Have you ever wondered what makes a house a home? Well at MAGNET EXPERT®, we believe it’s those personal touches that add comfort and sentiment to each individual room, whether it’s the design itself, a piece of furniture, or decorations that adorn the walls and surfaces.
Naturally, our team are always looking for innovative ways to simplify everyday tasks with magnetism, whether it is around the home, office or in industry solutions. Given we work in the industry, operate from our office in Tuxford, and retreat back to our homes come the end of the day, we are well positioned to put ourselves in our customer’s shoes; and that is exactly what our Customer Sales Advisor, Eric, did recently when faced with a dilemma in his own home.
Eric had just finished decorating his hallway having spent time ensuring everything was just right! However, he was reluctant to apply any fixtures, fittings or photo frames that would require the use of nails, tacks and pins because of the small holes they would inevitably make in his beautifully finished walls. Eric needed a solution that wouldn’t one day need filling in or touching up with paint!
The solution was magnets.
Fortunately for Eric, he had painted his walls with FerroPaint®, which is a ferrous paint that makes walls, doors and other surfaces magnetically attractive. As a result, magnets will attract to the walls in his hallway without the support of other installation. Essentially, as long as his fixtures, fittings and photo frames were magnetic (within reason), they would attract to his walls and this is where our customer application comes in!
If you find yourself in this position and do not want to hammer into your walls and furniture, then this is a great solution for you. Below, we will demonstrate how to create magnetic photo frames and apply them to your walls to create beautiful displays that can be updated and re-arranged instantly.
Before we get started, it’s important to know there are two approaches to this application:
- Create a naturally looking ferrous surface with FerroPaint®, the ferrous paint that makes your surface magnetically attractive!
- With the use of additional magnets, create a magnetic fixing point with self-adhesive magnets to attract your photo frames too.
In this application, we will use the FerroPaint® method and cover the second approach as an alternative option below. Fortunately for Eric, he had already painted his walls with FerroPaint® (not that you would know as he has painted over the charcoal grey FerroPaint® with your own emulsion) and therefore has a ferrous wall that magnets will attract too. If you find yourself a step behind and want to create your own ferrous wall, please visit our customer application on how to apply FerroPaint®.
With your ferrous wall installed, here is what you will need to create your magnetic photo frames:
(from left to right)
– Scissors – Our range of magnetic and ferrous tapes are easily cut to size and can be tailored to your design.
– Magnetic tape – in this application, we are using 19mm wide tape with premium self-adhesive, which offers 135g’s of pull force per cm length (71g/cm2). Before you purchase your tape, ensure it will hold the weight of your photo frames in a shear position with one of our team on 0845 519 4701. A further benefit or this tape is its rubber coating, which prevents it from marking walls, doors and other surfaces.
– Picture frames – Make sure your photos are picture perfect because once the tape has cured, they are ready for your wall! Before you buy your tape, try to understand the thickness of your frames and where the tape will sit. This will help you to understand the correct thickness of tape you will require.
To prepare your magnetic photo frames, we recommend you follow Eric’s step by step guide:
Step 1
Measure the length of the tape against your photo frame, marking a cut line with a pen or pencil. If you find your tape is too thick and it overhangs the back of the frame, you may need to cut them down too.
Step 2
Cut the pieces accordingly. Standard scissors are sufficient in cutting our magnetic tapes and will allow for precise, clean cuts.
Step 3
Peel away the protective cover on the self-adhesive and prepare to stick. Don’t allow the adhesive to come into contact with other materials and try to manoeuvre the tape by holding it by its edges; this will avoid the tape sticking to your fingers.
Step 4
Apply the tape to the back of your photo frame and press down, allowing a minimum of 24 hours for the adhesive to cure.
Step 5
Once the magnetic tape has cured, the newly magnetic photo frames are ready for your wall. Simply place them on and off and re-arrange them until you are happy with their position, of course ensuring they are straight! If you find the tape is not holding your frame sufficiently, apply magnetic tape to each of the 4 sides of the frame to give it more strength. In step 1, we only applied it to the top and bottom, as this is normally sufficient in holding frames in place. However, you can add more if you require.
With your photo frames on the wall, you can stand back and think a job well done! Better yet, easily update the photos and rearrange them as you please to give an updated look as and when you require!
Alternative Method
As promised, here is an alternative method of applying our magnetic photo frames for those who do not have a FerroPaint® wall.
For this method, we are going to create a magnetic fixing point against your wall. To start, you will need a circular disc magnet with a self-adhesive backing, like the F2015SA. Please note, either a north or south polarity disc will work for this application. Once you have purchased these, peel away the sticker on the back and apply the magnet to the wall in your desired location. Please note, using self-adhesive is a much more permanent fitting and cannot be taken off easily. If you do want to take them off, due to the self-adhesive, it may pull away paint or wallpaper from the wall, however, once in place and has cured for at least 24 hours, you will have a strong fixing point for your photo frames.
At this stage, you are ready to make your frames attractive! This time, you will need an MS2002A Steel Disc with self-adhesive that you will apply to the back of your frames like so…
Once this has cured over a minimum of 24 hours, you will be able to apply your frame to your magnetic fixing point. The Neodymium magnet will attract the steel disc to the wall and hold it in place to show off your photo frame!
So there we have it, two fantastic methods for hanging photo frames with magnets! Which will you opt for? The adaptable method with magnetic tape against a ferrous wall or will you create a permanent magnetic fixing point and attract to it with a steel disc? The choice is yours, the choice is magnets!
If you have any questions regarding this or any other applications, please do not hesitate to contact our Customer Care Team on 0845 519 4701 or sales@magnetexpert.com between 8.00am and 5.30pm Monday to Friday, and they will be happy to help.
Thank you for reading.