How to Order Extra Rolls, and Why Batch Numbers Matter
What a batch number is, how printing to order changes the answer, how many spare rolls to buy, and what to do if you run short mid-job
Order the whole job at once, including a spare roll. Every Claret & Key order is printed to order in a single run, so the colour is consistent from the first roll to the last. But a separate order placed weeks later is a separate print run, and separate runs cannot be guaranteed to match exactly.
What a batch number is
In conventionally manufactured wallpaper, a batch, sometimes called a dye lot, identifies rolls printed at the same time from the same ink mix. Rolls from the same batch match. Rolls from different batches can differ slightly in colour, sometimes enough to be visible where two lengths meet.
It is not a defect. Ink is a physical material, paper takes it slightly differently from one run to the next, and no printing process is perfectly identical across time.
How made-to-order changes it
Because we print each order rather than holding stock, your whole order is produced together as one run. That is a genuine advantage over buying from stock, where a shop can easily send you rolls from two different batches without noticing.
The corollary is the important part. The guarantee applies to what is printed together. A roll ordered a fortnight later is printed on a different day, and while it will be very close, we cannot promise it will be indistinguishable on a seam.
So order the spare with the job
One spare roll on a normal room, two on a large or complicated job. That spare does three things.
- It covers a measuring error. Almost every room has an awkward corner nobody counted.
- It covers a mistake. A badly cut length, a torn drop, a pattern that drifted.
- It covers the next ten years. An offcut from your own run makes an invisible repair.
The last of those is the one people underestimate. A scuff or a tear five years from now is a twenty-minute patch if you kept a piece, and a re-papered wall if you did not.
If you do run short
- Order as soon as you realise, rather than at the end of the job. The closer to the original run, the better.
- Plan where the new rolls go. Use them on a separate wall, or in a corner, rather than adjacent to a length from the original order, because any difference is only visible on a shared seam.
- Check them in daylight against an offcut from the first order before you hang anything.
How many spare rolls to keep
Keep at least one full length's worth after the job, and store it rolled rather than folded, somewhere dry and out of direct sunlight. A cupboard or the top of a wardrobe is fine. A loft or a garage is not, because damp and temperature swings will not do it any good.
Write the design name and the colourway on the inside of the wrapper. In five years you will not remember either.
Returning what you do not use
Unopened rolls can be returned within 14 days of delivery, up to a maximum of five rolls, with return postage paid by you. Opened rolls cannot be returned, so check your figures before you break the wrapping, and consider whether the spare is worth more to you as a future repair than as a refund.
Samples are final sale and cannot be returned or refunded.
Before you order at all
Work the quantity out properly rather than estimating. Drops per wall, cut length rounded up to the pattern repeat, drops per roll, then rolls. There is also a roll estimator on every product page for a quick figure. Either way it is a guide, so measure your own walls and check the repeat on the design you have chosen.
Will extra rolls of wallpaper match?
Rolls printed together always match. A separate order placed later is a separate print run and will be very close but cannot be guaranteed identical.
What is a wallpaper batch number?
An identifier for rolls printed at the same time from the same ink mix. It exists because colour can vary slightly between runs.
Do your rolls have batch numbers?
Every order is printed as one run, so the rolls within your order are consistent by design.
How many spare rolls should I order?
One on a normal room, two on a large or complicated job, ordered with the main job rather than afterwards.
Can I return rolls I don't use?
Unopened rolls within 14 days, up to five rolls, with return postage paid by you. Opened rolls and samples cannot be returned.
How should I store leftover wallpaper?
Rolled, not folded, somewhere dry and out of direct sunlight, and not a loft or a garage. Label it with the design and colourway.
