HOW TO PREPARE THE GLUE FOR WALLPAPERING A WALL WITH WALLPAPER

If you are thinking about decorating your entire house or a room with wallpaper, you should know that it is one of the most interesting trends. Not only because of the possibilities it offers you, but because the latest materials used are of excellent quality.

But there is something you must keep in mind when installing wallpaper: the paste for wallpapering. And it is one of the key elements to ensure the durability of your decoration, in addition to the material of the paper, the conditions of the room or the wall where you want to place it.

Therefore, today we want to give you some ideas that will help you in this very decisive step. We will start by knowing the types of glue that exist for wallpaper.

Types of wallpaper glue

When placing decorative wallpaper, we must choose between different types of glue. There are some differences between them, which will be differential depending on the wall or the paper to be used.

Glue powder

There are two types of powder glue for wallpaper. What we know as methyl cellulosic glue powder is the best option for the TNT support. Cellulose, on the other hand, is a better wallpaper with a paper backing.

White or carpenter's glue

This glue is not common when installing wallpaper in a home and, in fact, we only recommend it if it is a small portion of a surface with low adhesion. It could be a step or some piece of furniture that you want to modernize, but little else. This is because white glue dries very quickly, so you will not be able to work with large spaces. Once you have decided which one to use according to your needs, you have the option of buying it ready-made or making it yourself. Do you want to know how?

How to prepare glue for wallpaper?

If you plan to prepare the wallpaper glue on your own, you must be clear about the steps to follow and do it in the correct way. Poor preparation of the glue can lead to many problems with the wallpaper, either because the wrong amounts of water have been used or because it has not rested long enough.

Let's see what steps to follow for the main wallpaper glues, always following the manufacturer's instructions and labeling to correctly set the proportions.

Prepare glue powder

As we have seen before, this glue is for papers with a TNT (methyl cellulose) support and for wallpaper with a paper (cellulose) support. Each of them will have a different preparation method, but in general it is very simple.

You will only have to mix the preparation you have purchased with the correct amount of water, making sure that they are integrated evenly. Afterwards, all you have to do is wait (up to several hours) for the glue to rest before you can use it.

Prepare reinforced glue

In this case it is the powder glue that we have prepared previously, but with the addition of vinyl glue to improve its consistency. This will allow us to support wallpaper of greater weight and density, which may be ideal for some areas of the house.

What you should do is prepare the powder glue as we have shown before, and then establish a 1:4 proportion of vinyl glue (approximately 20%, one part vinyl glue for every four parts powder glue).

When it is ready, you will only have to apply it directly to the wall, always the size of an iron, since it could dry out if you try to place more. Then, spray a little water on the paper support to moisten it, and this way you will be able to work better and fix it optimally to the wall.

Prepare white or carpenter's glue

Although we have said that it is only recommended for small spaces, we are going to tell you how to do it, since it is nothing more than a craft for children (that you can prepare with products from home). 

You will need to mix 350 g of flour with 700 ml of water, beating with a whisk so as not to form lumps. Once this is ready, add 120 ml of vinegar and heat everything in a water bath, always stirring so that it does not stick.

When it starts to boil, leave it for a couple of minutes and remove from the heat, so that it rests and loses heat. Then transfer everything to an airtight container and you will have it ready.