The art of hanging wallpaper really hasn't changed in over 100 years. We still sell real wallpaper, and mostly recommend using a traditional (and environmentally safe) wheat starch or cellulose paste. The tools used to hang wallpaper have not changed either: bristle paste brushes; soft bristle smoothing brushes, and long-bladed paper hanging shears.
HISTORIC STYLE has prepared these hanging instructions for the wallpaper that we sell. We have all hung wallpaper in our own homes, and we have included Useful Tips that we have discovered along the way, which make the job easier.
These are general recommendations and guidelines; each wallpaper roll will also come with adhesive and hanging instructions from the manufacturer. Whether you choose to hang the wallpaper yourself, or hire a professional paperhanger, please read the manufacturers instructions and these guidelines. They are important.
Preparation
As with any redecoration project, correct preparation of surfaces is very important for a good result. All old wallcoverings should be removed before hanging new wallpaper. Walls must be clean and dry. All cracks and holes must be filled and smoothed down with sandpaper. Before hanging wallpaper on an absorbent wall (cleaned plaster, new drywall etc.), the walls should be sized with wallpaper size, applied with brush or roller. If a gloss paint finish is to be covered, the surface must be thoroughly rubbed with sandpaper to provide a 'gripping' surface.
Almost every problem that arises with a wallpaper installation is a result of either incorrect wall preparation or use of an incorrect adhesive.
Double-check the pattern Ensure that you or your installer know which way the design is supposed to hang! This may sound obvious, but wallpapers do not necessarily come spooling off the roll with the pattern the right way up. With many wallpaper designs it is very apparent which is the right way up (ie: flying birds). With others, it is not so readily apparent.
Please check our website for your wallpaper image. If necessary, print off a page and leave this with your installer as a reference. This is particularly important if the wallpaper will be hung while you are away and not able to directly oversee the project.
Adhesive for Unpasted Machine Print Wallpapers:
Most of our wallpapers are not prepasted. Wheat starch, cellulose pastes or clear pre-mixed starch based pastes are recommended for these wallpapers. The wheat starch and cellulose adhesives are purchased in powder form and mixed with water to produce a smooth paste, according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Traditional wheat and cellulose paste
is sold in the USA by Roman
Adhesives under their Golden Harvest brand. See
their website under the "Sundry Products"section.
Another excellent and informative wallpaper hanging website is http://paper-hangings.com. Information about all aspects of traditional wallpaper hanging and hard-to-find adhesives and supplies can be found here.
We do not recommend the use of the heavier clay-based pre-mixed adhesives intended for vinyls or paper-backed vinyl wallcoverings. These can cause flaking, spotting and staining if used with most unpasted wallpapers.
Adhesive for Unpasted Screen Print Wallpapers: Most of these wallpapers are not prepasted. Each manufacturer includes specific adhesive recommendations with the wallpaper. As these are usually heavier weight wallpapers, the clear pre-mixed adhesives are often recommended.
A few tool tips before starting.
A bristle brush is preferable to a plastic smoother during installation. The plastic smoothers are intended for installing vinyls and can burnish the surfaces of other wallpapers if heavily used.
Plan on using scissors rather than a snap-off utility knife when cutting around mouldings etc. Most of our wallpapers require high moisture content adhesives. Although the wallpapers have good wet strength, you may experience tearing of the paper if trying to cut the wet wallpaper directly with a knife (like you would do for vinyls). Press the wallpaper into the moulding, gently pull it back from the wall and cut the creased edge with scissors. Lay back on to the wall with the smoothing brush.
Hanging Prepasted Machine
Print Wallpapers
Our "5000" series wallpapers are prepasted,
and should be applied using clean water only. There
is no need to use a "paste activator" or any other
additive to the water.. If additional paste
is required, use a cellulose paste.
Hanging Hand Print Wallpapers
The Hand Print wallpapers come untrimmed and
are not prepasted. The excess edge paper must be carefully
trimmed off using a very sharp razor or utility knife,
and a metal straight edge. These heavy weight wallpapers
are installed using a good quality, pre-mix
vinyl adhesive. Hanging these wallpapers is best left
to a professional installer with proven experience
in this area.
Planning how to hang the paper:
Useful Tips
Taking some time to plan how to hang
the wallpaper in a room is very important. Pay attention
as to how the pattern will appear at the top of the
walls, which is usually more visible than at the baseboard.
Older houses often have ceilings that are not quite
level for example, and one can disguise that by cutting
the pattern at a less prominent part of the pattern,
so the prominent flower will then show in a straight
row.
Centering
the pattern over a mantelpiece, or in the middle of
a prominent wall, will usually give better results.
Sometimes, you may want the pattern centered on every
wall.
Pictures, mirrors and window frames all look their
best when the wallpaper behind them is centered. Plan
carefully, as extra paper may be required when centering
patterns.
As you hang the wallpaper around
the room, you will probably have to "lose"
the pattern in a corner, where the patterns on two
walls will not match. Choose that corner before you
start hanging. Make sure it is one that is not usually
prominent when using the room.
Pattern Matching
Wallpaper patterns can match in different
ways. The most common way is a standard side to side
match. However, some patterns, especially large ones,
are printed to match in a "half-drop" (or
"offset-match"). Lay some wallpaper out
before cutting, to make sure that the pattern will
match when the paper is cut.
Cutting the Wallpaper
After planning the placement of the
pattern on the walls, it is good to cut a couple of
sections (or "drops") of paper prior to
starting to paste. Check the pattern match once again.
Make sure that you leave about 4" extra in length
to allow for trimming, top and bottom, after hanging.
Pasting
We suggest that a table, a counter
or a flat door placed on saw horses, covered with
plastic, well taped at the edges, will make the job
of pasting go more easily. Making small, washable
weights of lead shot, or stones in a small zip-lock
plastic bag, and using them to hold the corners of
the paper, will effectively prevent the wallpaper
from curling while you are pasting.
Lay the paper face down on the table,
weight the corners, and using a bristle paste brush
for best results, brush a coat of paste over the whole
paper, taking special care to brush up to, or slightly
over, all of the edges. Avoid spreading paste on to
the face of the paper.
Then gently fold the paper over on
itself, paste side to paste side.
This is called "booking", and it allows
the wallpaper to "relax". The time for booking
the paper will vary depending on weather conditions,
but three or four minutes are generally enough time.
The paper should lose its stiffness, and drape over
your arm when picked up. Be very careful not to allow
the paper to over-relax, as the paper can stretch
slightly, making exact pattern matching difficult.
After the paper is lifted off the
table, the plastic cover can be wiped clean of excess
paste with a sponge and warm water, ready for the
next piece of wallpaper.
Hanging the Wallpaper
Work with one length (or "drop")
of paper at a time. The first drop should be checked
to see that it is hanging vertically. It is a good
idea to use a level or plumb line to check this. Gently
hand-smooth the paper to the wall while positioning
it, and then follow up with a proper bristle wallpaper
smoothing brush, smoothing from the center out, to
expel air bubbles. We do not recommend flat plastic
smoothing tools (often used for vinyl wallcoverings)
as they may burnish the surface of the paper.
Edges may be gently sponged with
clean, warm water to clean excess paste. Too much
sponging will almost certainly cause disturbance of
the printed colour at the edge, especially on dark
backgrounds.
The small amount of extra paper at
the top and bottom edges of the paper should be marked
by running a finger nail or the back of the scissors
along the edge of the baseboard for example. The paper
is then peeled back, and the paper trimmed along the
pressed-in mark with the paper hanging shears, and
then smoothed back into place, and gently sponged
clean. The next drops are hung in the same way.
As
you approach a corner
Never hang a full width of wallpaper
around an inside corner of a room. Always hang the
wallpaper in two parts. Measure carefully, and allow
about 1/2" extra for the first piece to wrap around
the corner. Then hang the next piece,making sure that
it is hanging straight. Outside corners should be
hung in the same way, unless they are absolutely vertical.
Light switches and plugs
Always turn off electricity at the
circuit box. Remember you are using water. Take the
cover plates off the switches and plugs, and paper
over the openings. Carefully trim the paper back to
the edges of the box, so the cover plates will hide
the cut edges of the wallpaper. Wait until the paper
is dry before turning the electricity back on.
Wallpaper
Borders
We recommend that two people be available
to hang a wallpaper border. If one person has to hang
the paper, keep the already pasted border gently doubled
up on itself, and release a section at a time as the
border is smoothed onto the wall.
As the wallpaper dries...
You may notice air bubbles under
the paper that were not all smoothed out when it was
hung. This is the time to go back and gently use the
smoothing brush again. Often the air will be expelled
to the nearest edge, which can be smoothed down again
with a sponge and warm water. Occasionally, an air
bubble will be trapped, and cannot be smoothed to
an edge. Then you can make a tiny cut with a razor
blade, along a line of the pattern, and expel the
air from the cut. Then carefully use direct pressure
with a wet sponge to dampen the paper thoroughly,
which will reactivate the paste underneath which should
reattach the paper to the wall.
Wallpaper can add texture, colour
and pattern to a room better than any other item of
decoration. For traditional homes, HISTORIC STYLE'S historic wallpapers provide a perfect
backdrop, and help to furnish the room to its appropriate
age and style.
Centering
the pattern over a mantelpiece, or in the middle of
a prominent wall, will usually give better results.
Sometimes, you may want the pattern centered on every
wall.
As
you approach a corner 
Wallpaper
Borders 
