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How To Prepare Your Wall For Wallpapering

This short guide will show you how to prepare your wall for wall papering so the finished job will look as good as possible Enlarge

How To Prepare Your Wall For Wallpapering

This short guide will show you how to prepare your wall for wall papering so the finished job will look as good as possible

Step 1: You will need

  • Old Rags
  • 1 Wallpaper Stripping Knife
  • Soapy Water
  • Sandpaper

Step 2: Clean

If you've already got old dated paper it's a good idea to strip this down first including all the backing paper so you can really start from scratch with the new stuff. You may need to soften it by soaking it for five minutes with household detergent first, before you scrape it off.

Step 3: Damp

Get rid of any damp or organic growth as this will only seep through the new paper and stop the paste sticking it to the wall. You may want to coat the damp area with anti-fungal spray to prevent it from seeping through in months to come.

Step 4: Repair

Although some papers will hide minor wall issues, having holes in the wall doesn't provide a very good base for the paste to cling to. Please see our film "how to do minor plaster repairs" for tips on how to fix it.

Step 5: Smooth

Sand down any nasty lumps and bumps in your wall so they don't poke through and rip your new paper or leave little mounds across the wall. Scrape the wall first to get rid of any flaky paint.

Step 6: Sizing

To make things easier, sizing the wall first is a good tip. This involves brushing on a coat of dilluted wallpaper paste first to help you slide pasted sheets of paper into place once you get going.