Fill a small hole in a white wall

3M CLAW hooks go into plasterboard by hand, with no drill, but they leave a small hole when you take them out. That is the “Small hole” tag on our product pages. It is nothing like the hole a wall plug leaves: on a white wall, a few everyday products and a little patience are enough to make it disappear.

This guide works for any small hole of this kind, whatever made it. For a bigger hole, crumbling plasterboard or a crack, you need another method (a mesh patch, thicker filler), so ask at a DIY shop.

What you need

• A light filler (spackle), ready-mixed or powder you mix yourself, made for plasterboard and painted walls.
• A small putty knife (a few centimetres wide is plenty).
• Fine sandpaper, ideally wrapped around a sanding block.
• A dry cloth, then a slightly damp one, to remove the dust.
• A primer that suits your paint.
• Touch-up paint as close as possible to the wall’s, and a small roller or a brush.
• A utility knife, to trim any bits of paper that stick out, and a torch (flashlight) to check the result.

The steps

1. Remove the hook as the manufacturer’s instructions say, without forcing it or damaging the wall around it.
2. Prepare the hole. Brush away dust and crumbs of plaster. If the paper of the plasterboard is lifted or frayed around the hole, press it flat or trim it with the knife so the edge is clean.
3. Fill it. Take a little filler on the knife and press it into the hole until it is full, then scrape across with the knife held almost flat against the wall. A very slight surplus is better than digging out the hole: you will sand it.
4. Let it dry for as long as the packaging says (see below). If the filler has shrunk and the hole is not quite full, add a thin second coat and let it dry again.
5. Sand gently, flat and with small movements, until the patch is level with the wall. Run your hand over it, then look along the wall from the side: you should neither feel nor see a bump or a dip. Wipe off the dust.
6. Prime the filler only, or just a little beyond it. Let it dry.
7. Paint in thin coats, with the wall’s paint (see the next section), letting each coat dry before the next.

Drying times

There is no universal figure: it depends on the product, the depth of the hole, the temperature and how humid the room is. Always follow the packaging of each product you use: filler, primer and paint each have their own drying time and their own time before the next coat.

• Filler must be dry all the way through before you sand. Some fillers change colour as they dry, which helps you see when it is ready (check the packaging), but a deeper hole takes longer than a light surface touch-up.
• Primer must be dry before you paint.
• Paint can feel dry to the touch long before it reaches its final colour and finish: judge the result once it is fully dry.

In practice, plan to spread the job over a day, sometimes two. So do not leave it to the evening before your move-out inspection.

Getting an invisible finish on a white wall

A white wall is unforgiving. A poor touch-up shows because it is shinier, flatter or a slightly different white, not because of the hole itself.

• Do not skip the primer. Filler soaks up paint differently from the rest of the wall. Without primer the patch stands out as a dull spot, an effect painters sometimes call “flashing”.
• Match the finish. Matt, satin or gloss: the same white in another finish gives itself away as soon as light skims the wall.
• Match the texture. A wall painted with a roller has a slight grain. A brush leaves marks, so a small roller copies the original grain better.
• Feather the edges. Paint in light dabs, going a little beyond the filled area and not loading the centre, so you do not end up with a disc thicker than the rest of the wall.
• Check with a torch. Hold the light almost flat against the wall: raking light shows dips, bumps and differences in finish better than anything. Do this before painting, then again once the paint is dry.
• On an older wall, a local touch-up can stay visible. White walls yellow or wear with time, and fresh white no longer quite matches. Repainting the whole stretch of wall from one corner to the next then gives a more even result, but read the next section first.

If you rent

• Reread your lease and your move-in inventory. They say what condition the wall was handed over in and what the landlord expects when you leave. Some accept small filled holes, others want the wall repainted: if in doubt, ask the landlord or the agency in writing.
• Find the right paint. Ask the landlord or the agency for the reference, or check whether a tin was left in the home. Otherwise a paint shop can often match a colour from a small sample of wall: take it from somewhere discreet.
• Do not repaint a whole wall without agreement, unless your lease allows it: talk to the landlord first.
• Do your touch-ups early and take photos before and after, so you can show the state of the wall when you leave.
• Do not put a hook back into the old hole. The manufacturer advises against it, even for a hole made by another 3M CLAW hook: fill it first.

Common mistakes

• One thick coat of filler. It shrinks, cracks and dries badly. Two thin coats are better.
• Sanding before the filler is dry, or too hard, or over too wide an area: you damage the paint around it and hollow out the patch.
• Forgetting to dust before priming and painting: dust leaves visible grains.
• Skipping the primer. It is the most common reason a touch-up shows.
• Picking a white that is “roughly the same” or another finish (matt, satin) than the wall.
• Dabbing a small round of paint with a brush on an otherwise untouched wall, without feathering the edges.
• Judging too soon. Fresh paint often looks darker or shinier than when dry: wait before deciding whether you need a second coat.
• Plugging the hole with whatever is at hand (toothpaste, soap, wax): these do not last and can stop paint from sticking.

This guide gives general advice. Always follow the instructions of each product you use, and the hook manufacturer’s instructions for removing it.