are environmentally sustainable. In addition, they offer a 10-year guarantee on all their products.

Why is the Artiteq wall hanger the simplest?

The Artiteq picture hanging system is the simplest because it’s so easy to install and use. With minimal do-it-yourself skills you can mount the picture hanging rail to your walls. Just screw the click and connect clips in a straight line along your wall and then click your rail onto them.

The next step is to insert the picture hanging wire. The most functional hanging wire is the Twister. You can twist it into the rail from anywhere along the rail and it slides back and forth easily. It’s available in Perlon and stainless steel 1 mm or 2 mm thick. Perlon is cheaper and has the advantage that it’s almost invisible. The stainless-steel hanging wires will last you forever.

After that slide a hook onto the hanging wire. Artiteq’s hooks are self-locking and the big advantage here is that this means they won’t slip. They have a patented mechanism which grips the cord (cable, wire, strip) only in the downward direction. Hence, you can easily slide them up the hanging wire – just pull down on the hanging wire with one hand and push the hook up with the other hand. It’s a cinch.

The self-locking mechanism prevents the hook from sliding down the hanging wire on its own accord.  If you want to slide the hook down the hanging wire you just pinch the top and the bottom of the hook together.

Now it’s time to have fun and hang up your pictures!

Why picture hanging systems are more versatile than other wall hanger solutions

Are you creative? Do you like to change things around? Do you sometimes change your mind? You like to look omega your place in time to time? Do you like to buy or make new pictures and hang them up?

Just like our client (that I mentioned above) whose wife loves to experiment with hanging their pictures in different ways around their house -and gets him to do it. This can actually be fun because the result is a completely new look and feel in your home. But it’s only enjoyable if it is easy and fast to do.

If you opt for the run-of-the-mill, lumbering solution with a nail, hook or screw it can be torture. Why? Because it entails tedious tasks like drilling holes, fitting plastic plugs and hangers, removing the old hangers and repairing unsightly holes, not to forget repainting them.

Compare this to using a picture hanging system for the job and you’ll find yourself in ‘hanging’ paradise!

Conclusion: Tips and Reminders for Wall Hangers

My goal with any work I do is to make it simple, fast and fun. I also want my minimal input to render top results.

So, when I analyse which wall hanger is optimal to use for hanging my pictures the answer is clear. It’s Artiteq’s picture hanging system. It saves me time, it makes no mess, it’s a cinch to use and the results are fantastic. I get to hang everything that makes be and brings back wonderful memories my walls in the blink of an eye. What more could you want in life!