MAINTENANCE AND INSTALLATION

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How to clean commercial wallcovering

It's easy to maintain the life of contract wallcoverings. Here's what you do:

  • Always read manufacturer's guidelines before you start cleaning.
  • Remove stains as soon as possible. The faster it's gone, the less chance the stain has to chemically react with the wallcovering. The longer it's on, the more chance the stain has to discolor the wallcovering permanently.
  • Mild soap and water can remove ordinary dirt spots. Rinse thoroughly with clean water. Blot dry with a soft lint-free towel.
  • Stronger detergent can remove difficult stains that are surface deep-but try an inconspicuous spot first, before attempting the whole wall. Always rinse after applying any detergent. Do not rub spots abrasively.
  • Do not use steel wool, powdered cleaners, or active solvent-type preparations (nail polish remover, tar and bug removers, etc.). This will very likely damage the wallcovering.
  • Textile wallcoverings are an exception: like any textile, they require special care and you should follow the manufacturer's advice. Vacuum occasionally to remove dirt and lint.

How to install commercial wallcovering

Important:
If at any time during installation there is any sort of discrepancy between what you're doing and what it says here, STOP! Contact your distributor before doing anything else. Also, always check manufacturer's instructions.

  1. Before cutting, examine everything to make sure pattern and color are what you ordered. Check all roll tickets to see if more than one run or lot number of the same pattern is supposed to be installed.
  2. Cut panels and headers in roll number sequence, making sure that run numbers are broken at INSIDE corners only. Allow for matching of repeats and trimming at the ceiling and the baseboard.

    Many matched patterns, geometric patterns and textiles should be table trimmed BEFORE installing. Use a sharp blade to minimize fraying of fabric (use one blade per cut). Other patterns should be overlapped and double cut on the wall. A double cutting tool or seam pad is recommended to prevent scoring the wall.

    Number panes and headers as they are cut from the roll and apply to the wall in the same sequence.
  3. Install all wallcovering under adequate lighting and evaluate for color uniformity. When proper lighting conditions are not possible, duplicate the final lighting conditions as nearly as possible.

    Take extra care to keep adhesives and dirt from the wallcovering surface.
  4. After three panels have been hung on the wall surface and excess paste removed, examine the installed panels for uniformity in color. If any color variation is noticed, discontinue hanging and contact the distributor.

Wallcovering Adhesives

IMPORTANT: There are many types of wallcovering adhesives, each formulated for specific applications. They all fall into two general groups:

(a) How they bond the wallcovering to the wall surface.
or
(b) How they apply to the wallcovering.

Be sure you know which you have, and what to do about it.

Basic Facts

Some adhesives are formulated for lightweight and delicate fabrics, others for heavyweight vinyl and acoustical coverings.

Adhesives vary in level of wet-tack, solids, open-time, strippability and ease of application.

All wallcovering adhesives contain a biocide system. These systems are designed to prevent bacteria contamination and mildew / fungal infestation both "in the can" and in the dried adhesive.

Wallcovering adhesives are generally applied on the back of the wallcovering either by roller or pasting machine.

There are four main categories of adhesives:

  1. Prepasted Activators were created to hang prepasted wallcoverings. They activate the existing adhesive, increasing slip and extending the open-time available (helpful when matching patterns). Using activators is generally considered less messy, minimizes seam splitting and reduces seam lifting.
  2. Clear Adhesives are either corn or wheat based. They're generally considered to have more open-time and are easier to clean up than clay-based adhesives. Clear adhesives are designed for both the retail customer and commercial installer.
  3. Clay Adhesives, like clear adhesives, are starch-based, but clay is added as a filler to increase the wet-tack. These are harder to clean up than other clear adhesives.
  4. Vinyl-Over-Vinyl and border adhesives contain synthetic polymers and are specifically formulated to bond to vinyl. In addition to the synthetic polymers, these adhesives may contain some starch and other ingredients to assist in their application. These adhesives require extra attention during application because once they dry, they're permanent. Vinyl-over-vinyl adhesives are specifically designed to hang new wallcoverings to existing wallcoverings or borders to wallcoverings.

Special Considerations for High-End or Specialty Commercial Wallcovering Applications

Textiles:

  • Natural fiber color variation, slubs and knots are an intricate part of each textile design and add to the beauty and texture of each pattern. They're there for a reason.
  • Textiles are generally designed to be installed non-reversed.
  • EXTREME CARE must be taken to keep adhesives from the face of a textile wallcovering. Adhesives on the surface may be difficult or impossible to remove without staining. Use clear adhesives that are designed as non-staining.
  • Remove selvage (excess trimmed edge) from the wall and seams closed within one hour.
  • Dry hang acrylic-backed or unbacked textiles.
  • Paste the walls with a paint roller. Paste a section 4 to 6" wider than the width of the wallcovering. In some cases, the adhesive should be allowed to tack sufficiently in order to provide greater adhesion and prevent adhesive bleed through.

Fabric-backed vinyl:

  • When installing textured or non-matched patterns, reverse hanging of alternate strips may be required to ensure color uniformity from strip to strip.
  • Apply adhesive to the back using a pasting machine or roller. Work the adhesive to cover the back completely, especially near the edges. Fold each end forward, pasted sides together, aligning edges carefully so they do not dry out.
  • DO NOT CREASE THE WALLCOVERING. Allow it to "relax" or "book" for 10 minutes. This allows the adhesive to penetrate the wallcovering fabric.