How to hang or frame a scratch off map

By the Double Rainbow Reviews Team. Updated November 11, 2026.

A normal poster goes behind glass and stays there. A scratch off map has to come out every time you get home from somewhere new, and that changes what a good frame looks like.

Check the size before you buy a frame

Common US poster frames are 18 x 24 and 24 x 36 inches. Plenty of scratch off maps are neither. A 24 x 17 inch map is an inch short in an 18 x 24 frame, so you need a mat or a gap you'll notice. A 36 x 24 inch map drops straight into a 24 x 36 frame.

Measure the map itself. Sizes on listings get rounded.

Four ways to hang one

1. A magnetic poster hanger

Two pairs of wooden bars with magnets inside clamp the top and bottom edges, and the map hangs from a cord. There's no glass, so you can scratch it on the wall or lift the whole thing down in a few seconds. You buy one by the width of the map: a 24 inch hanger for a 24 inch wide map.

Landmass, which sponsors this site, sells them in teak and black. So do a lot of other sellers. Check that the bars are a little wider than the map.

2. A frame with no glazing

BestReviews suggests framing a scratch map without the glass or acrylic front so you don't have to take it out of the frame every time you scratch.¹ It looks more finished than a hanger. The foil is exposed, so keep it away from anywhere people brush past.

3. A frame with glass

The best protection and the most hassle. It makes sense for a map that's mostly done, or if you only travel once a year and don't mind opening the back.

4. Corkboard

Mount the map on corkboard and you can add pins for cities, which a scratch map can't show by itself.¹ Pin through the margin if you can. Holes in the foil don't close.

Where to hang it

Somewhere cool and dry, out of direct sun. Heat and damp make the foil harder to scratch as it ages, so skip the wall above a radiator and any wall that gets damp.²

If it arrives rolled

Lay it flat, face up, on a clean table with a few books on the corners for a day. Don't crease it and don't roll it tightly the other way. The foil can crack along a hard bend.

Our top 5 scratch off world mapsFive maps compared on detail, foil, paper, extras and price. Sponsored by Landmass.