I Ditched Basic Anchors — Here's Why

I’m testing drywall anchors from the ez anchor basic wall anchors to the new 3M claw to see what they can really hold!
Thanks to WD-40 Brand for sponsoring today’s video!

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[miket]

The Claw was designed for wire suspended frames, like big paintings and especially mirrors. Considering for what they are designed for, it's the best amongst the anchors for pictures, especially when it's reduced wall damage is taken into consideration. The screw in anchors have a love/hate relationship with me: easy to put in and just as easy to strip out the hole.

[marchuvfulz]

The failure modes in most cases suggest the drywall fails before the anchor does in almost all cases.

[aserta]

You need to have a hanger on the screw, when it's not fully in, it's not doing its job and you're giving the force a lever arm over whatever it could do. The test in indeed inconclusive. Also, on the "pull" test, you could've done it flat on the table with a see-saw type implement hanging over the table. At a known ratio on the arm, you'd balance the weights until it would pull out. Mostly because if you stop during the test (IE if you don't pull uniformly) it's not gonna give you right results either.
But it was fun watching you drop stuff on the ground!

[ifell]

Heres a tip, once you get 5mm from hammering in your plug, out a screw in it and hammer it in flush without marring up your plaster. Also when removing undo the screw until it just holds and use some pliers to pull it out 👊🏼

[Dirtyharry]

Project Farm did a massive test for wall anchors

[erljohns]

Most of the packaging has directions to put the screw fully driven then back out to where you need it.

[Scott-J]

Apartment dweller, here. The 3M claws and wire nails minimize damage and get me my deposit back. 👍

[bobt]

This is a great video! Early in the video, I put my engineering mind on hold and watched it for entertainment (with some useful information thrown in). Then I read the comments for even more laughs. You said your tests were not scientific, but the comments are full of suggestions/criticism of your techniques.

[JCParagliding]

I like your video, it was super useful for me, a guy who has never hung anything super heavy on drywall.

Its definitely as strong as I need it.

That said, what a lot of other people have said is that your pulling is causing things to fail prematurely.

When you pull and jerk with your pull, you're creating a dynamic force and the anchors or drywall will fail much earlier with dynamic loads.

[craigphillips]

I found out about the Claw anchors when I bought my new house. They get pricey, but I think they are much easier to get aligned than anything else. And when I had to pull one out, it was way less damage than using a nail or screw with anchor.

As far as holding power goes, I wouldn't hang anything more than 10 pounds or so, ESPECIALLY anything that might be pulled, without anchoring into a stud. At heavier weights, you're relying on the drywall to hold up. It might hold for awhile, but eventually the drywall can start to fatigue under stress and give out.

[GardenreetLighting]

Your thorough testing provides valuable insights into the performance and reliability of each type of anchor, helping viewers make informed decisions for their own projects.

[rolandgdean]

The hook shaped ones found on Amazon as a "Super Hooks Picture Hanger"...best for renters...NO TOOLS, totally reusable, and they leave a VERY small hole when removed. They also hold a LOT of weight for their size. Would have loved to have seen them compared to these others.

[pondersome]

The triple grip anchors with the wings work best if you partially install the screw, set the anchor in the hole, then hammer on the screw head to sink the anchor into place. If you hammer just the plastic anchor into the wall, the wedge collapses and that weakens the wings, sometimes even completely breaking them off.

[Pikero]

When you don't use them correctly, it doesn't perform as specified. Who knew

[rashkavar]

One type I didn't see here that is possibly the most impressive I've seen is a toggle bolt. This is, functionally, a bolt with a spring loaded clamp on the other end. You need to make a much bigger hole to fit this spring mechanism, but once you get it in, it spreads wide and makes a sizable platform against the interior surface of the drywall (or anything else hollow that you want to mount to securely. Once you get that spring mechanism engaged, it stays put and you can just screw in the bolt like a normal screw. I used one of these to put up a coat rack and it's stood up to all sorts of abuse over the years. The downside is, I'm not sure if I'm ever getting that coat rack down again. (Which is honestly fine, anything wall mounted with preset holes that aren't 16 inch spaced is not a thing I need to bring with me when I move.)

Much like what you said, there's a limit of strength at which you're just looking at the failure of the drywall and your only solution is to involve more drywall - this is the solution that involves the most drywall.

[arnoldmarcus]

I have great success with the yellow 20lb anchors. They’re my go to for anything that isn’t picture frames. They leave small holes compared to most others and they hold firm if installed correctly (pre drill hole, don’t over tighten the screw).

For picture frames I use finishing nails at an angle. My wife often just uses thumbtacks and they work great for small pictures. People way over think hanging things.

[dfoster]

I use the winged anchors and you have to actually tighten the screw to fully deploy the wings. They do get very strong if tightened fully but very weak if not tight.

[ausdeanhardman]

Loved it when the scales went to KG - It then made more sense :D .
Any chance to could provide metric numbers as well? So the rest of the world can understand the measures?
//I'm saying this with a jest 😆 - but some mm, cm, m, g and kg would be great!

[timmeyer]

The Velcro strips work awesome are super quick to install and remove with zero damage

[thecaptainFR]

I'm surprised to not see met Molly expanding Wall Anchors. You don't have it in USA ? (we use that a lot in France) From what I know it's really strong.