Two Runs – Bad News

Always check the Run number before starting your project. Also called Batch or Dye Lot. Wallpaper that is printed at the same time will marked with a Run number. The next time the factory mixes up a pot of ink and prints wallpaper, it’s likely that there will be a slight shade difference between the two batches. If strips from these two different runs are placed next to each other on the wall, you will see a slight striped effect, a difference in color or depth between the two strips. It may be minor, but it’s noticeable and unpleasant.
You can use two different runs in the same room – but not on the same wall. You can “break” the run in a corner, and use one run on one wall and the other run on the other wall. You won’t notice the color difference this way. But it does eat up additional paper.
To avoid ending up with two different runs, first of all, always buy from a reputable company dedicated to selling wallpaper – not an outfit that also sells boots, hubcaps, cold medicine, and whatnot. Second, check the Run number as soon as you receive your material. That way you’ll have time to return it or otherwise resolve the issue, before install day.

Printing Error – Some Thick, Some Thin

See the difference between the motifs on these two different strips of wallpaper ?
The ones on the top are crisper and more distinct , with more space between the black lines. The motifs on the bottom have heavier black lines and appear a bit smudged .
Not a huge difference , but on the wall , especially from a distance , your eye would catch this.
Interestingly enough, all these rolls were from the same batch / run number (all printed at the same time with the same ink and printing press ). In fact, one roll started out “normal” and progressively got darker .
It probably would have looked OK to use this darker paper, especially since this was a powder room and you couldn’t step back far enough to see a number of strips next to each other.
But we had enough wallpaper that I could put these aside and use fresh strips with crisp ink to finish the room.
A good reason to always buy a little extra wallpaper !

The pattern is Les Touches and is by Brunschwig & Fils .

Mud Room Gets More of the Navy Blue Roses

Continuation from yesterday’s post … the adjoining mud room got the same wallpaper pattern.

This room was done with a different run / batch number from yesterday, and the pattern match was better at the seams. See yesterday’s photo.

There were, however, some very faint lines running through some of the material. I’ve had this same thing happen recently with other York papers. Very disappointing. Today’s lines were pretty faint, and I went ahead and hung the paper.

This paper is by Caitlin Wilson and is in the Sure Strip line by York . It’s a pre-pasted material and very nice … one of my favorite brands.

Step 1 – Checking Run Numbers

Before you start any wallpaper project, it is important to check the Run Numbers (Batch Numbers / Dye Lot).

This means that all the bolts / rolls have been printed at the same time, and are of the same shade.

Bolts printed at different times (different Run Numbers) will be of a very slightly different shade.

They canNOT be placed next to each other on the same wall, because you will notice a subtle-but-disagreeable difference in color between the strips of paper.

So make sure that all your bolts of paper are from the same Run Number.

Note that many on-line vendors are clueless about run numbers, so this is an important thing to check, if you buy low-priced papers on-line.

Same Run? Different Color?

Top photo. Look carefully. You are looking at the start of a printing run on two separate bolts of paper. On the bolt to the left, the color looks pretty uniform.

But on the bolt to the right, you can see a horizontal line where the background has been colored. It’s faint, so look closely. In addition, you can definitely see that the paper on the right is darker than the paper on the left.

If there were more fish present, you would also see that on the right, the greys are a little darker and the reds are a little stronger. There are also more brown speckles in the background of the grasscloth on the right.

What happened was, too little paper was ordered (a simple mix-up between rolls and yards), and so more had to be ordered, and then custom-printed.

The interior designer stressed to the manufacturer that the new paper had to be the same run number (all bolts printed at the same time out of the same batch of ink). The manufacturer’s reply was that their precision printing and ink-mixing was such that there would be virtually no difference in color between what we had already, and what they would print fresh and send to us.

As you can see, that is not the case. Although these differences are minor, if strips from these two bolts were placed next to one another on the wall, the color difference would be pretty noticeable.

So, accommodating for this color difference, we lost about three yards of (expensive) wallpaper.

Minimalizing Color Variations by Hanging in Sequence

Because grasscloth is a natural fiber product, it is known for certain inherent features, namely a pattern that cannot be matched, visible seams, and color variations such as paneling (one strip is a slightly different color from the one next to it), shading (different colors within the same strip), and edges that are lighter in color than the center of the strip. Just do a Search here to see pictures and read stories.

This manufacturer (Thibaut) has taken steps to minimize one of these issues. First, you want to be sure that all your bolts were printed at the same time, from the same run or dye lot (see label). Next, when a whole lot of wallpaper is printed at one time, the ink color can change ever so slightly from the beginning of a run to the end.

So Thibaut lists not only the run number, but the sequence in which the bolts were printed. On the label, this is referred to as “Shade.” The instructions are very specific about cutting and hanging strips of paper in the order they come off the roll, and using consecutive rolls in their proper order.

However, for this 11 bolt living room, I got 8 bolts of Shade series 4 (#’s 1-8), and 3 of Shade series 5 (#’s 7-9 … and what happened to the first six?!). These obviously were not printed in consecutive order! And they were all mixed together in the boxes. Good thing I checked the labels and noted the Shade numbers, before I cut anything up.

Luckily the layout of the room worked so that I was able to keep Shade 4 and Shade 5 on separate walls, so any slight color difference would not be noticeable.

Two Runs Are Not Fun

Digital Image

Digital Image

When I first consulted with this client, she had already bought some wallpaper – but she did not have enough to cover her wall. (Note to homeowners – always have the space measured by a professional before you order your paper.) So she ordered more – but the new paper that arrived was from a run different from what she already had.

“Run” or “batch” numbers refer to when a batch of wallpaper was printed. Wallpaper printed at different times, and of different runs, will be slightly different in color.

This slight color difference is what you see in the second photo, the thin strip at the left of the pic. Even if the difference is minute, full length strips side-by-side on the same wall can be quite noticeable.

So, if you find yourself stuck with having to use different runs of wallpaper, you can disguise the color difference by “breaking” the runs in a corner…Because light hits the walls differently from one wall to the next, you won’t notice a slight color difference when the two different runs are on two different walls. However, it takes a bit more paper to do this. So, if you are dealing with two different runs, be sure to order one or two extra double-rolls of paper.