Look at the back of the paper first, because where the paste ended up tells you what went wrong, and each answer has a different fix
Look at the back of the peeling paper. If the paste is on the paper, the wall was the problem: dust, an unkeyed sheen paint, old adhesive residue or bare porous plaster. If the paste is on the wall, the paper let go, which points to heat, damp or a paste that was too thin.
That one observation narrows it down faster than anything else, so start there.
Dust
The most common cause of all. Sanding dust is invisible on a pale wall and paste will not stick through it.
Fix: take the length off, wipe the wall down thoroughly with a dry cloth then a barely damp one, let it dry, and re-hang.
An unkeyed sheen paint
Silk, soft sheen, eggshell and gloss are sealed surfaces. Paste sits on them.
Fix: sand the wall to a dull finish, wash off the dust, and re-hang.
Old adhesive left after stripping
Old paste dries glassy and new paste will not bond to it.
Fix: wash the wall properly with sugar soap until it feels the same everywhere.
Bare, porous plaster
Unsealed plaster drinks the water out of the paste before it can work.
Fix: seal with a mist coat and let it dry.
Heat during drying
A radiator turned on under a freshly papered wall, or a heat source too close, dries the surface before the bond has formed.
Fix: re-paste and re-hang, and leave the heating off for 24 to 48 hours this time.
Damp coming through the wall
Paper lifting repeatedly in one place, particularly on an external wall, near a window or behind a radiator, is a building problem rather than a decorating one.
Fix: find the cause and deal with it before you re-hang anything. Papering over damp hides it while it gets worse.
Paste mixed too thin, or too little of it
Fix: use a ready-mixed paste-the-wall adhesive at full strength, applied generously and wider than the length.
Where it peels tells you something
Edges and seams only: the paste did not reach the edge of the length.
Around a radiator: heat during drying, or dust on a wall nobody can reach to clean.
In a bathroom or kitchen: steam getting behind an edge. Consider heavy-grade paper and better ventilation.
On one external wall only: condensation or damp.
Along the top by the ceiling: often a dry patch where the roller stopped short.
Whole lengths, everywhere: the wall was not prepared.
How to re-hang a length that has come away
Take it off completely rather than trying to patch it back, because a length that has lifted once will lift again.
Deal with whatever the back of the paper told you.
Let the wall dry fully.
Paste and re-hang. If the paper creased or tore coming off, hang a fresh length.
When it is peel and stick
Removable paper lifting at the edges is a surface problem, not a bond problem: texture, chalky paint, uncured paint or steam. Press it back and warm it gently with a hairdryer on a low setting, but if it keeps lifting the wall is wrong for it.
Why is my wallpaper peeling off the wall?
Look at the back. Paste on the paper means the wall never bonded: dust, sheen paint, old glue or bare plaster. Paste on the wall means heat, damp or weak adhesive.
Why won't my wallpaper stick?
In most cases, dust on the wall or a silk paint that was not sanded first.
Why does it keep peeling behind the radiator?
Heat during drying, or dust on a wall that is hard to clean. If it recurs after careful preparation, check for condensation.
Can I just glue it back?
For an edge or a corner, yes. For a whole length, no. Take it off and deal with the wall.
Is peeling a fault in the wallpaper?
Very rarely. It is nearly always the wall's preparation or the room's conditions while drying.
My wallpaper is peeling in the bathroom: what now?
Check ventilation first. Our heavy-grade paper is the one we recommend for bathrooms, kept out of direct spray.
Poor customer service - rolls are only available as one off 10m runs, so if you need 11m.. unfortunately you’ll be paying double for a second roll! Unless your walls are 8m or less, I’d avoid. Wrongly assumed Claret & Key would be slightly more compassionate about the situation and even help with a slightly discounted second roll, considering we only needed 1m. How wrong we were!
Store owner replied:
Hi Emily,
I'm sorry to hear that you are disappointed with the service.
We sell our wallpaper by the roll, and we are unable to manufacture shorter rolls. This will be the same for most manufacturers as 10m rolls are standard, and most rooms require more than 1 roll to complete the job.
Thanks,
Claret & Key
I really loved this paper and thought it would look nice in my attic space. Delighted with the end result. Great service, excellent quality of paper and it really transforms the room. The eves are very low so the space was not utilised so making a feature with the wallpaper has created a cosy space to relax in. Thank you. M
Love this wallpaper. It’s just enough to show a statement but not so loud that it overpowers the space. Being able to pick the color is such a great thing also. You’re not stuck with 5 options so it can match your style and colors of your space. Would recommend to anyone looking for wallpaper. Very happy and my installer said its super easy to install this pattern.
This wallpaper is thick and sturdy. It’s very easy to work with and easy to apply. It was my first time hanging wallpaper and this paper was very forgiving. Great product!
I love how everything turned out and the price point was great. It was a bit challenging to piece together. Being from the USA, it was kind of a challenge to convert all the measurements to figure out how many rolls I needed and then where to cut the rolls to line up the images based on the design repetition. Luckily, I had plenty of wallpaper to work with on the roll.
Absolutely beautiful design and texture. Got the heavy duty wallpaper and put it up without any previous wallpaper experience and it went up very easily and beautifully. Definitely recommend.
Extremely helpful and supportive when I needed advice on measurements, with fast delivery too. The quality of the wallpaper is excellent, and I’m really pleased with the overall service. Highly recommended!
Gorgeous wallpaper, but the measuring option on the website left us short by 1 roll. Had to order another one but when it came the colour match was perfect. Thankfully I wasn’t paying for a decorator, otherwise would have been disappointed in having to pay for them to return. Otherwise great quality wallpaper and design compared to other similar products available.
First purchase from claret and key and truly impressed. Beautiful quality wallpaper. Pretty yet not too fussy. Easy to hang, cut and match. Would work in any room
Good tracking and delivery service too.
Definitely recommend and would reuse for future projects.
Everything went really good. Apart from the quality of the wallpaper which is fantastic, the staff were exemplary in their communications, friendliness and professionalism. They really did go the extra mile to help me.
A great experience all round.
Thank you.
Patrick
Lovely pattern and paper quality.
However, I wish that I had paid more attention to the roll width measurement.
For some strange reason your paper is narrower than a standard roll. This caused me a great deal of problems when papering my lobby, a small area but that made it more difficult because I was left with a narrow space to fill on 3 walls with a very long drop.
Although I love the paper I probably wouldn't use it again just for this reason.
Why you would produce paper not of a standard width is for you to know and me to wonder but it has made my small project very difficult.
Used this paper to make a dark study cosier. Absolutely loved the colour - the background is a perfect match to our existing panelling painted in Farrow and Ball Old White. First time using paste the wall and it was a revelation so easy and much less mess. Quality of the paper is great but noted the rolls are slightly narrower than most wallpapers. Loved the pattern match which meant little waste what we had left we used to recover some old box files which was easy. I thoroughly recommend.
