Thread: Asking for tips on hanging cheesecloth and other fabrics

Tweet

Hello all, I live in northeast Tennessee and our Octobers can get pretty windy. I'd love to know how some of you might have succeeded in keeping your fabrics from blowing away outside.

Also, I am hoping to really creep my front porch out this year with spider webs, fabrics, and a spider victim (he's not exactly light so I'm not sure how to hang him in general) but I really need ways of hanging it from underneath the porch that doesn't require any permanent damage like nails, etc. Can any of you recommend anything? My wife will let me do just about anything I want for Halloween but if I damage the house, I'm in trouble LOL. Thanks in advance everyone!

*edit* I would also love to know which fabrics are safe to hang around lights without catching my house on fire

Have you tried using plastic zip ties? Can be found at either Home Depot or Lowes, are available in many different sizes, and made of either white or black plastic.

What sort of surface are we talking about? Brick, stucco, wood, siding...

I have permanently installed eyebolts (small ones) on the roofline eaves of my house about every 4 feet... we even painted them so they blend into house. They were there for originally for hanging x-mas lights, but I use them more for hanging props and as places to snag webbing for Halloween.

If they are neat and orderly, would she object to permanent tiny modifications?

If so, then you'll need to get creative... I know there are brick clips that are temporary, same thing for siding. Stucco is WAY more of a problem, tho.

Originally Posted by Frankie's Girl

What sort of surface are we talking about? Brick, stucco, wood, siding...

I have permanently installed eyebolts (small ones) on the roofline eaves of my house about every 4 feet... we even painted them so they blend into house. They were there for originally for hanging x-mas lights, but I use them more for hanging props and as places to snag webbing for Halloween.

If they are neat and orderly, would she object to permanent tiny modifications?

If so, then you'll need to get creative... I know there are brick clips that are temporary, same thing for siding. Stucco is WAY more of a problem, tho.

I think she would be fine if it was tidy and looked nice. Underneath the porch overhang is all vinyl siding. LOL I might be able to talk her into it since she likes decorating for Christmas as well.

Originally Posted by Saruman of Many Colours

Have you tried using plastic zip ties? Can be found at either Home Depot or Lowes, are available in many different sizes, and made of either white or black plastic.

I think I could zip tie the cloth to fixtures such as my porch light but not sure how Id use them when hanging things under my porch.

On another note: has anyone seen those (supposedly) non-damaging sticky hangers you can get at Target to hang things on? I'm curious if they actually work without damaging my property to find out

Originally Posted by Hoodoo_Hermit

On another note: has anyone seen those (supposedly) non-damaging sticky hangers you can get at Target to hang things on? I'm curious if they actually work without damaging my property to find out

If you're talking about Command Strip Hooks, they are awesome. I use them on all kinds of surfaces and they come right off when I'm ready but not a minute before.

Is your porch ceiling vinyl siding too? I always staple things to my roof. The drywall takes a regular officer stapler well for light things, and an outdoor stapler works too if I'm worried about weight. I don't think I'd use it on vinyl though.
Depending on the size and configuration of the porch, you could use the tension style curtain rods and then drape/zip-tie/whatnot from them. Would magnets work anywhere?

And the Command Hooks work very well too.

Originally Posted by Madame Leota

If you're talking about Command Strip Hooks, they are awesome. I use them on all kinds of surfaces and they come right off when I'm ready but not a minute before.

Awesome! I may have to try those then.

Originally Posted by RunawayOctober

Is your porch ceiling vinyl siding too? I always staple things to my roof. The drywall takes a regular officer stapler well for light things, and an outdoor stapler works too if I'm worried about weight. I don't think I'd use it on vinyl though.
Depending on the size and configuration of the porch, you could use the tension style curtain rods and then drape/zip-tie/whatnot from them. Would magnets work anywhere?

And the Command Hooks work very well too.

Unfortunately it is made of vinyl So it looks like the command hooks are my best option. Do you know how much weight those things hold? I'm sure the package tells you. I need to take my lazy butt over to target and check LOL. Thanks for the relpies

Vinyl siding is awesome for fabric hanging. There are many seams in siding along edges and such to tuck farbic into for hanging. But hanging it is one thing. Having it stay put is another. Hanging creepy cloth and fabric is usually best done halloween day as a last minute detail touch. Wind will wipe out all your hard work if you do it too far ahead of time. Good luck this year. We get wind too. It's mainly a game of wait and see if it calms down by nighfall, which many times it does. It sure would be nice to have a calm, wind/rain free night this year.

I started using chessecloth and creepy cloth last year when I got tired of putting nail holes all over the front porch to hold spider webs. Our porch has a gutter across the front, so I stapled the cloth to a 2-inch dowel cut to the length of the gutter, then tied some twine around one end of the dowel. You put the dowel up in the gutter, then cut the fabric to the length and raggedy edge that you want. Day after Halloween I just yanked on the twine to pop the dowel out of the gutter, then rolled the whole thing up for storage.

Originally Posted by Schattenmann

I started using chessecloth and creepy cloth last year when I got tired of putting nail holes all over the front porch to hold spider webs. Our porch has a gutter across the front, so I stapled the cloth to a 2-inch dowel cut to the length of the gutter, then tied some twine around one end of the dowel. You put the dowel up in the gutter, then cut the fabric to the length and raggedy edge that you want. Day after Halloween I just yanked on the twine to pop the dowel out of the gutter, then rolled the whole thing up for storage.

Schattenmann: Wow that sounds like a great solution. I'll have to check out the layout over my porch and see what I can come up with. Thanks for the great tip.

Originally Posted by Shockwave199

Vinyl siding is awesome for fabric hanging. There are many seams in siding along edges and such to tuck farbic into for hanging. But hanging it is one thing. Having it stay put is another. Hanging creepy cloth and fabric is usually best done halloween day as a last minute detail touch. Wind will wipe out all your hard work if you do it too far ahead of time. Good luck this year. We get wind too. It's mainly a game of wait and see if it calms down by nighfall, which many times it does. It sure would be nice to have a calm, wind/rain free night this year.

Shockwave: Yea I might have to wait and do the light weight cloths until a day or so before. Last year the wind was crazy, that's why I'm going to attempt and do the pvc pipe and rebar trick for my cheap tombstones. I would love to do the spider webs earlier than that along with my spider victim so perhaps I can gauge how well the webs are doing and decide when to hang my cloth. I'd rather loose webs any day than a ton of fabric. I will certainly be tucking some cloth up in the seems though; thanks for the tip