I'd go out and find some pin brads, 23 gauge or so, and tap them in way up near the ceiling then hang the lights from them. Only use a few to support the lights. When you move, the holes are so small that they can be filled with spackle and no one will ever see them. That said, if the landlord ever comes in to fix something, well, busted.

Painters tape will peel the paint if left on long enough (maybe around 1 year).

Easiest thing to do is to talk to your landlord and ask if you can do this.. Most landlords paint an apartment inbetween tenants... if your landlord does that, then they may not care about superficial damage to the paint.

If they tell you that you'll have to repaint the apartment, then just don't bother messing with the walls.

I have had good luck with 3m command strips with hooks on them. I just don't like putting holes in walls. 😉

At my last house, we had some pictures on the walls for 5+ years. If I rushed when removing them, then I damaged the paint, but if I took my time, they came off with little to no damage.

Your mileage may vary. Good luck.

Masking tape will bond over time to suraface and cause issues.

3M Command strips, best removable tape there is, at a cost.,test inconspicuous area etc..

Nano tape, cheaper, good on glass and glossy surfaces, bit more hit and miss removal on matt and paper finishes.

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You could mount them to long wooden boards painted to match your wall color. Then you could attach them at three points for reduced damage.

Command hooks by 3M

Double-sided SUPER sticky foam tabs maybe? I know you said no thumb tacks, but did you try simply placing push pins above and below the strip to hold it in place?

Silicone caulk clear

Anything from 3M's Command product line that fits your needs will work wonders. Holds great and leaves no residue.

These

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07DR7QMCT?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

The tape to apply them might. It is not a big deal since you can repaint the wall.

Depends on the kind you get I guess, I'd suggest looking for some description of non-damaging tape to secure them.

I don't plan on removing my lights ever so I use stronger double sided tape instead, because no matter what you get the adhesive backing is weak

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Buy an aluminum channel and mount it upside down so it fully covers the old strip. Mount new strip to the (bottom of) new channel.

Do your LED light strips feel too hot to touch after being on all day? I don't really see how any LED light strip brands I'm familiar with could be a fire hazard, they don't' get that hot. If you can touch it, it's definitely not going to start a fire.

Try giving the command strips more time to "set" after sticking them on the wall, and before hanging your lights on them. I've found in my experience, that they stay up better if you let the glue "set" to a textured wall before loading the command strip.

If the command strips just don't work for you, I am pleased to inform you that patching and painting nail holes is actually super easy, and takes about 2 minutes, so if you decide to use nails to mount them, it's not a big deal, as long as you have a can of the correct color of paint lying around somewhere in the house. (most places I've rented from did have buckets or cans of the default wall paint somewhere in the building).

You should be fine. My LED’s don’t get that hot and I’ve had no issues so far

Shit,, white toothpaste will work for those holes should you need any. No one will know if you paint the toothpaste

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Yes...you do. Scrape any dried paint off and then sand it and mud over it and sand and smooth out. Prime and paint. My son did the same thing in his room.

Actually...looking closer...if you are not doing a repaint...just sand those few minor places and repaint and touch-up that small area...it's pretty minor....

It’s tough to try to fill shallow holes . Maybe sand to attempt at evening out the surface , may just chip More. Little you can do.

Nah.

Nah, use a delicate tape if you’re not painting the white wall too

I fucked up so many walls with strips over the years and eventually said “fuck it” and got lamps and just swapped to Smart Bulbs.

Not exactly a solution to the issue of hanging string lights but an alternative I ended up finding to be pretty solid

Thumb tacks

1. Cut painters tape to shape similar to command strip.
2. Put painters tape on wall in desired location.
3. Apply command strip on top of painters tape.