Modern materials for interior decoration of houses and apartments include vinyl wallpaper with a non-woven base. This is not quite an ordinary material, and the technology for working with it differs from gluing traditional paper sheets. Let's look at the important features of this coating and find out how to properly glue non-woven wallpaper.
Attractive sides of vinyl sheets
Non-woven vinyl is a high quality synthetic material. It is a two-layer coating:
- The base is a non-woven fabric, consisting of cellulose fibers. Possessing high plasticity, it is in many ways superior to paper counterparts. The material fits well on the surface, smoothes and adheres to it. In this case, the adhesive is applied only to the wall.
- The front part of the vinyl wallpaper is polyvinyl chloride. This layer can be structural (made of foamed vinyl), smooth, coarsely embossed, hot stamped, with silk threads woven.
Some of these wallpapers, specially designed for painting, can be repeatedly painted, changing the interior of the room. They perfectly hide the defects of the walls and mask the flaws in the layout. Vinyl canvases are used in interiors decorated in different styles. This is a functional material with high performance characteristics: it will not have to be changed for a long time.
Vinyl products are heavier in weight and bulkier in format. Rolls have different widths: from the traditional 53 cm to 70, 100 cm. The length varies and is 10, 15 and 20 meters. Wide canvases after gluing give the impression of a coating without seams. Such wallpapers are more expensive than paper-based material, but they attract consumers with their quality and excellent decorative effect.
Materials and tools for working with vinyl wallpaper
When purchasing vinyl wallpaper based on non-woven fabric as a wall covering, you need to take care of the selection of a special glue. The usual paste or composition for paper sheets is not suitable. You should not take universal dry mixes: they may contain components that are harmful to this coating. The accompanying instructions for using vinyl wallpaper indicate the type of adhesive most suitable for attaching the canvas to the surface.
For preparatory work before wallpapering and the main process need to buy:
- putty or other material that levels the walls;
- primer composition;
- soft and hard (rubber) rollers;
- brush;
- sharp clerical knife, scissors;
- plumb.
If you do not have the skill to work with vinyl products, you should start with canvases of the usual size: 53 cm wide and 10 m long. For beginners, it is recommended to use a solid color coating without large patterns that require fitting. Only having mastered the technique of handling such wallpaper, you can try to work with large-format products.
Preparatory stage
Before gluing wallpaper on the walls, the surfaces must be prepared.
- Removing the old coating: wallpaper, paint or other.
- Clean the base from glue and widen cracks.
- Apply a layer primers.
- Carry out the elimination of wall defects with the help of putty diluted to the optimum density.
- Again apply liquid soil.
It is not necessary to thoroughly smooth the surface and make it absolutely even. The selected wallpaper will perfectly cope with this task.
Cutting cloths
To properly prepare the material itself, you need to do the following:
- Even at the stage of purchasing wallpaper, you need to check the batch numbers. Otherwise, the tubes may differ in shade.If you overlooked and one roll does not match the others in tone, it can be used for pasting hard-to-reach places, above window or door openings, in the corners. Where the color difference will not be conspicuous.
- Measure the height of the wall with a centimeter tape, add 5 to it–7 cm for allowances on top and bottom. This value is transferred to the wallpaper canvas and cut off the desired length. The next strips are compared with the first. If the products have an abstract pattern, they do not need to be customized. With a large and small ornament, a combination of lines will be required. It is better to do this on the floor, using 2 rolls at the same time.
Advice. It will be easier to align the strips glued to the wall if you first apply markings to the surface: vertical lines, the distance between which is equal to the width of the roll.
Preparation and application of the adhesive
The nuances of working with glue for non-woven fabrics:
- Adhesive for vinyl wallpaper is sold dry. Before application, it is diluted with water in the ratio indicated on the packaging bag. Its consistency may be slightly thicker than the manufacturers require.
- The main feature of non-woven wallpaper is that the adhesive mass is not applied to the canvas itself, as for other materials, but only to the wall. For the stability of the coating, you can additionally coat the edges of the strips.
- The composition applied to the wall dries quickly enough, so you do not need to immediately cover a large area of \u200b\u200bthe surface with it. In one step, it is necessary to apply glue to a fragment of the wall, slightly exceeding the width of the wallpaper roll. The marking lines drawn earlier will serve as reference points.
Working with wallpaper
The process of gluing vinyl sheets on non-woven fabric will look like this:
- Begin pasting the walls most often from the window, continuing to move clockwise. You can read about other options for the "starting point" here.
- The segments prepared for gluing are rolled up into a roll or in several rows, so that it is convenient to take them and transfer them to the surface.
- The upper edge of the strip is applied to the wall smeared with glue, leaving an allowance for the ceiling of 1.5–2 cm.
- According to the plumb line, they check how evenly the strip lies. If markings were applied to the wall, this will not have to be done.
- rubber roller or clean rags are carried out along the canvas, trying to fix it first in the middle, and then along the edges.
- Making smooth, with little effort, movements, the tool is carried out along the entire section of the wallpaper from top to bottom from the middle to the edges. For smooth canvases, it is convenient to use a plastic spatula, for textured canvases - a roller.
- Carefully smooth the edges.
- The next strip is glued “end-to-end” of the previous one, trying to make sure that the canvases do not disperse.
Working in difficult places
Wall sections behind radiators, in corners, above window and door openings are considered difficult for gluing wallpaper.
- Behind the radiators, it will not be possible to use solid canvases. A strip of a certain length is cut into 2-3 parts in a wave-like motion. Each piece is glued separately, trying to press as tightly as possible to the wall. Here you should use a little more glue. The surface will heat up, so a thin layer of the composition will dry too quickly, and the wallpaper will fall behind.
- For corner covers it is recommended to make gluing of two segments. The first canvas extends a few centimeters onto the next wall. The other edge is glued on top of it. Both canvases are cut with a sharp knife, excess thin strips are removed.
- On the areas above the windows and doors, the trimmings remaining during the cutting of the rolls are usually glued.
Non-woven vinyl canvases are the best choice for beginners and a favorite material for professional decorators.After mastering the technology of applying this coating, the home master will definitely have a desire to continue working with them further. The video below will help you get a visual idea of the process.
