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How to hang thermal lining paper: paste, then trim

Updated: 21 October 2026

The first drop tears at the skirting. How to hang thermal lining paper comes down to the adhesive the maker names, a dry sound surface, and time for the foam to grab before you trim. This is the sequence, not a ranking. The rolls sit on the [insulating wallpaper comparison](/hub/painting-supplies/insulating-wallpaper). Peter F. wrote this on 20 October 2026 from Erfurt’s hang notes and the UK reviews. We did not time a hang. If the wall is wet or mouldy, read the [condensation guide](/hub/painting-supplies/insulating-wallpaper/sub/insulating-wallpaper-condensation) first. A qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

The first drop tears at the skirting. How to hang thermal lining paper comes down to the adhesive the maker names, a dry sound surface, and time for the foam to grab before you trim. This is the sequence, not a ranking.

Our top picks

Wallrock Wallrock Dampstop Thermic

Best overall

Wallrock Wallrock Dampstop Thermic
5.1/10about £11.10
View offer
Erfurt Erfurt Heatsaver

Best value

Erfurt Erfurt Heatsaver
5.7/10about £12.99
View offer
Erfurt Erfurt Graphite Plus

Rank 3

Erfurt Erfurt Graphite Plus
6.2/10about £17.85
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Before you open the roll
  2. 2.Hanging a polystyrene underliner
  3. 3.Hanging Dampstop Thermic
  4. 4.Tears, bubbles, and the next layer

Before you open the roll

The wall wants to be dry, sound, and free of active mould. Salts, a tide mark, or a stain that returns after rain are a reason to leave the roll in the packet. Switch off sockets on that wall. If the paint might date from before 1960, do not sand it: Erfurt’s notes flag possible lead paint. Fill cracks that will show through 2 mm of foam. Erfurt’s Heatsaver figure is about 1.25 kg of adhesive per roll, and the pack does not include it. Keep the room at least 10 °C. Dampstop reviews say a full length is awkward, and ceilings are a poor job alone. Erfurt does not recommend these Euroclass E sheets on ceilings or, on their own, on escape routes. If you are still choosing the sheet, use the buying guide.

Hanging a polystyrene underliner

Paste the wall, not the back of the foam, with a ready-mixed adhesive sold for polystyrene. High-alkali flake adhesives can delaminate the sheet. Paste a little wider than the drop, hang the sheet, and smooth from the centre outwards. Butt the next drop. Heatsaver reviews say the 2 mm sheet rips when it is cut. Use a sharp blade and a straight edge. A pizza cutter at the skirting is one buyer’s trick, not Erfurt’s method. If a corner tears, patch a clean piece. Leave it about 48 hours, which is Heatsaver’s instruction. A different Erfurt page says drying is often 24 hours. Do not collapse those into one number. Then hang a lining paper before you paint.
Wallrock Wallrock Dampstop Thermic

Testsieger

Wallrock Wallrock Dampstop Thermic
5.1/10about £11.10
View offer

Hanging Dampstop Thermic

The black side goes to the wall. The foil face will not take ordinary wallpaper paste, so use Dampstop’s own adhesive. Reviews say starch paste lets go. The rate is about 160–250 ml per square metre, about 1 kg for a 5 m² roll. Carry the sheet about 500 mm past a local stain, and butt the joints. A review on 29 September 2026 says the width is 500 mm, not 675 mm. Leave it at least 48 hours. If the stain returns at the edge, the moisture is still moving. This hides the look of penetrating damp. It is not a damp-proof course.

Tears, bubbles, and the next layer

A bubble you can still move is trapped air. Smooth it while the adhesive is wet. Do not pierce a bubble the next day, and do not copy a wishFIRE pin-prick trick onto Heatsaver or Dampstop. Peel-and-stick needs a clean, dry, smooth wall. wishFIRE tells you to avoid texture and damp. There is no 48-hour wait and no stated R-value. Paint only after a lining paper is dry. If the sheet will not stay up, the wall was too damp, the paste was wrong, or the room was too cold. Choosing between the two Erfurt sheets is on the best insulating wallpaper page.

Common questions

Do I paste the paper or the wall?
Paste the wall for Heatsaver and for Dampstop. The foam or the foil is hung into that paste and smoothed out. Pasting the back of a polystyrene sheet, or soaking it, is how it tears and stretches. Peel-and-stick foams in this set are the exception, and they are not hung with paste at all.
How much adhesive per Heatsaver roll?
Erfurt’s figure is about 1.25 kg of ready-mixed polystyrene adhesive per roll, and more on a textured wall. The two-pack on amazon.co.uk does not include it. Buy the tub with the rolls. A 4 m by 2.4 m wall that needs three rolls is then about 3.75 kg before you allow for a thirsty plaster, which is a guide, not a measured tub on your wall.
How do I trim it without tearing?
Cut with a sharp blade against a straight edge while the sheet is supported. A blunt knife dragged along the skirting is the move that rips 2 mm foam in the reviews. Leave a small trim allowance rather than stretching the drop to fit. If you use a pizza cutter, treat it as one buyer’s workaround and still guide the cut.
When can I paint?
Wait about 48 hours for Heatsaver, longer if the paste is still soft, then hang a lining paper and paint that. Do not treat the adhesive page’s “often 24 hours” as the Heatsaver clock. Dampstop also wants about 48 hours or more, and you only decorate the foil once the bond has been checked. Painting bare polystyrene is how the surface snags.
Which side of Dampstop goes to the wall?
The black side goes to the wall. The foil face stays towards the room. Hang it about 500 mm beyond a local damp patch onto sound plaster, with butt joints, and use the system adhesive. If you reverse the sheet, the barrier is not doing the job Erfurt describes.

Related pages

Insulating wallpaper vs wall insulation

Insulating wallpaper

Best insulating wallpaper UK: the rolls in this set

Thermal lining paper: type, coverage, and adhesive

Thermal wallpaper condensation: when a liner belongs

Sources

Public UK sources and manufacturer pages used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures saved for this set on 20 October 2026.

  1. Erfurt, Heatsaver 2 mm wall underliner (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  2. Erfurt, Insulating lining paper Graphite Plus (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  3. Erfurt, Understanding fire ratings (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  4. Erfurt, Wallrock Dampstop Thermic (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  5. GOV.UK, Damp and mould in the home (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  6. Approved Document B, volume 1, dwellings (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  7. Centre for Sustainable Energy, Internal solid-wall insulation (retrieved 20 October 2026)
  8. Homebuilding, Insulating wallpaper (retrieved 20 October 2026)