Creases in Non-Woven Wallpaper

Very disappointed to find these creases on the inner portion of all bolts of this wallpaper. I had to throw away at least 3′ from each double roll bolt .

This is a non-woven material . Different manufacturers make different types of NW. This one is what I call thick and spongy , and it creases easily , and you have to be careful when installing . But, really, you wouldn’t expect it to come from the factory this way!

Nope, you don’t want that on your wall !

Here’s the back side.

It’s severe enough that the paper is unusable and I had to discard many square feet – a good reason to always purchase extra !

Straight from the factory , you can see that the paper won’t conform to the tight inner area of the bolt, and this is where the creases start.

The brand is Rifle Paper , made by York . I’ve had this problem a couple of times before, and some of my colleagues have posted the same on our Wallcovering Installers Association Facebook page.

Different Runs – Different Materials

Due to a mix-up in terminology, the homeowner originally received just four single rolls (two double roll bolts ) of wallpaper .  They needed eight total single rolls (four doubles ), so two more double roll bolts were ordered.  Being unable to get the same run number , we anticipated a slight difference in shade .  But didn’t expect that the two new bolts would be thinner than the two original bolts . 

What the heck is up?! 

The selection book says this is a non-woven product, and a paste the wall installation method .  Yet the label on both the original and the new rolls says to paste the paper.  Even more puzzling, the instruction sheet included inside the rolls says that it’s  non-woven material , and to paste the wall. 
It’s important for the installer to know what material he’s working with, so I needed to know if this was PTW or PTP .  Usually, non-woven paste the wall are thick and hard to tear , due to their 20% polyester content .  The fat roll felt and acted like a non-woven .  But the thinner roll was thin and crispy and easy to tear.  I sure thought it was a paper material , which would require a different installation technique .  In recent months, I’ve had this same manufacturer send several rolls of the a particular pattern , but some were non-woven, and some were paper.  So I thought we might be experiencing this again.  It’s important to know what you’re working with, because different materials require different installation techniques.  If a DIY ‘er follows the instructions to paste the wall , but it’s actually a paste the paper material, he’s going to encounter a whole lotta mess – and ruined paper . 

Here I used my 24” wide straightedge to tear off a strip of wallpaper from the roll of thin material.  This answered my question.  See the little fibers ?  Those are indicative of non-woven papers, and their polyester content .  Once I saw this, I was certain that it was, indeed, a non-woven material / paste the wall . 

So this material was easier to hang than traditional papers, because no need to paste , book , and let sit for a few minutes.  There are other pluses, too, to NW papers, and most of us professionals like hanging them.  But I wasn’t 100% pleased with the thin version of this non-woven material.  For one thing, its stiff, crispness made it difficult to manipulate, and prone to crease . Also, notice the splotchiness of the paper.  This showed up on the dry paper, right off the roll.

But paper that has been pasted and hung on the wall showed even more splotches .  This is scary, because there is a issue called blushing or staining , where the paper looks like it’s wet , but never dries out.  Do a Search here to learn more.   This happens mostly with non-woven papers , and is tied to certain types of paste .  Which is why I don’t use those pastes!  So curious as to what is causing this slight discoloration.

I believe the spots were just due to moisture .  As I worked my way across the wall and time went on, the paper I had hung first had a chance to air out and dry.  The blotches disappeared . 
 
I’m curious as to why the difference in material.  Maybe the manufacturer was using different factories?  In different countries? Or supply chain issues / material shortages meant that their usual substrate and inks were not available .  Or just trying to cut costs?  Saving money isn’t a bad thing.  But it is, if it cuts down on the product’s quality. 

Slight Problems With Katie Kime Wallpaper

There were eight double roll bolts of this wallpaper , to cover a large powder room in Houston.
Four were rolled so the pattern came off the top of the roll, and four were rolled the opposite way, with the bottom coming off first. This Katie Kime brand is custom-printed , so you can assume that all these rolls are from the same run , or batch . But maybe not - why are some forward and some backward ? Possibly the company substituted some returned goods, or some old stock they had sitting around the warehouse, for half of this order.
I didn't want to risk putting strips of slightly different shades on the same wall. So I had to carefully plot the room so I used the "forward" rolls on some walls, and the "backward" rolls on the others. This does eat up additional paper , so good thing I always have the homeowner purchase a little extra.
Also note the crease in the roll on the right. There were a few other creases in other rolls.

I have no idea what happened to the font in the section above, nor do I know how to get it back to the original. All I know is that I HATE this “New Editor” that WordPress foisted on us a few years ago. Perfectly HORRIBLE. And their Customer Service doesn’t care. Anyway … moving on …

Note the horizontal smudge next to the top of the capitol. Since this Austin Toile pattern has a 25″ pattern repeat, discarding this piece ate up minimum of 2′ of material (x 24″ width = 4 square feet) and potentially more, to get the correct pattern match.

Usually this brand prints on a nice non-woven / paste the wall substrate. But, like other manufacturers, Katie Kime has had supply issues obtaining raw materials . During the height of the Pandemic , they resorted to printing on some positively awful stuff. Extremely heavy , thick , un- pliable , stretched to the extent that the pattern wouldn’t match properly, and more. One was completely un-hangable and had to be sent back. I can’t find all my posts re those challenges, but here is one:
https://wallpaperlady.wordpress.com/2021/07/21/katie-kime-tough-install-today-draft-messed-up-delete/
But they’ve since gone back to printing on their usual stock, and I’ve not had problems lately. So when I first picked up this box of 8 double roll bolts, I was surprised at the weight of it. Also the paper had a shiny surface and was obviously composed of vinyl . I couldn’t tell if the substrate was non-woven or paper . I feared they had gone back to printing on that bad material , or perhaps were using up what they had in the back of the warehouse .
There were no instructions included, nor any information at all – not even a brand name! Although I could find instructions on-line, you can’t be sure these are current and applicable to the rolls in the box. KK has amazingly good customer service , and you can usually get intelligent answers via phone or on-line chat … but my call to them went to voice mail , and then we got disconnected, so I gave up.
After hanging the first few strips, I figured out that this was a flexible vinyl on a non-woven substrate, so that part was good. However, the thickness of the material interfered with getting good, tight, flat seams , as you can see somewhat in the photo. The seams aren’t horrible, but a better non-woven without the vinyl usually produces almost invisible seams.
The surface was shinier than usual. Shiny tends to show every imperfection in the wall underneath. Here the thickness was a bit of a help, as it helped cushion any slight dips or pimples on the wall.
There was also an odd orange discoloration about 1.5″ long on the edge of one strip. Very faint, but I could see it, and sometimes these things end up catching your eye. I also worry that it might be some substance that will bleed into the paper and cause a larger stain over time. Of course, this popped up after I had hung a very difficult piece in a tight spot, and then hung the subsequent strip. In other words – no way was I taking it off the wall and re-doing. I cut out a design motif and pasted it over the area.
Another thing I was unhappy with has happened a number of times with KK paper. The pattern will match perfectly at the top of the wall, but begin to slide up or down, creating a mis-match , as you move down the wall. I think that a lot of it has to do with the vinyl material, because it’s stretchy. The weight of the paste and the vinyl will cause the bottom section of the strip to sag. This simply doesn’t make sense, though, because, if the paper is going to absorb moisture from the paste and expand (which many papers do), each strip should do so at the same rate, right? But not.
I finally deduced, correctly or not, that the pattern gets distorted as it’s wound into a roll. So my theory is that if you take your 10′ strips from the same position in each roll, the pattern should match. In other words, take a 10′ strip from the top of roll #1. Take your next strip from a brand new roll #2. Third strip from roll #3. Obviously, this leaves a whole lot of unused paper. For shorter areas like over doors, where it’s harder to see, and where you can fudge the pattern a bit, I used the paper from the insides of the rolls, again, roll #1 next to roll #2, etc. But this doesn’t work on every instance, so you’re gonna be stuck with many areas where the pattern doesn’t match perfectly across the seams. The solution is to match the pattern at eye-level , and then allow it to go off as it moves toward the ceiling and floor.
There were other issues with this paper that were disappointing to me. But not overwhelmingly awful. Most homeowners would not notice. But I sure hope that this was a one-time issue, and Katie Kime will go back to its former good-quality, non-woven material.

More Disappointments in York Wallpaper

Large creases spanning the width of the bolt were found in several places – luckily just in one bolt / double roll of the wallpaper .

Most non-woven wallpapers are strong and durable . But some versions, such as this one, have a surface that creases easily. You have to be careful while handling it during installation . Here we see that even the manufacturer has problems with it, because these creases were deep inside the roll and caused by the factory.

Also, very common with York – printing defects . Here I have laid two different bolts of paper on top of each other, to compare the printing. Look at the green leaves on the left side. Note that the ones on the far left are closer to the edge of the wallpaper . But the ones to the right are a bit further back from the edge .
Curious, because both bolts are from the same Run (do a Search here to read more about Runs). Obviously, the factory’s trimmers / cutters or the printer mechanism have gone off track and skewed the trimming / printing .

so these two rolls cannot be used next to each other, because the pattern doesn’t match correctly , as you see here. (Also note the creases on the right.)
Actually, with this busy pattern, we could have gotten away with this slight pattern mis-match . (With the homeowner ‘s consent, that is.)
But we were lucky that I had suggested she purchase a little extra paper . So we had three rolls of the version on the left, and two rolls of the one on the right. I was able to plan out the powder room so that I used the three rolls on three walls, and then kept the last long wall for the two bolts of paper on the right.
Note that sending this material back was not a viable option. These issues are pretty common with York products, so we’d likely just be getting the same thing all over again. Disappointing, because, until just a few years ago, York was a very dependable , quality brand .

The pattern is called Wildwood and is by Rifle Paper , which is made by York .

Soft and Sweet Pattern for Accent Wall in Baby Girl’s Nursery

The crib will go on this wall. Originally it was textured grey paint , as you see on either side .

Here is the wall after I’ve skim-floated / skim-coated it, sanded smooth , and primed with a wallpaper primer called Roman Pro 977 Ultra Prime . I have them put a little blue tint in it, so I can see where I’ve rolled it on.
This wallpaper comes in one continuous roll ordered by the yard , as you see on my table , as opposed to double roll bolts as most brands are packaged.

This cute pattern is called Thatcher . It looks like a simple repetitive pattern , but it was actually fairly complicated . Not all those starburst motifs , and especially not the fan shaped lines around them, are the same.

Looks hand painted with a paintbrush .
The paper has a clay coated surface , which give it a beautiful matt finish.
It’s lovely stuff to work with – seams melt away like butter , and trim lines are spot-on. (Many companies’ are not.)

This brand’s papers come with an unprinted selvedge edge that has to be trimmed off by hand.

You use a straightedge and single edge razor blade , and follow the manufacturer’s trim guide lines , to remove the selvedge. Today trimming this one bolt to do one wall took a full hour.

The brand is Pepper Home .
The home is in the Woodland Heights area of Houston .
installer

Serena and Lily ” Feather ” Brightens a Laundry Room

This project has been in the works for more than a year, and the young family was chomping at the bit to get it done! Here is the “before” pic, after I have smoothed the textured wall and primed. See other post for info on the smoothing process.

Done!

The homeowner had gotten some left over paper from a friend, and only had one full double roll plus 20′ on another roll. I would have liked more paper, but I was up to the challenge, and was able to pull some tricks out of my hat and get the room done with what we had – with about 13″ left over!

Close-up.

I love raised-ink papers like this. They add just a tad of texture to the room.

The manufacturer is Serena & Lily . I love hanging most of their papers. This ” Feather ” pattern is very popular, and comes in many colors.
The home is in the FM 1960 / Cypresswood area of Houston .

Shells / Fans in Master Bedroom Closet

Left side of entry wall primed and ready for wallpaper.

Starting the right side of the wall.
Instead of laying a 9.5′ length of wallpaper down along the door frame and wrestling it around the tops and bottoms of several fixed-in-place shelves, I used a razor blade and my straightedge to slice the strip horizontally into sections, measured carefully to coincide with the position of the shelf brackets.
This way I was working with much smaller and more manageable chunks of paper.

Entry wall finished.

Entry and side walls finished.

Opposite, window wall finished.
This closet, with 20 single rolls (10 double roll bolts) of wallpaper, several fixed shelves to wrangle paper around, support brackets to trim around, and two windows to wrap wallpaper inside, took me two 10-hour days to prime and paper.

Here’s a close-up, with a light switch for perspective, to show the lightly textured surface of the wallpaper.

BN European brand of wallpaper.
This is a non-woven material and could be hung via the paste the wall method or the paste the paper installation process.
Pasting the material made it much easier to work around all the obstacles and tight areas.
The paper was very soft and pliable. It is an embossed ( textured ) vinyl and will be more resistant to stains and dings than most traditional wallpapers.
This home is in the Heights neighborhood of Houston.

Two Runs – Not Good

The homeowner accidentally ordered half as much wallpaper as was needed, so more was ordered. Unfortunately, we were not able to get the same run number (also called batch number or dye lot ).

Wallpaper bolts printed at the same time will all have the same run number. Then the next time the manufacture prints this material, he’ll mix up a new batch of ink. This new ink will almost assuredly be a teeny slight difference in shade .

You can’t put wallpaper strips from different runs next to each other on the same wall; you will see this slight color difference and the wall will have a subtle yet unpleasing striped effect.

You can, however, use different runs on different walls, “breaking” the run in a corner. You won’t notice the color difference because light hits different walls differently and causes a natural color difference.

This trick works, but it does require extra wallpaper.

Moral of the story:

~Always confirm how much paper is needed with the installer before ordering.

~Always buy a more than you think you’ll need; one extra double roll / bolt at minimum.

20″ of Waste x 2 x 4 Double Rolls

“Calculating how much wallpaper you need is not just about square feet. It is much more about how many strips you need to cover the walls, and how many strips you will get out of each double roll bolt. Do a Search here to learn more.

In this example, the wallpaper has a 24″ pattern repeat. That means that as much as 24″ of the wallpaper can be lost while matching the pattern from one strip to the next. Today, the amount I cut off and threw away between each strip of paper was about 20.”

Usually, that “waste” goes into the trash. But today, since the 20″ was long enough that something could be done with it, I saved it for the homeowners and suggested they use it for drawer liner or to cover a trash can or lamp shade, or as a mat in a picture frame.

This is another reason to keep in mind to let the PAPERHANGER measure your space and determine how many rolls to purchase.

The homeowner originally thought that four rolls (two double-roll bolts) would be sufficient for this accent wall. In actuality, they needed eight rolls (four double-roll bolts).

Disappointed With Brunschwig & Fils Quality

Brunschwig & Fils is a high-end brand. One double-roll bolt cost this homeowner over $400 (and she needed 8 DRs for this room).

I encountered a number of issues with their wallpaper today.

For starters, the edges were jagged. See first and second photos.

Sometimes, a quick scrubbing with a toothbrush, or a light once-over with a sanding block, will get rid of this. But this time, as you can see in the top photo, the edges of the paper have actually been dug into and shredded. This makes for a bad looking seam. I had to discard this bolt.

In the third photo, look closely and you will see that the ink on the strip to the right is darker, and the stripes in the motifs are closer together, than on the strip to the left. This seems minor, but once up on the wall, the strip on the right will show as an overall darker cast.

I had to sort through the eight bolts and divide them between the three walls, ensuring that those that were the most similar went on the same wall.