Some Non-Woven Wallpapers Crease Easily

This is the bottom of the strip , where it meets the wainscoting . It needs to be pushed into the right-angle between the wall and the molding, so the excess can be trimmed off.
No matter how gently I push, or what tool I use, or how carefully I approach this, some papers buckle and fold and crease as they are bent backwards into the corner .

The wallpapers that do this are typically the thicker and ” puffy ” non-woven / paste the wall materials. It happens in just about every right-angle corner. Luckily these areas are usually not in the line of sight, so not very noticeable.
Note that many non-wovens are thinner and more flexible , and do not present this behavior.

Hand Trimming off the Selvedge Edge of Wallpaper

Some wallpapers, particularly the higher-end brands, come with an unprinted selvedge edge, much like fabric. This needs to be trimmed off so the pattern will match when the wallpaper strips are butted together on the wall.

Here you see how I am using my 6′ straightedge and a sharp new razor blade to remove this selvedge.

If You Buy Grasscloth, Expect To See The Seams

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Grasscloth is popular right now, but buyers must be aware that, because there is no pattern that can be matched, all the seams will be visible. In addition, color variations are to be expected.

The top photo shows a slight color difference between two strips. This is called shading or paneling. This is not a defect. It is considered “part of the inherent beauty of the natural material.”

The second photo shows a lighter colored line that often appears at the far edges of the grasscloth strips, due to irregularities in the dying process. This can often be minimized by trimming off the edges of the material. But sometimes the lighter area extends beyond the area that can be trimmed off. And if you trim off too much, you will have narrower strips, and may well run out of paper before you finish the room.

The bottom photo shows a seam where the lighter colored edges were successfully trimmed off, and a nice butted seam resulted.

Hand-Trimming Jill Malek Elephant Wallpaper

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This Jill Malek wallpaper came with a selvedge edge, just like most fabrics. See the first photo. The edges had to be trimmed off before the paper could go up.

In the second photo, I am using my 6′ straight edge and a sharp, new razor blade to trim off this selvedge.

It’s important that this be done carefully and precisely, so that the pattern matches correctly, and so that the seams will butt nicely with no gapping or overlapping. This process is tedious and time consuming.

Many of the higher-end brands furnish their paper in this way.