Command Strips Are A Big Fat Lie

Command Strips are a big fat lie. They certainly work well when it comes to holding stuff on the wall, that's not the problem. It's the part about them pulling off the wall clean that doesn't work.

I have never, ever, had Command Strips pull off the wall cleanly. The first time it happened to me, when we were leaving our Lubbock apartment I thought I did it wrong. I thought it was my fault that it pulled all the layers of paint off the wall.

So the next time I had to pull Command Strips off the wall I thought. I'm going to read the removal instructions before I do it. So I did. The key according to the Command website is to pull down slowly against the wall stretching it about a foot and a half to release the strip. It didn't work. And off came a chunk of the wall.

So when I recently used Command Strips to hang this "now playing" shelf to display the LP jacket of the records I play on my stereo I followed Command's application instructions to the letter. After a few weeks Kathy mentioned to me she thought the shelf was a little high, and we needed to lower it three or four inches.

This required pulling off the shelf, removing and replacing the Command Strips, and replacing them three or four inches lower on the wall. It was no problem to pull the velcro apart to detach the shelf. That part worked perfectly. Then it came time to remove the part of the velcro adhered to the wall.

I thought at the time, I should let my wife do it. Wait until the morning. Let her try her hand at removing the velcro because I obviously can't remove it correctly. Then I thought, no, I can do this. Once again I did everything right. And once again a chunk of the wall came off with the strips.

I thought I might be the only one that had this problem. Yet, over a slice at Mazzio's, I was telling this story to Mike. Who knew exactly what I was talking about. He's had the same experience with Command Strips that I've had. And I bet if we've had this problem. It's certainly a problem others have had too.

Of course, it's all good. It's a first-world problem, and as the picture proves, Kathy fixed it.