How to Apply Water to Prepasted Wallpaper

Most professionals treat prepasted wallpaper just like ordinary wallpaper: They apply adhesive paste anyway. But it is prepasted, after all, and if you want to skip the added paste, this is how to do it right.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Wallpaper Paste
• Wallpaper Remover Solution
• Basins
• Paint Roller Pans
• Pre-pasted Wallpaper
• Rollers
• Sponges
• Wallpaper Accessories
• Wallpaper Borders
• Scissors
• Scissors
• Wallpaper Steamers
• Sponges
• Rollers

1. Cut your paper to the correct length and roll it up loosely.

2. Soak the paper for a few seconds in a small trough of water. The water will activate the adhesive, but it can also wash the adhesive off - so move quickly.

3. If you don't have a trough, simply lay the paper on a clean table, pattern-side down, and dampen the prepasted side with a wet sponge or brush.

4. Fold one edge of the dampened paper upward, laying the end carefully at about the midpoint of the paper. Do the same on the other side.

5. Fold the two halves against each other, taking care not to crease the paper. This step is called "booking." It keeps the paper moist, keeps the paste from dribbling onto the floor and keeps the pasted surface clean.

Tips & Warnings

• Buy paper that you like, whether or not it's prepasted. Hanging wallpaper involves plenty of work either way.
• The instructions on most packs of prepasted paper will tell you not to add paste. But you'll find that many pros add paste anyway - they want their handiwork to stick around.

[abeautifulwall]

on 8/31/2009 Great article! If you still need help and you live in San Diego...give me a call...http://wallpaperingSanDiego.blogspot.com

on 11/22/2005 We found this by mistake but it worked for us. Remove as much of the old border as possible. Take a slightly damp rag and wipe the area until the paste turns a darker shade, then scrape! You can spray it, too, but it runs down the wall faster than you can wipe it off and it leaves a
sticky residue. Good luck!

on 11/22/2005 We used a prepasted wallpaper border in a room that already had a border hung. We were able to take off the top layer of the old border (that had the pattern), which left the backing intact. The prepasted border worked out fine without adding extra glue.