Cushioning The Ends Of Natural Material Wallpaper

Wallpaper looks best when it arrives from the vendor with its edges just as the manufacturer trimmed them. Then you can count on it to seam up on the wall perfectly.

But it’s common for packages of wallpaper to get slammed around during shipping. This usually affects the edges, creating bashed areas that don’t look good on your walls.

Natural materials (cork, as pictured above, or grasscloth, or other natural, textured materials) – these materials are particularly susceptible to dents and fraying edges.

To nip this bud before it becomes a thorny rose, many manufacturers are placing these round protective collars (see photo) on the ends of their product, before packing for shipping.

They work pretty well. Plus, the collars themselves are made of paper, and can go into the recycling bin.

Recycling Unused Wallpaper – Don’t

I haul off the trash from my wallpaper jobs. The vinyl and grasscloth go in the trash bin, but I have been putting the scraps of clean paper wallpaper into the recycling bin. After reading this, I won’t do that anymore.

https://homeguides.sfgate.com/can-wallpaper-recycled-79274.html

Apparently, the inks and papers used for wallpaper are not the same that the recyclers are able to process.

A shame.

Saving on Trash Bags

I like to see if I’m able to get by without using a trash bag. Most days I win this little game!

I am usually able to roll trash up in the scraps from the job. See photo. Then I haul it home and put in the trash or recycling, depending on what the material is made of.

Trimming and Trash

Hand-trimming the selvedge off untrimmed wallpaper sure makes a lot of trash.

This is paper (not vinyl or non-woven or grasscloth), so these scraps can go in the recycling bin.

A Whole Dining Room’s Trash In One Neat Roll

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I like to make a game of seeing how long I can go without using a trash bag. Well, it’s been weeks, maybe months.

Today I was stripping off a paper-backed solid-vinyl wallpaper. The top vinyl (plastic) layer of this type of paper usually pull off in large pieces, even full-length strips. That’s what happened today. So I laid those out on the floor.

As I soaked the paper backing, it also let loose from the wall and came away in large, intact strips. I layered those on top of the vinyl sheets already on the floor.

Once all the paper was off the wall and stacked on the floor, all I had to do was to roll it all up into one neat package.

It’s amazing how large the dining room is, yet how small is this roll of recovered wallpaper.

Off to the trash bin you go. No trash bag required!

(Note: This wallpaper was made of vinyl and is not recyclable … when I have scraps of paper wallpaper, it goes into the recycling bin.)

So Who Needs a Trash Bag?

Digital Image

Digital Image

Digital Image

Everyday, I play a little game to see if I can get away without using a trash bag. Depending on the kind of wallpaper and what I’m doing, I can usually manage to keep scraps and trash flat and neat, and then roll them all up into one tidy package at the end of the day.

No trash bag needed. 🙂

And, if the material is paper (rather than grasscloth or vinyl or non-woven), it can go right into the recycling bin!

To Bag, or Not to Bag…

I like to play a game with myself, to see how many days I can go without having to use a trash bag.

You see, often it’s possible to strip old wallpaper off the wall in large pieces. Then the little pieces can be rolled up inside the larger ones, into one neat package. Or, as you see in the photo, in order to match the pattern, a certain amount of paper is cut off the roll and discarded. If these are big enough, I can roll up the rest of the day’s scraps inside, into one bundle.

There is usually a plastic wrapper from a roll of wallpaper floating around, that can be used to tie the whole thing up. Or, as in this case (top photo), the non-woven wallpaper was actually strong enough to cut into strips and tie and knot around the bundle.

OK, so saving one plastic garbage bag isn’t all that great a victory, no. But the challange sure adds a little fun to the day.

And, if the paper bundle happens to be all paper (no vinyl, no non-woven, no razor blades, etc.,) it can all go into the recycling bin. 🙂