Paste-the-wall installation guide
For Non-Woven, Deluxe Textured and Premium Textile. You paste the wall, not the panel, and hang each panel dry. Your mural arrives as numbered panels with a layout sheet, each printed to overlap the one before it by 1 to 1.5 cm. The paste is not in the box: any DIY store sells a wallpaper paste made for non-woven wallpaper, and it suits all three. Read this once before you open anything.
First: is the wall suitable?
More failed installs come from the wall than from the technique. Check this list before anything else.
Do not hang on:
- bare, unprimed drywall
- paint less than three weeks old, which is dry but not cured
- satin, semi-gloss, non-stick or scrub-resistant paint
- existing wallpaper
- brick, raw wood, unsealed plaster or masonry
- flaking, chalky or previously water-damaged paint
- any wall with damp or mold
The ideal wall is primed, painted with a cured matte or eggshell finish, clean and dry. The paste holds all three of these materials on a lightly textured wall as well as on a smooth one; Deluxe Textured and Premium Textile hide a light grain best. Fill and sand anything rougher than a light grain before you start.
Quick test: shine a phone light flat along the wall. Long shadows mean a heavy texture.
Tools and wall prep
Tools
- Wallpaper paste made for non-woven wallpaper, a bucket to mix it in, a paint roller and tray, and a brush for the edges
- Tape measure and pencil
- Level, or a laser line
- Sharp utility knife plus spare blades
- Wide taping knife, used as a cutting guide
- Smoothing tool or plastic squeegee
- Clean sponge and a bucket of clean water
- Step ladder
- Drop cloth
Prep
- Turn off the power at the breaker and remove switch plates and outlet covers.
- Remove any old wallpaper, fill and sand any holes, and sand back any flaking paint.
- Wipe the wall with clean water only. No detergent or cleaner, and no residue.
- Let it dry completely. In a humid room this takes longer than you think.
- Lay the drop cloth and clear enough floor to lay a full panel flat.
Draw your line
Measure one panel width out from your starting corner, minus half an inch, and draw a plumb vertical line with a level or laser. Panels are about 39 inches (100 cm) wide, and Premium Textile about 51 inches (130 cm). The right-hand edge of your first panel follows that line, not the corner. Corners are not plumb, and a first panel hung to a corner puts every panel after it out of true.
Hanging paste-the-wall
Unroll the panels on a clean floor, lay them out in number order and let them lie flat for twenty minutes before you start: a panel that has been in a tube wants to curl.
Use a wallpaper paste made for non-woven wallpaper; it is not in the box, and any DIY store sells it. The paste goes on the wall and each panel goes up dry, so there is nothing to soak and no waiting between pasting and hanging.
Mix the paste according to the instructions on the pack, stir it thoroughly, and let it stand for ten to fifteen minutes so it thickens. Mix only what you will use within a couple of hours.
Paste one panel width of wall
Roll adhesive evenly over an area slightly wider than one panel, from ceiling to baseboard. Get right into the corners and edges with a brush. Do not paste the whole wall at once; it will skin over.
Hang panel 1 to the line
Lift the dry panel into place with an inch of surplus above the ceiling line and align its right-hand edge to your plumb line. The panel will slide on wet paste for a minute or two, which is the forgiveness you want.
Smooth from the center out
Work from the center of the panel outward and downward with the smoothing tool, pushing air and excess paste toward the edges. Keep a damp sponge to hand.
Wipe paste off the face immediately
Any adhesive that reaches the printed surface must be wiped off with a clean damp sponge straight away, before it dries. Rinse the sponge often so you are not spreading paste around.
Paste the next section and overlap the seam
Paste the next panel width and hang panel 2 so it overlaps panel 1 by 1 to 1.5 cm (about half an inch), with the design matching across the join. Every panel is printed with that overlap. Always add the next panel to the right.
Double-cut for a flat seam
This step is optional: the overlap can stay as it is. For a seam that lies flat, cut while the paste is still wet: hold a straightedge down the middle of the overlap and cut through both layers in one stroke with a fresh blade. Peel away the offcut from the top panel, lift its edge, pull out the strip from underneath, then smooth the seam back down and wipe it clean. The two edges now meet exactly.
Let it dry undisturbed
Keep the windows closed and the air conditioning off while it dries, for about 48 hours. Do not put heaters or fans on the wall; forced drying is the most common cause of a lifted seam.
Trimming, corners and openings
Trimming
Hold the wide taping knife hard into the corner where the wall meets the ceiling or baseboard, and cut along its edge with a sharp blade. Change the blade every few cuts. A dull blade tears paper instead of cutting it, and the tear is not repairable.
For paste material, trim while it is still slightly damp. It cuts cleanly then and it toughens as it dries.
Internal corners
Never wrap a full panel around an internal corner. Trim the panel about half an inch past the corner, then start the next wall with a fresh plumb line and let it overlap that half inch.
External corners
Wrap about an inch around an external corner, press it down hard, and start the next panel on the new face against a fresh plumb line.
Outlets and switches
Hang straight over them with the power off. Once the panel is up, feel for the opening, cut a shallow X from corner to corner, trim back to the box, and refit the plate over the paper.
Doors and windows
Hang the panel over the opening, then cut a diagonal into the corner of the frame, press the paper into the edge and trim along it with the taping knife.
Care, cleaning and removal
Living with it
Give the paste 48 hours to dry before you hang anything on the wall or push furniture back against it.
Cleaning
Dust with a dry microfiber cloth or a vacuum brush attachment. For a mark, use a soft cloth barely dampened with water, blot rather than scrub, and dry the spot straight away. Premium Textile is cleaned the same way.
Never use bleach, solvents, abrasive pads, magic erasers or steam, and keep water away from the seams.
Removing it later
Lift a bottom corner with a thin blade and pull the panel downward slowly, keeping it close to the wall. The non-woven papers usually come away dry, often as a whole panel. If a panel resists, dampen it with warm water, give it a few minutes and try again. Wipe any paste left on the wall off with a sponge and clean water.
How cleanly a panel comes off depends on the paint underneath. Try one corner first.
Common questions
Skip bare drywall, raw wood, brick, heavy texture, existing wallpaper, flaking paint and anything with damp or mold. Paint that is less than three weeks old is still curing and will pull away with the paper. Non-stick, satin and scrub-resistant paints also give adhesive very little to hold onto. A primed, cured, matte or eggshell wall is the ideal surface for every material we sell.
Wipe the wall with clean water and let it dry fully, with no detergent or TSP cleaner left behind. Fill and sand any holes, remove switch plates and outlet covers, and lay a drop cloth. Then draw a plumb vertical line one panel width, minus half an inch, from your starting corner with a level or laser. That line, not the corner, is what your first panel follows.
A tape measure, a level or laser line, a pencil, a sharp utility knife with spare blades, a wide taping knife as a cutting guide, a smoothing tool or plastic squeegee, a clean sponge and a step ladder. Paste installs add a roller and tray, a bucket, and a non-woven wallpaper adhesive, which is not in the box. Change the blade often, since a dull blade tears paper rather than cutting it.
One careful person can hang a standard wall, but two make it much faster and much straighter. The second pair of hands holds the top of the panel against the line while the first smooths downward, which is where most alignment errors happen. For ceilings, stairwells or anything over about ten feet tall, treat a helper as required rather than optional.
Dust it with a dry microfiber cloth or a vacuum brush attachment. For a mark, use a soft cloth barely dampened with water, blot rather than scrub, and dry the spot right away. Avoid bleach, solvents, abrasive pads and steam on every material, and keep water away from the seams.
Last updated October 4, 2026.