How to remove metal hooks from walls

What is the best way to remove the newer style picture hooks?
//www.screwfix.com/sfd/i/cat/72/p1657772_l.jpg

I have some of these on an interior wall which is made of plastered
brickwork. Some hooks have been painted over and some have not.

If I prise the hooks off with a screwdriver (protecting the wall with
a steel rule placed under the screwdriver blade) then I can see I
might take out a chunck of wall plaster.

If I yank the hooks off with a mole wrench then I will probably also
remove plaster. Or maybe the plastic surround of the hook comes away
first and I can then take each pin out with pliers?

Q.1 -- What method of removal miminises the damage to the wall, given
that I already have several of these in the wall?

Q.2 -- Is there a way to fix these in future (perhaps by not
hammering the pins right in???) which permit them to come away with
less wall damage?

WM said:

What is the best way to remove the newer style picture hooks?
//www.screwfix.com/sfd/i/cat/72/p1657772_l.jpg

Q.1 -- What method of removal miminises the damage to the wall, given
that I already have several of these in the wall?

Pull or carefully pry them STRAIGHT away from the wall. Those hangers
are constructed to resist forces that primarily pull down towards the floor.

Q.2 -- Is there a way to fix these in future (perhaps by not
hammering the pins right in???) which permit them to come away with
less wall damage?

If you remove them by pulling them straight away, the wall damage will
be minimal.

Any small holes you'll have can be easily filled with spackle, smoothed
with a damp sponge, and touched up with paint.

This won't help you right now, but I'll share it. A few years ago, as I
painted rooms, I started storing labeled mason jars with leftover paint.
I store them upside down to create a liquid seal which keeps the paint
fresh. Each jar is labeled with a date, color name and brand, sheen,
and the room I used it. The mason jars are very handy for touch-ups and
much easier to deal with than the original containers.

WM formulated the question :

What is the best way to remove the newer style picture hooks?
//www.screwfix.com/sfd/i/cat/72/p1657772_l.jpg

I have some of these on an interior wall which is made of plastered
brickwork. Some hooks have been painted over and some have not.

If I prise the hooks off with a screwdriver (protecting the wall with
a steel rule placed under the screwdriver blade) then I can see I
might take out a chunck of wall plaster.

If the pins all go in at exactly the same angle, then they should come
out without too much difficulty, just tap them up/down/left/right to
loosen them - then a straight pull with pliers or what ever.

If however the pins enter at different angles, all I can suggest is
melting the plastic with an hot air gun to enable the pin heads to be
gripped and pulled out straight.

Soften the plastic (with a hot air gun or soldering iron) until it
slips off the pins. Then tap the pins until flush with the wall surface.

What is the best way to remove the newer style picture hooks?
//www.screwfix.com/sfd/i/cat/72/p1657772_l.jpg

Same as cable clips - get an old pair of carpenter's pincers, heat them
up (wear a glove!) and use the jaws to melt their way through the
plastic until they get a good grip on the pins.

Mr Fuxit said:

Soften the plastic (with a hot air gun or soldering iron) until it
slips off the pins. Then tap the pins until flush with the wall surface.

I would recommend against applying a 600 degree airflow to a painted wall.
I imagine it'd be far harder to deal with burned paint than three little
dings in the plaster.

: Q.2 -- Is there a way to fix these in future (perhaps by not
: hammering the pins right in???) which permit them to come away with
: less wall damage?

Use the kind with very thin, hardened steel nails. They go right
into brick, and right out with a pair of pliers. All ACE Hardwares carry
them.

-- Andy Barss

Andrew said:

Use the kind with very thin, hardened steel nails. They go right
into brick, and right out with a pair of pliers. All ACE Hardwares
carry them.

And they pull a big chunk of plaster out with them when they come out IME.

And with the bricks on my last house they bend buckle and tear out big
chuinks on the way in as well.

But then again I could blunt a masonry bit in one hole on those bricks...