Wallpaper Cuts

[Paul17088071]

Hi all.

I am trying abit of wallpapering for the first time. I have applied the first bit of paper on to the wall, and am concerned about ripping the paper when cutting off the excess around the edges of the panelling and corner of the wall.

Does anyone have any advice on the best way to do this? Is it best to cut when the paper is wet, or fully dry?

Many thanks, Paul.

 

[Old Salt]

I do it wet. Mark the cut line with the back of my scissors, peel back the paper, make the cut and smooth back into place with the paper hanging brush. Work around the cuts one at a time.

 

[opps]

Are you only doing a "feature" wall?

If yes, as a decorator, I use a wide filler knife (about 8 to 12") to push the edge of the paper into the wall corner, I then run a sharp knife along the edge of the paper to cut through it. The filler knife holds the paper taut so that the knife can make a clean pass.

If it is paste the wall paper, I butter up the reverse of the paper where the fold will be to make it more pliable.

I use 9mm snap off blades and snap off the edge once it starts to blunt.

I can provide links if you want.

I do use scissors if running a paper around a corner- I allow about an inch of the paper to run around the corner. I then match up the next up the next sheet and use the scissors. I cannot use a knife because I would cut through the corner fold. That said, I do have an OLFA knife which you can set to only cut through a single piece of paper.

 

[Harry Bloomfield]

If cutting with a blade, wet paper, then draw the blade from the middle of the paper, out to the edge. If you do it from the edge towards the centre, it will ruck the paper up. Don't accept wall edges and corners are straight, mark vertical lines in pencil - Thin string, suspended from a hammered in nail, with a nut as a bob weight - mark at the bottom, then join the points with a straight edge. Arrange the nail, exactly where the paper edge needs to be, and it will be there for next time you decide to paper.

 

[opps]

If cutting with a blade, wet paper, then draw the blade from the middle of the paper, out to the edge. If you do it from the edge towards the centre, it will ruck the paper up. Don't accept wall edges and corners are straight, mark vertical lines in pencil - Thin string, suspended from a hammered in nail, with a nut as a bob weight - mark at the bottom, then join the points with a straight edge. Arrange the nail, exactly where the paper edge needs to be, and it will be there for next time you decide to paper.

If I have two drops next to each other, I am happy to cut from one drop to the next. The wide blade filling knife, if applied with sufficient pressure is more than able to prevent the paper from ripping/moving when cutting from one drop to the next. You are effectively pushing the paper into a corner (read: the top of the skirting or the ceiling or the adjoining wall), it should not be able to move as you slice through it into the next drop.

I do this for a living. That said, I don't look forward to paper hanging...

Key though is using a sharp blade, hence my recommending a 9mm blade that you can snap off as it becomes blunt.

If the walls/skirting/ceilings are spot on I use a wider filling knife as a guide for my cutting knife. I will go up to about 18". I have never tried wider than that because most of the houses that I work in are Victorian and with an 18"+ filling blade you will not be able to apply sufficient pressure along the whole cut, meaning that you risk ripping the edge of the paper.

Point taken about plumb lines though.

A pushed down edge at the skirting will give you a far cleaner and more accurate line than a pencil mark and scissor cut. Why? The pencil line will be out by a couple of mm because if the pencil were to push in correctly, it would rip the paper before it could be cut.

 

[Paul17088071]

Are you only doing a "feature" wall?

If yes, as a decorator, I use a wide filler knife (about 8 to 12") to push the edge of the paper into the wall corner, I then run a sharp knife along the edge of the paper to cut through it. The filler knife holds the paper taut so that the knife can make a clean pass.

If it is paste the wall paper, I butter up the reverse of the paper where the fold will be to make it more pliable.

I use 9mm snap off blades and snap off the edge once it starts to blunt.

I can provide links if you want.

I do use scissors if running a paper around a corner- I allow about an inch of the paper to run around the corner. I then match up the next up the next sheet and use the scissors. I cannot use a knife because I would cut through the corner fold. That said, I do have an OLFA knife which you can set to only cut through a single piece of paper.

Thanks so much for your detailed response.

In the end I applied the wallpaper guide knife to the bottom where they join the edges and cut off this with a snap off knife.
Please could you explain what you mean by buttering up the reverse of the paper where the fold will be?

I found it abit tricky in the corner as I am only decorating the one wall above the label. Not perfect on the first cut at the bottom of the paper, but I’ll apply a dado rail to cover this
Many thanks for your help

 

[opps]

Thanks so much for your detailed response.

In the end I applied the wallpaper guide knife to the bottom where they join the edges and cut off this with a snap off knife.
Please could you explain what you mean by buttering up the reverse of the paper where the fold will be?

I found it abit tricky in the corner as I am only decorating the one wall above the label. Not perfect on the first cut at the bottom of the paper, but I’ll apply a dado rail to cover this
Many thanks for your help

Paste the wall paper can be quite difficult to push in to corners/up to the edge of the skirting because it is dry. To make it more pliable, I apply paste to the reverse of the section that needs to be pushed in. Hope that makes sense.