Everything You Need to Know About Tile Stickers

Tile stickers are made durable, adhesive-backed vinyl film that is then laminated for extra protection from fading, scratching, etc. When you purchase tile stickers from a reputable seller like Quadrostyle or Snazzy Decal, the material they print on is the same material that was developed for use on outdoor signage, car wraps, etc. The material is VERY sticky and durable and it is waterproof!

This is super important. When I ordered tile stickers for the very first time for our laundry room, I had them custom cut to the exact size of our ceramic tiles. This was actually a huge mistake that I didn't realize until I ordered from Snazzy Decal on Etsy for Avery's bathroom.

Snazzy Decal offered very specific instructions about how to measure for your tile stickers and explained you should order them about 1/8″ SMALLER THAN YOUR TILES on each side. That way it leaves a small border all the way around your tile and the sticker is adhering to a perfectly flat surface all the way around (not a slope or bevel which some tiles have slightly.)

The tile sticker should not go all the way to or over the grout line at all. You can see below how the tile stickers in Attley's bathroom don't go all the way to the edge. This is what you want!

Keep in mind that pretty much all tile sticker companies will custom cut the stickers for you. So even if you only see listings for set sizes (like 12 x 12) that won't work for you, just message them and ask them if they can custom cut your size. The answer will almost certainly be yes and they will explain how you should place your order.

Not much! Be sure to vacuum up and dirt, dust, debris. Then clean your surface really well, with something like TSP.

If you are installing floor tile stickers, you may want to paint the grout lines first (if your tile stickers don't go well with your existing grout lines). As I mention in the video (embedded earlier in this post), some of the paint on our grout lines has peeled off, but I'm not surprised since I rushed painting the grout lines with leftover wall paint. I should have used porch and floor paint. Oh well! It's not hard to touch up!

SO many of you asked this! They are thin enough that you don't register there is something sitting on top of your tiles. They are not perfectly smooth. The texture feels similar to the vinyl cover on a binder. Just the tiniest bit of texture. They aren't as cold to the touch as tile, but they don't feel like cheap, plastic either. They feel pleasantly soft and smooth.

You can definitely use them on smooth ceramic tile (that's what we used them on) and porcelain tile. Many people have asked if tile stickers can be used on textured tile (think slate, travertine, etc). Based on the list of surfaces that tile stickers can and can't be used on that you can find above in this post, the answer is NO. The surface of the tile needs to be fairly smooth and the edges need to be straight.

You can use tile stickers on linoleum, vinyl or hardwood floors. If you do that, you can skip the grout lines all together by butting the tile stickers directly up to each other. If you prefer grout lines, you could paint the floor underneath and space them out to create any color grout lines you want.

Most tile sticker companies also indicate that vinyl tile decals can be used in showers since they are waterproof. I have not personally used them in a shower, but I have a friend who rents in NYC and she installed some in her shower to cover a row of accent tiles she doesn't like and reports they are holding up beautifully!

That said, I would not personally use them in a shower. Though I would not worry about them peeling off, I would worry about mold forming along the tiny edge of the tile stickers. Tile stickers are thin (about as thick as a playing card), but they aren't so thin that mold and mildew couldn't form on the edges.

I had several of you very concerned about the amount of water that will hit the tiles and if that is cause for concern. Vinyl tile stickers are waterproof! You can mop them with no issues at all. I just wouldn't use a super caustic tile cleaner. If water spills or splashes on them, just wipe it up like you would with a regular tile floor.

Of course, tile stickers should not be exposed to sitting water. If water sits on tile stickers for an extended period of time, water will eventually seep under the edges and loosen the tiles.

Nearly all tile sticker companies will custom cut the stickers for you. So even if you only see listings for set sizes (like 12″ x 12″) that won't work for you, message them and ask them if they can custom cut your size. The answer will almost certainly be yes and they will explain how you should place your order.

Great question! We ordered the pink tile stickers in Attley's bathroom from Tile Stickers With Soul. We ordered the ones in Avery's bathroom from Snazzy Decal. And we ordered the tile stickers that we used in our laundry room from Mirth Studio.

My favorite tile decals to install were the ones from Snazzy Decal because each one was cut out separately. Those from Tile Stickers With Soul are equally great quality, but they came on one big roll of backing paper which made them a bit harder to work with.

You can see some of my favorite tile sticker options at the bottom of this post :)

Tile stickers can be removed, which is why they are renter-friendly. We actually had to remove 2 tile stickers from Avery's floor when we installed a new toilet (after the old one cracked) because the shape of the toilet base was different. You have to pull pretty hard to get them off (the adhesive is strong), but they came off cleanly and in one-piece! There was no residue or stickiness left behind. Fortunately, we were able to easily replace them with 2 leftover tile stickers we had.

Well, since we ordered the wrong size tile stickers for our laundry room floor, I can tell you exactly what will go wrong. The corners of your tile stickers will start to peel up if they are too close to the grout line and/or if they overlap the grout.

Want to see what happened to our laundry room tile stickers? Just watch the short video below. This video also shows you how to install a floating tile floor, which is another option for replacing your tile floor without having to demo the old one :)

I painted and stenciled the floor in our old kitchen. And I figured out how to paint a vinyl floor in our old laundry room. We really loved both of those painted floors. They looked great and held up beautifully. I used floor and porch paint for both floors.

You can achieve the same patterns you see on tile stickers using floor paint and a stencil, but I can tell you it will take you FOREVER and the lines you can get with a stencil are not as clean and crisp. Not to mention painting tile around the toilet, vanity, and tub would be very challenging with a stencil. I would only recommend a painted and stenciled floor more for open spaces!

Installing tile stickers is quicker, easier and just as durable as paint.

They aren't as cold to the touch as tile, but they don't feel like cheap, plastic either. They feel pleasantly soft and smooth.

They aren't slippery at all when they are dry, but just like most tile, they can be a bit slippery when wet. The tile stickers we have used are no more or less slippery than the tile we covered with them.

Well, vinyl can melt if it gets too hot. So if you ever use your fireplace, I would not use vinyl tile stickers on the tile surround. If your fireplace isn't operational, then go for it!

Most tile companies say that it should be fine if the tile stickers are at least 4-inches away from a heat source. It might depend upon the exact material they are printed on, so check with whichever company you are considering ordering from.