On Peel & Stick: A Paperhanger's Take

Introduction: The Rising Trend of Peel & Stick

In recent years, peel and stick wallpaper materials have emerged as a popular choice for DIYers looking to add a splash of personality to their spaces with minimal fuss. However, behind the purported simplicity and ease of installation, lies a complex landscape filled with technical nuances.

In this blog post, we'll take a dip into the technicalities of Peel & Stick materials from the perspective of a seasoned paperhanger. We'll explore the nuances of materials, the challenges of installation, and the overlooked aspects of prep work that are needed. Whether you're a DIY aficionado, a curious homeowner, or a professional in the field, this exploration aims to shed light on the subtleties of Peel & Stick and provide a clearer understanding of what lies beneath their surface appeal.

Disclaimer

As a professional paperhanger, it's important to clarify that I won't install Peel & Stick materials in clients' homes. This may change in the future, but as of January 2024, the materials on the market are not suitable for a professional installation that's intended to last.

Many peel & stick producers are primarily commercial print shops that provide print-on-demand services on numerous substrates, often with limited to no experience working with traditional wallpaper and lack the quality assurance processes and long, shared history with professional paperhangers that more established firms possess. That said, Peel & Stick materials are still intended to be temporary, carrying guarantees that the client can strip them cleanly within a small period after installation, assuming the substrate manufacturer's installation instructions are followed to a T. I've found that many producers have been hesitant to share the details provided by the substrate manufacturer.

Many of these substrates are readily available for anyone to order online from places like Substrate Bank. You can peruse that site, navigate over to rawpixel to find a public domain pattern or use patterned.ai to generate one with a prompt, purchase a used commercial printer (or reach out to a local print shop), and have a wallcovering produced. You could also create an account on Spoonflower and commercially market your wallcovering (public domain patterns are commercially available and ai-generated art isn't currently copyrightable). In this last situation, Spoonflower will take care of the webstore, manufacturing, and sales for you and you get to keep their generous payment to the artist. No matter what you do, be sure to say things like "this is a quality peel & stick wallpaper", so that you keep with the same lines everyone else on the Internet provides.

Obviously, I feel like there's a lot of misinformation about Peel & Stick materials. Common claims of being able to install Peel & Stick on any walls are often promoted without evidence. (Here's an exec who claimed "myriad use cases such as book shelves, stair risers, fireplace surrounds, and furniture" as some of the surfaces to install their Peel & Stick material on. Please note that most of these are non-porous surfaces, as opposed to your standard wall.) And the prevalent use of computer-generated imagery in marketing campaigns showcasing flawless installations don't align with the reality of noticeable seams and overlaps inherent in the actual installations (assuming you follow the instructions). Many of the images online are generated by tiling a pattern behind an image that includes a transparent wall. They're not of real installations. The discrepancy between marketing and reality can be misleading, making it impossible to have an installation look like the consumer is led to believe.

Now, let's take a deeper dive into Peel & Stick materials.

Peel & Stick Wall Coverings: Substrates and Printing

Peel & stick materials are presented as a straightforward DIY option, yet they involve a complex array of substrates and adhesives, each with distinct properties, printing requirements, and installation implications. The substrate choice, often not passed on to the consumer via the printer, is crucial as it determines the material's compatibility with various surfaces and paints, especially those with low or zero VOCs (a key factor in reducing greenhouse gas emissions). The substrates' adhesives range from simple to complex formulations, with some designed for porous surfaces and others for non-porous ones.

Many materials aren't dimensionally stable—they have a tendency to stretch. They vary widely in their thicknesses. And many claims of repositionability have to do with removing and re-adhering, not sliding on the wall (Roman's E-Z Hang is formulated to help with this). Inconsistencies in printing, such as roll damage or misalignment due to human error, add to the risk of having a low-quality installation.

Since pretty much anyone can apply to sell something on Wayfair, it can be difficult to find a reputable sorce online. Just because they're online doesn't mean they're experienced in the quality assurance processes or standards in wallcoverings. All consumers should be cautious of the material they install in their home and what they want the finished product to look like.

Key substrates dominating today's market include:

• Neenah DigiScape® Stick-R
• DreamScape Brilliant, Caviar, and Ravello Wall + Floor Wraps
• LexJet Simple MTS Adhesive Vinyl
• Photo Tex PSA Fabric - Aqueous, Solvent
• LexJet Print-N-Stick Fabric
• Kodak Photo Tex Repositionable Fabric EX
• ORAJET® 3621
• 3M™ Controltac™ Print Film 40C
• panoRama Walk&Wall®

Prep Work: More Science than Art

Since this is still a relatively young technology, surface preparation for peel & stick wallcoverings is still kind of like a scientific experiment. Consider the rise of low-VOC paints. Experience reveals these paints are resistant to most of the adhesives used in Peel & Stick materials. In an article by 3M, one of the largest manufacturers of Peel & Stick substrates, on tips for installing peel & stick, they provide a method for helping adhering their material involving washing the surface with an isopropyl alcohol and water solution to treat the walls; it's two coats of a 70/30 alcohol solution within two days prior to the installation (optional: using an adhesion measuring device to make sure the material sufficiently tacks).

Many websites, including Spoonflower, recommend providing a perfectly smooth drywall finish and painting with an acrylic paint. A firm out in Florida that opened up in 2008 (which is a long time to be operating in the Peel & Stick industry) goes so far as to issue a safety warning when installing over even slightly textured walls. I suspect the use of a good primer would help with installing over textured walls since the purpose for primer is adhesion (for the finish layer to adhere to). This would also assist in blocking any inks from lifting through the face of the material (pens, sharpie, and markers will need to be blocked). But using a wallpaper primer with Peel & Stick materials may increase the adhesion too much and would shatter any dreams of a clean removal. As any tradesperson knows, the correct prep is always going to depend on both the surface and intended finish.

Some peel and stick materials have a lot of flex in them. You could get a heat gun from your local hardware store and use a foam roller or a soft hog hair wallpaper smoother to mold the material to the wall, especially if it's a microencapsulated adhesive that releases under pressure.

If it were me and I was under the gun, so to speak, since I'd ordered a material that few paperhangers are willing to consider installing and the producer provides no return policy because it's a print-on-demand product, I'd float out the walls, prime them with Sherwin-Williams PrepRite ProBlock, paint them with a slightly glossy acrylic paint (in white, since most materials are translucent), wait a few weeks to allow the finish to fully dry, and install the materials by cutting a 10-12 inch piece of backing out of the middle of the panel, matching the patterns to eye level, and smoothing it from the center up to the ceiling and then from the center down to the floor with a felt-wrapped plastic smoother or a stiff wallpaper smoothing brush (so long as the bristles won't scratch it). If after that it doesn't work out (it definitely should), I'd strip it off the wall and throw it in the trash.

Panel Numbers: Mitigating Shading Errors

Maintaining color consistency is a challenge in all larger wallpaper projects, a task that differs considerably from the usual accent wall mural or graphic jobs commercial printers would normally take on. The issue arises when subtle variations in dye or ink batches lead to color discrepancies that show across the sheets, particularly noticeable in large installations of tall panels. Here, the cumulative effect of even minor color shifts may become obvious, especially if the panels aren't installed sequentially.

Unlike smaller projects where panel ordering is less critical, installations across tall walls or many drops require tracking of print sequences. Normally, wallpaper installers check the lot/batch and roll numbers to make sure of compatibility.

However, the practice of providing the sequence in which panels are printed is uncommon with peel and stick producers. This results in needing to compare each sheet with every other sheet to check for shading problems, since you don't know the order in which they were produced. A good rule of thumb is to compare them sequentially to how they're packaged (rolled up). But if you have different size strips, they'll typically be rolled up by size, not in any particular sequence.

Final Thoughts: The Temporary Charm of Peel & Stick "Wallpaper"

Installation of peel and stick wallpapers requires more than just adhering them to a wall; it's a nuanced process involving careful material handling, attention to stretch and alignment, and thorough wall preparation. The overlapped seams, a departure from the near-seamless finish of traditional wallpapers, can betray the wallpaper's presence under the right lighting. Herein lies the crux: traditional wallpapers are a commitment, a long-term relationship with your walls. Peel & stick? They're more like a summer fling, fleeting and without the promise of longevity.

Peel & Stick materials can be a suitable choice provided specific conditions are met. These include ensuring walls are perfectly smooth (a level 5 finish), having no harsh lighting in the room, and using an acrylic-based paint with a sheen to it. The paint should have been allowed to fully cure before installing. A good rule of thumb is to give it a few weeks, but your local humidity is going to be a factor, too. The ideal application would be on a small accent wall rather than an entire room, in an environment without direct lighting that could accentuate seams (so not adjacent to an east- or west-facing window wall). It's also crucial that the installation is intended as a temporary solution, with plans for removal within the manufacturer's recommended timeframe, typically a year. Lastly, sourcing these materials from reputable suppliers, rather than random sellers on platforms like Wayfair, Etsy, or eBay, would be key. Despite these favorable conditions, it's important to note that, personally, Peel & Stick materials don't align with my professional preferences and standards for wallcoverings.

If I was to pinpoint the number one reason professional paperhangers avoid these materials, it's this: they're not intended to be a long-term and high-quality installation.