How to Hang and Apply Peel and Stick Wallpaper
Applying our 180gsm removable paper. Checking the wall will take it, peeling as you go, butting the seams and trimming clean, with no paste and no pasting table
Peel and stick wallpaper is applied to a smooth, clean, fully cured painted wall. You mark a vertical line, cut your lengths, peel back the top 15 to 20cm of the backing, set the top edge to your line, then work down the wall in sections, peeling a little backing away and smoothing from the centre outwards as you go. The edges butt together and the length is trimmed top and bottom.
Our removable paper is 180gsm, super-matte, smooth, adhesive-backed non-woven, on the same 48cm × 10.05m roll as everything else we make. No paste, no water, no pasting table.
First: is your wall suitable?
This is the step that decides whether the job works, and it is not negotiable. Peel and stick has nothing but its own adhesive to hold with, so the surface has to be right.
It will work on a smooth, firmly bonded, painted wall that is clean, dry and dust-free, with the paint fully cured for at least thirty days.
It will not hold on:
- Textured or embossed surfaces of any kind, including Artex and woodchip
- Bare plaster or bare plasterboard
- Freshly painted walls
- Chalky, powdery or flaking paint
- Bathrooms and other steamy rooms, where we do not recommend it
If your wall does not meet those conditions, our traditional and heavy-grade papers are the alternatives.
What you'll need
- Tape measure and pencil
- Spirit level or laser level
- Sharp snap-off knife with spare blades, and a straight edge
- Felt-edged smoother or a plastic smoother
- Step ladder
- A clean, clear floor or table to cut on
- A second person, if you can, because it makes long lengths much easier
No paste, no bucket, no brushes. The one tool worth buying properly is the smoother: a felt edge glides over a matte surface without marking it.
Step 1: Prepare the wall
- Fill and sand any holes or damage, and let the filler dry fully.
- Wash the wall with a mild detergent, rinse, and let it dry completely.
- Wipe every trace of dust off, because dust is what stops the adhesive gripping.
- Take socket and switch faceplates off with the power turned off at the consumer unit.
Give any new paint thirty days before you go anywhere near it with adhesive-backed paper.
Step 2: Mark your vertical line
Measure 48cm out from where the first length will sit and draw a light pencil line from ceiling to skirting with a level. As with every wallpaper, you hang to your line rather than to the corner, because no corner is truly vertical.
If you are papering one feature wall, work out from the centre so the design sits symmetrically.
Step 3: Cut your lengths
- Measure the wall height and add 3cm at the ceiling and 3cm at the skirting, to be trimmed off once the paper is up.
- Round up to the next whole multiple of the pattern repeat listed on the product page.
- Cut your lengths on a flat, clean surface, matching the pattern against the previous length before each cut.
- Lay them printed side up in order, because the backing is easier to start peeling from a flat length than from a curled one.
Step 4: Hang the first length
This is the part where patience pays.
- Peel back only the top 15 to 20cm of the backing paper. Fold the peeled backing away from the face.
- Take the length to the wall and set the top edge, leaving your 3cm overlap above the ceiling line, with the side edge on your pencil line.
- Look at it before you press. Once the adhesive is smoothed down onto the wall it is meant to stay there, so get the top right first.
- Press the top strip down and smooth from the centre outwards, working towards each edge.
- Pull another 20 to 30cm of backing away, smooth again from the centre out, and carry on down the wall in sections.
Never remove the whole backing at once. A full-height length with no backing will fold onto itself, and adhesive stuck to adhesive does not come apart cleanly.
Step 5: Butt the next length
- Peel the top of the next length and offer it up beside the first.
- Match the pattern at eye level before you commit to the top edge.
- Bring the two edges together so they meet exactly, butt-joined, never overlapped.
- Work down in sections as before, checking the seam as you go rather than at the end.
Our designs are a straight match, so the pattern lines up horizontally at the same height across every length.
Step 6: Trim
- Crease into the ceiling line and the top of the skirting with the smoother.
- Cut against a straight edge or a broad filling knife with a fresh blade.
- Change the blade regularly, because adhesive dulls a blade quickly, and a dull blade tears rather than cuts.
Step 7: Corners, sockets and obstacles
Turn a corner by about 1cm, then start the next wall against a fresh vertical line. Do not try to wrap a full width. On an external corner, wrap about 2cm instead.
For sockets and switches, with the power off, take the length over the opening, cut a cross in it, trim the flaps back and refit the faceplate over the paper.
For windows and doors, hang the length past the opening, make relief cuts into the corners, then trim.
If you trap a bubble
Work air out towards the nearest edge with the smoother while the section is still being laid. That is what smoothing from the centre outwards is for.
For a small bubble that has already been smoothed over, pierce it with a pin at its lowest point and press the air out towards the hole with the smoother. Time spent getting each section flat as you go is time you do not spend chasing bubbles afterwards.
Renting, and what happens later
Removable paper is designed to come away in one piece, and that is the reason most people choose it. What it does to the wall underneath depends on the paint that is already there, its age, its quality and how well it was bonded to the wall in the first place. That is not something any wallpaper can promise on someone else's paintwork.
If you rent, ask your landlord first, photograph the wall before you start, and try one length in a corner before committing to the room.
Does peel and stick wallpaper work on textured walls?
No. It needs a smooth surface. On texture, Artex or woodchip it will lift, and the texture would read through the paper in any case.
How long do I have to wait after painting?
Thirty days. Paint is dry to the touch in hours but takes weeks to cure, and adhesive-backed paper applied too early can lift the paint off the wall.
Can I use it in a bathroom?
We do not recommend it. For bathrooms, use our heavy-grade paper in a well-ventilated room.
Do the edges overlap?
No. The edges butt together, exactly as they do on our pasted papers.
Do I need a special smoother?
A felt-edged smoother is worth having. A plastic one works, but on a super-matte surface a hard edge can leave a shine.
How long does it take to hang?
Allow about the same as a pasted paper. The preparation is quicker, and the hanging is slower because you work in sections.
Can I put it on furniture, doors or stair risers?
Yes, on smooth painted or laminate surfaces prepared the same way.
