Tips to select & buy wallpaper

Most of us are confused about how to choose wallpaper & look for a simple buying guide online or buy expensive décor books. This article is a one-stop guide to help you not only to buy but also select the type of wallpaper for your home. You will get information about the pros and cons of wallpaper and also about the types of wallpapers available in India. In short, you will come to know all about the wallpaper.

Advantages and disadvantages of wallpapers:

Painting a home has become a tedious time-consuming job. The painters take over your home for days on end till you reach a point where you wished you had never started in the first place! A quicker option which takes up far less time is installing wallpapers. Wallpapers are not mere coverings for your walls.

      1. It is available in thousands of patterns, colours and & designs.
      2. Gives stylish and fashionable look to your boring walls
      3. Very Cost effective with compare to paint
      4. It can be installed in couple of hours and is a dust free.                                                                                                              5. It can be maintained and cleaned very easily
      6. It can be repaired and fixed very easily if peels off or torn          

Although it is true that installing wallpapers is time-saving, one of the major drawbacks of wallpaper is that it could peel off very quickly. Wallpapers tend to hide water patches when there is moisture seepage in the walls. When this seepage is very extensive, though, the wallpaper peels off. Even the most reputed manufacturers of wallpapers cannot give you 100% guarantee that it will last for many years. There will always be the rider “provided the leakage is within the absorbable limit”.

 Furthermore, if the binding between the wall and the adhesive is weak, joints will open up. Also if the wall putty quality is not good then the joints tends to open up. Hence it is always advisable to have 2 coat of oil base primer to be done on
the wall before you install wallpaper. With this it gives strength to the bond of wall and putty.

What are the materials used in wallpapers:

Any wallpaper has 2 layer- one is paper which is the part get stick on the wall and another is upper layer which creates various designs and patterns. Usually upper layer is made from Polyvinyl chloride (better known as PVC). With the need to cater to those who want contemporary décor for their homes, today wallpapers are also made from fabric, Vinyl, Cork and even fibreglass. 

• Vinyl Wallpapers:
  Vinyl wallpaper tends to give a shiny look & is also smooth to touch.Vinyl wallpapers are the most commonly used as they are of low cost and can easily be cleaned with ordinary detergent. The biggest advantage of vinyl wallpapers is that they do not catch moisture and hence are commonly used for the bathroom and kitchen walls. 
• Poly Vinyl Foam (PVF) wallpapers:                                                                                                                                                                  Wallpapers made from PVF are excellent for an insulated area of your home, such as the room where you have a home theatre system installed. The PVF acts as a sound insulator, keeping out external noises. Another advantage of PVF wallpapers is that it tends to keep out the heat and thereby the interior of the room cool                                                                                  
• Wallpapers made from textile fibres:                                                                                                                                                  Wallpapers made from textile fibres are considered to be the most expensive. The material used in such wallpaper could be cotton, silk, linen, etc. one of the main disadvantages of using such types of wallpapers is that it requires good care and can only be dry-cleaned. Nevertheless, for those looking for a different look which adds visual beauty to a room
• Cork wallpapers:                                                                                                                                                                                                    It is a misconception that cork wallpapers are not suitable for furnishing the walls of your home. On the contrary, such wallpapers are good because they don’t have a tendency to expand and are good buffers against sound. They are also durable and can last for quite a good number of years and do not necessarily rot away as is suspected.
• Non Woven Wallpaper:                                                                                                                                                                                     Non Woven Wallpaper is currently the most utilised for medium to higher end patterns. it’s a combination of natural and synthetic fibres. It has various benefits: It is easy to install and remove, environment friendly and easy to maintain.