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How to hang paintable wallpaper

Updated: 21 October 2026

You have the roll in the room, the paste is mixed, and the amazon.co.uk page never printed how many minutes to wait. How to hang paintable wallpaper is the order of paste, soak, dry and emulsion, and the minute count has to come from the insert in that roll. On 21 October 2026 Peter F. read the hang lines on the seven listings in the [paintable wallpaper comparison](/hub/painting-supplies/paintable-wallpaper), plus the maker sheets those pages leave out. We did not hang the rolls in a lab. Shelf prices in this batch run from about £7.95 to £12.49, and a purchase through an amazon.co.uk link can earn a commission at no extra cost to you.

You have the roll in the room, the paste is mixed, and the amazon.co.uk page never printed how many minutes to wait.

Our top picks

YöL Sherwood stripe

Best overall

YöL Sherwood stripe
6.7/10about £8.33
View offer
Graham & Brown Superfresco Pure White

Rank 2

Graham & Brown Superfresco Pure White
7.2/10about £11.99
View offer
Anaglypta Anaglypta Buckingham

Rank 3

Anaglypta Anaglypta Buckingham
6.4/10about £8.98
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.Read the hang line first
  2. 2.Paste, book and soak
  3. 3.Dry, then emulsion
  4. 4.When the sheet tears

Read the hang line first

Paste-the-paper means you coat the back, fold the length and let it soak. Paste-the-wall keeps the adhesive on the plaster. Peel and stick, when the insert says that, skips paste. Pure White and the wood slat say paste the paper, with no minutes. Argo and Kinver say paste in the bullets and non-pasted in the installation field. Sophie Laurence allows either method in the bullets. Buckingham's bullets say paste the paper and the installation field says pre-pasted. Sherwood's application field says peel and stick and the bullets are silent, so this page stops short of peel-and-stick steps. Ceiling lengths stay on the paintable wallpaper for ceilings page.

Paste, book and soak

Booking is the paste-to-paste fold that lets the back soak. Wickes describes paste from the centre outwards, then that fold without a crease. Which? limits booking to paste-the-paper. An unpasted length folded for 15 minutes creases the relief and does no soaking. Anaglypta Original duplex says soak at least 15 minutes. The luxury vinyl sheet says 10 to 12. None of these seven amazon.co.uk pages prints them, so 15 minutes on Pure White would be another product's sheet. Time the soak from the insert. Anaglypta or blown vinyl separates that duplex sheet from blown vinyl. Cure damp first, keep the paper off polystyrene, and isolate the power at the consumer unit before you work around sockets. Skip dry-sanding on paint that may pre-date 1960. Unexplained damp, a coating that might contain asbestos, or a stairwell you cannot hold needs a professional.
YöL Sherwood stripe

Testsieger

YöL Sherwood stripe
6.7/10about £8.33
View offer

Dry, then emulsion

Paint after the adhesive has dried. Anaglypta Original says normally 24 to 48 hours. Graham & Brown say at least 36 hours, or the paper can bubble, and their UK FAQ allows matt or satin emulsion, or the paper left white. Those waits are absent from these amazon.co.uk bullets. Follow the insert when it names another wait. Anaglypta's FAQ suggests a first coat thinned by about 5 to 10 percent with water. A hard roller on a fresh joint flattens the relief.

When the sheet tears

Stored reviews on Buckingham, Sherwood, Pure White and the wood slat mention tears once the sheet is wet, beside 4.2 to 4.5 stars across 122 to 309 reviews. We did not re-test the rolls. A soaked sheet splits more easily than the dry roll. Lifting a booked length by one corner can open the emboss. One torn drop spends the offcut from a roll about 10 m by 0.53 m. If you are still choosing, match and size are in the paintable wallpaper buying guide.

Common questions

Do I paste the paper or the wall for these rolls?
Pure White and the wood slat say paste the paper, with a soak and no minutes. Argo and Kinver say paste in the bullets and non-pasted in the details. Buckingham pairs paste-the-paper with a pre-pasted field. Sherwood's application field says peel and stick, which the bullets never confirm. Where those lines clash, the insert decides.
How long do I soak if the Amazon page does not say?
Use the insert. Anaglypta Original duplex says at least 15 minutes. The luxury textured vinyl sheet says 10 to 12 minutes. Pure White and the wood slat say soaking is required and print no minutes. The other five pages print none either. If the insert and the paste tub disagree, follow the insert.
What is booking, and when do I skip it?
Booking means folding a pasted length paste to paste, without a crease, so the adhesive can soak. Wickes describes pasting from the centre out, then making that fold. Which? keeps booking for paste-the-paper. Skip it when the insert says paste the wall, or when the insert is genuinely peel and stick.
When can I put emulsion on?
Wait until the adhesive has dried. Anaglypta Original says normally 24 to 48 hours. Graham & Brown say at least 36 hours, or the paper can bubble, and you can leave their paper white. These amazon.co.uk bullets do not print that wait. Anaglypta's FAQ suggests a first coat thinned by about 5 to 10 percent with water.
Should the emulsion be matt, satin or silk?
Graham & Brown's UK FAQ points to matt or satin emulsion. Silk in one Pure White review is that reviewer's finish, not the listing. Matt hides a slightly uneven joint. Satin wipes more easily and shows the relief a little more. A hard roller on the first coat flattens the pattern.
Why do reviews say the sheet rips when it is wet?
Reviews on Buckingham, Sherwood, Pure White and the wood slat mention tears after the sheet is wet, beside stars of about 4.2 to 4.5. A soaked length is heavier than the dry roll. Pulling one corner, or rolling the relief hard, matches those complaints. The reviews are not a laboratory measure of strength.
Can I use a seam roller on the relief?
Anaglypta Original specifies a brush at light pressure on that duplex paper, and it keeps a hard roller off the face. A seam roller on the raised pattern crushes the relief and can split a damp joint. Butt the edges and smooth them with the brush. If your insert names another tool, use that tool.

Related pages

Best paintable wallpaper

Paintable wallpaper

Anaglypta or blown vinyl: duplex, vinyl or woodchip

Paintable wallpaper buying guide: hang, match, size

Paintable wallpaper for ceilings: 50 cm guide line

Sources

Public UK sources used for this comparison. Listing prices, stars and review counts are the amazon.co.uk figures captured for this batch. Page updated 21 October 2026.

  1. Anaglypta Original hanging instructions (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  2. Anaglypta luxury vinyl instructions (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  3. Anaglypta FAQs (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  4. Graham & Brown wallpaper FAQs (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  5. BSI, BS EN 15102:2019 decorative wallcoverings (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  6. BSI, BS EN 235:2020 wallcoverings vocabulary (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  7. Approved Document B volume 1, dwellings (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  8. Homebuilding, wallpaper in a bathroom (retrieved 21 October 2026)
  9. Go Wallpaper, Popular paintable vinyl (retrieved 21 October 2026)