Yes, with care. A sticker holds on most smooth, fully cured painted walls. The risk is at the other end of its life: the adhesive can end up gripping the paint better than the paint grips the wall, and then the sticker takes paint with it when it comes off.
Before you stick
- Let fresh paint cure. Paint that's dry to the touch can take weeks to cure fully, and a sticker put on too soon can blister or bond into the soft paint. The paint can gives the full cure time.
- Expect flat and matte paint to be the hardest. It's porous and chalky, so stickers hold less well and are more likely to pull paint when they come off. Eggshell, satin, and semi-gloss are easier.
- Watch out for washable, stain-resistant paints. Some are made so things wipe off them, and adhesive can struggle on those too.
- Dust the spot with a dry or barely damp cloth, and let it dry. Go easy with alcohol on paint.
Test it first
Put one sticker somewhere out of sight, inside a closet or behind a door, and leave it for a week or two. Then take it off the way you would for real. If paint comes with it, you've found out on the wall nobody sees.
Taking it off
Warm the sticker with a hair dryer on low, then peel slowly, almost flat against itself, rather than pulling it straight away from the wall. Stop and warm it again whenever it resists. Stickers that have been up for years are the hardest. More in how to remove a sticker cleanly.
Other options
- On glass and mirrors, Window Cling holds by static rather than adhesive and leaves nothing behind. It's made for glass, so it isn't for painted walls. See how Window Cling works.
- Skip High-Tack Stickers on any wall you want back. They're made to resist removal. See are your stickers removable or permanent?