It's that exciting time of year again when all those festive decorations come out of storage. It also happens to be the season of inclement weather. Depending on where you are, that inclement weather can turn down right severe.
The type of weather that can quickly tear your outdoor decorations down if you haven't used the right clips. To prevent a strong gust of wind from turning your hours of hard work into a pile of flashing lights and glitter, you need some strong clips that fit your home materials and the type of decorations you're fastening.
We've done the research for you. We considered all the options available. And we put this list of reviews together to help you choose the best outdoor decorating clips in 2021.
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Why You Can Trust Us
I used to work on luxury yachts on the high seas. I can tell you with certainty that the rich and famous love to decorate their floating hotels when the holidays roll around. It looks great, but it's a stressful time for the crew on board.
Between securing the decorations so they don't come crashing down and doing so without damaging the immaculate surface of the yacht, it's a full time job. With that said, I have plenty of experience securing decorations in less than ideal weather conditions.
So before you get to decorating your house these holidays, take a look at these DIY outdoor Christmas decoration ideas to get your creative juices flowing. Then make sure everything will stay in place by making sure you have secured your decor.
And now for the final piece of the puzzle. One of the most important elements of keeping your decorative items tight and secure during any severe weather events that might happen over the holiday season. The right clips are versatile, strong, and easy to use. Check out our reviews of the best outdoor decorating clips on the market today.
Best Heavy Duty
These heavy duty stainless steel clips fit easily in between your vinyl siding. Easy to install and easy to remove
- Heavy duty stainless steel
- Rust proof
- Simple installation
- Only works with vinyl siding
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Why We Like It: These vinyl siding decoration hooks are extra strength for heavier decorations. The strong hooks are made from 304 stainless steel that will never rust or stain your siding.
This pack contains 20 hooks, a generous amount for the price. They easily roll into any seam in your siding for simple installation and removal. You can decorate a relatively large space, and the extra strength hooks mean you can hang some of your heavier decorations without worrying about them crashing to the ground.
Who Should Buy It: Are you looking for some heavy-duty stainless steel decorating hooks to attach to your vinyl siding? If so, then this is the product for you.
Best Adhesive Clips
The adhesive backing of these clear light clips stick to a wide variety of surfaces. They also don't leave sticky residue behind when removed.
- Clear color blends in
- Sticks to most surfaces
- Won't leave sticky residue behind
- Will damage surfaces that were prepared poorly
- Can't handle much weight
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Why We Like It: This pack of 45 clear decorating clips are as easy to use as they are versatile. The strong adhesive backing sticks on a huge range of surfaces without leaving any sticky residue behind when you remove them.
They are suitable for both indoor and outdoor use thanks to their sturdy plastic construction. This pack of 45 will give you plenty of clips to decorate large spaces. These clips are subtle because they’re clear and can be removed without damaging the surface underneath. It's recommended to use one clip per 2 feet of lights.
Who Should Buy It: This product is a great option for those of you who have a large space that requires decorating clips this holiday season.
Best Large Pack Of Clips
Completely customizable decoration clips that seamlessly clip onto gutters or slip between shingles.
- Customizable
- Versatile
- Tool-free installation
- Small clips
- Each clips needs assembly depending on configuration
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Why We Like It: Versatile, easy-to-use, and customizable. These strong, plastic clips slide under your shingles or clip onto your gutters for a seamless look.
The positioning can even be modified, meaning you can point your seasonal decorations up or down or secure your bulbs at any angle you’d like. They are also built to be weather resistant, so they shouldn’t crack in freezing temperatures or fade in the sun. This pack comes with 400 clips, enough to deck out your entire house with Christmas lights or decorations.
Who Should Buy It: A pack of these clips is the perfect companion for those who go all out with their Christmas decorating.
Best For Vinyl Siding
Stainless steel hangers that roll into the seams of your siding for hassle free hanging.
- Easy to remove and relocate
- Low profile design
- Rust and stain free
- Only works for vinyl siding
- Can't handle much weight
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Why We Like It: High-quality, stainless steel clips that don’t require any tools or hardware to install. What’s not to like? These easy-to-use decorating clips fit seamlessly in between the siding of your house. No drilling or tools necessary.
They’re simple to uninstall and move too, without leaving so march as a mark on your siding. The stainless steel construction ensures that you won’t have to deal with rust issues either, even in coastal locations.
Who Should Buy It: If your house is clad in vinyl siding, and you’re looking for some decoration clips that are easy to install and remove without leaving a mark, these are the ones for you.
Best For Versatility
These versatile hanging clips are perfect for hanging decorations on gutters, handrails, and underneath shingles.
- Versatile attachment points
- Wide range of uses
- Weather resistant
- Sturdy clips may be difficult to install
- No color choices, only white available
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Why We Like It: Here we have some simple clips that can be mounted in various ways to display various decorations. The spiral mounting design means these clips attach easily onto railings, gutters, or underneath shingles.
The clips fit different-sized decorations for a variety of choices. Whether it’s string lights, rope lights, or something else entirely, these clips are a quick and easy way to keep them in place. The neutral color means they’ll blend into most color palettes. As long as your surface was prepared properly before finishing, they won’t cause damage to surfaces or leave marks behind when you eventually have to take them down.
Who Should Buy It: Do you need a lot of clips that are easy to install and remove and will hold a variety of decorations? Well, then you’re in luck. The ease of installation will save you time if you have a huge amount of decorations that need to go up on your house.
Decorating Without Damage
One of the biggest risks with decorating your entire house is damaging it in the process. This can happen in a number of ways. The most common being damage from improperly secured decorations falling down or from the adhesive backing on some decorations damaging the surface of your home.
Let's address improperly secured decorations first. The best way to avoid this is to get the right clips to fit your home and the materials it is made from. The vinyl siding hangers in the list above work well for houses clad in vinyl siding. If your house is clad in wood or aluminum siding, for example, these clips probably won't keep your decorations in place for very long. Make sure you get the right clips for the job.
The bigger and heavier the decorations, the more heavy-duty your clips should be. A few little plastic clips aren't going to hold a 20 foot Santa on your roof during a blizzard. So make sure to match your clips to the size and weight of the decorations you're using.
Look for the load rating of the clips you're using to get an idea of what they can handle. If the clips don't have a load rating, you can assume they're intended for lighter decorations and lights and aren't strong enough for the larger ones.
Image credits: Bob Ricca via Unsplash
Prevention Is Better Than Cure
There are things you can do to prevent adhesive clips from damaging the surface of your home when you remove them. The first happens long before you do any decoration as it has to do with surface preparation.
For houses with smooth surfaces, if the surface wasn't prepared and primed properly before finishing, any adhesive clips are going to take the paint off when you remove them. The same can be said for paint that is old or peeling.
The next thing is to make sure that the adhesive on the back of the clips isn't too strong. This will ensure that they're easier to remove when the time comes and that you won't take any of your surface material off. The downside is that adhesive clips can't hold too much weight.
Finally, always remember to remove the clips when you're done using them. There's a big temptation to leave them up for the year, especially if you're using discreet siding hangers, but this isn't recommended. The longer you leave them up, the harder they'll be to take down. And the more likely you are to damage outdoor surfaces in the process.
This also applies to adhesive clips. Adhesive clips are often made from plastic which deteriorates when exposed to the weather. So if you leave them up all year there's a good chance they'll become brittle more quickly which is something we want to avoid.
Image credits: James Wheeler via Unsplash
How We Picked
As always, we want to make sure that we recommend the best products that fit a wide range of needs. To do this, we identified some criteria for what makes the best outdoor decorating clips and used it to guide our choices. The criteria were as follows:
- Versatility. Holiday decorations come in all shapes and sizes. Specialized decoration clips are limited in their use because of the diversity of the decorations being used. We made sure to only include clips that can be used with a wide range of decorations.
- Low damage potential. There is always the potential for your holiday decorations to damage your house in some way. Using the correct clips can greatly reduce the potential for that damage. The clips in the list above won't damage your home if you use them correctly.
- Aesthetics. You wouldn't want ugly clips ruining your whole display, would you? It's a possibility, so we only included clips that are discreet or not too noticeable.
Image credits: Andy Holmes via Unsplash
Last Word
After all the research and selection process to choose the products for this list, these vinyl siding hooks are the best choice. The heavy-duty stainless steel construction won't buckle or rust for years to come. They simply roll into the seam between two siding boards for easy installation and removal. They won't damage your house or even leave a mark when you take them down. If that's not enough, they're also rated for 25lbs per hook, the highest-rated hook on this list.
Siding hooks won't work for everybody, but there are other options that fit a range of fixing points. Some even claim to be universal. So whatever your situation, you'll find decorating clips that fit your need on the list above.