Liquid wallpaper

If your living room needs to be given a magnificent, solemn look, then liquid wallpaper with the addition of thin golden threads will be indispensable. For avant-garde lovers, it is possible to create a coating with a combination of different color spots

The best remedy for blues is repair. The head is constantly busy sorting through the options for improving the home and there is no time for other thoughts. The last time I pasted over the corridor with a stunning sackcloth wallpaper with large vertical stripes of flowers. Everything would be fine, but some features of the corridor of my apartment constantly horrified me. The walls and corners are concave-convex, it is difficult to stick the wallpaper back to back, they either overlap each other, or they diverge in different directions. The door frames are not inserted perpendicular to the floor, but at 80 degrees, so there is always a problem: parallel to what the drawing should go. Start pasting wallpaper from the corner, or from the door, or immediately glue them diagonally to the floor. Seven doors of different sizes and configurations, protruding load-bearing beams – I remember all this as a bad dream.

“But,” I said to myself, “in the conditions of incipient capitalism, this problem can and must be solved,” and with this thought I went shopping.

Today, the market of finishing materials presents unlimited opportunities for changing the interior of a house, office and other premises, allowing you to show your own design qualities, to make your fantasies come true.

But the question is: how to determine your choice? Paper wallpapers, like self-adhesive films, require an ideal wall surface and pattern selection. If the walls are replete with ledges, corners, which is not uncommon for our apartments, the task of pasting is much more complicated. Wall panels require additional fixtures, certain skills.

And in the next store I come across a stand with liquid wallpaper, and after studying the instructions, talking with the seller, I understand that liquid wallpaper is fundamentally different from the above materials. Most often, they are a composition of natural cotton or cellulose fibers, high quality dyes and an adhesive, which is packed in a plastic bag. It is enough to stir the contents of the package in a certain amount of water and the product is ready for use..

Liquid wallpaper consists of natural ingredients with a neutral electric charge – this ensures their antistatic properties, they do not collect dust, which is of great importance for maintaining health. Liquid wallpaper meets modern fire safety standards.

They can be used for decoration of rooms, corridors of apartments and office premises. A wide range of colors allows you to vary the shades of wall coverings from snow-white winter, as if shining in the sun, to fresh, delicate spring colors and bright summer colors. Strict gray tones will create a business atmosphere in the office. The presence of processed silk elements in some types of liquid wallpaper will give the walls of your apartment the effect of a fabric covering, multiply the beauty and richness of the decor. If your living room needs to be given a magnificent, solemn look, then liquid wallpaper with the addition of thin golden threads will be indispensable. For avant-garde lovers, it is possible to create a coating with a combination of various color spots, although this will require a call from a professional master (which, of course, is not cheap), but you can achieve the uniqueness of the apartment’s decoration.

Liquid wallpaper hides small cracks and defects, fills the gaps in the places where platbands, plinths, frames, sockets and switches fit, have no seams. They are not afraid of crooked walls and uneven corners (though you can argue about this, bearing in mind our favorite apartments). However, to obtain a high-quality coating, the walls should be primed. As a rule, along with liquid wallpaper, you will be offered to buy branded primers. Prices for them are different, and the cheapest option is to prime the walls or ceiling with zinc white or water-based paint. In this case, light wallpaper should not be applied to a dark ground coat, it will shine through. You can cover pipes and batteries with liquid wallpaper, remembering that all metal surfaces must also be insulated, since due to the hygroscopicity (i.e. the ability to pass moisture) of the wallpaper, the metal can rust, and stains appear on the surface. In a new apartment (as you know, a new house shrinks over several years), the final finishing is usually postponed. Manufacturers claim that with liquid wallpaper you can make your apartment beautiful and cozy right away. Different types of liquid wallpaper differ in the structure of the fibers: some lay on the wall with a thin layer of 2-3 mm, others are somewhat thicker – 4-5 mm, they look more voluminous, similar to fabric. When the house “shrinks” and small cracks appear due to their elasticity, they do not deform and do not break.

When a site with heavy pollution appears, it breaks off the wall, and a new one is rolled in its place. However, it should be remembered that if people smoke in the room and the wallpaper has been for several years, then the area with the newly applied coating will look lighter. And in general, when covering a flat surface “from corner to corner”, wallpaper of the same batch should be used. Unused, but already diluted with water, material can be frozen and stored in the refrigerator until the next permanent stain appears (if you have a free refrigerator, of course). Try not to eat it. And, for example, stains around the switches, according to information from users, are erased with an ordinary eraser.

The microporous structure provides heat and sound insulation properties – we can say that liquid wallpaper “breathes”. If you applied them to the walls of the kitchen or bathroom, then a colorless varnish is used as a protective layer. Without changing the beauty of the coating, it does not allow moisture and soot to penetrate inside, it makes it possible to remove dirty spots with a wet rag, but the effect of wallpaper “breathing” disappears, and you can just as well glue vinyl wallpaper, which will cost much less.

To apply liquid wallpaper you need:

• Clean the surface of the walls from contamination, remove poorly preserved old coatings, etch the areas affected by the fungus with an antiseptic, dust, dry.
• If necessary, treat the surface of the walls with a primer.
• Apply liquid wallpaper at a temperature not lower than + 10 ° С.
• Pour the contents of the package into a separate container..
• Mix dry additives (if any) with the main mixture.
• Pour the contents of the container with water, in the amount indicated on the package, and mix thoroughly until a homogeneous mass is obtained.
• Apply liquid wallpaper to the wall, ceiling with a spatula (after 15-30 min. Exposure) or by spraying (immediately) from a “gun”, depending on the type of wallpaper and instructions on the package.
• The applied coating dries from 12 to 72 hours depending on the temperature and humidity in the room.

Liquid wallpaper is applied manually with a spatula or using a special hopper pistol, into the container of which the prepared mass is loaded and evenly applied to the surface under air pressure. In this case, the coverage speed increases several times..

All versions of liquid wallpaper are suitable for the pistol, except for “Danish” decorative plaster. Although high qualifications are not required when using it, I warn you: the gun cannot be connected to a household vacuum cleaner, since a constant pressure of about 3-5 atmospheres must be maintained during application, for which a compressor is used. A gun and a compressor are bought or rented from companies that sell liquid wallpaper. Pistol rental price – $ 10 e. per day, the rental price of a compressor, adapter hose and pistol is 20 USD. e. per day.

Liquid wallpaper on the modern Russian market is represented by several manufacturers:

1. The French liquid wallpaper “SENIDECO” in their homeland is called an outlandish wall covering (“liquid wallpaper” is a purely domestic term). This is the first French company to produce such an unusual wall covering, it has 150 color options, which allows them to be used to solve the most complex interior design problems..
The composition of the wallpaper includes loose cellulose, mica, adhesive, high-quality dyes.

Before applying liquid wallpaper, you need to prepare the surface: putty cracks and joints, insulate metal parts with oil paint.

Wallpaper is applied to a clean, dry, pre-primed surface. If necessary, the primer can be diluted with white spirit or solvent for oil paints.

After the liquid wallpaper dries, it can be coated with acrylic varnish to increase the moisture resistance of the coating.

2. The French COTEX cotton cover offers great possibilities for expressing your own fantasies by simply mixing cotton fibers with a solution of dye, water and binder. If you are not confident in your own abilities, the company will recommend a professional master who will help you get unique individual colors and excellent surface quality..

Top-loading SENIDECO K-12 hopper pistol. Nozzle with a diameter of 4 mm, constant outlet pressure 1.5–2 kg, air supply under pressure 3–5 atm., Air flow 12 cubic meters / hour. Use a special adapter for ceiling application.

French Cotton Coating can be applied to any old or new surface (wood, concrete, gypsum, drywall, plaster, etc.). Before application, treat the surface with an oily primer, as otherwise COTEX will pull all dirt and stains out of the wall. A large panel should be made and applied in one step.

Dirt is removed with a stain remover for cotton fabrics.

The coating is designed for fairly wealthy buyers with exquisite taste. The price, of course, is high, but the firms selling these products recognize the primacy behind the French liquid wallpaper..

3. The richness of colors and shades of liquid wallpaper of the Turkish company “SILKCOAT” is not inferior to the French, and the prices are somewhat lower. They appeared on the finishing materials market in 1993. Thanks to their good hygienic (as confirmed by the relevant certificates) and aesthetic properties, they quickly became widespread. Supplied to Germany, Austria, Russia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Romania, Pakistan, Taiwan, Malaysia, Egypt, China and Nigeria. Liquid wallpaper “SILKCOAT” is a decorative silk wall covering, developed by Japanese experts on the basis of natural silk cocoons and cotton fibers. The application technology does not require preliminary preparation, it is simple and accessible to everyone. The composition of liquid wallpaper includes acrylic binders, which does not allow them to be applied to surfaces covered with old oil paints, in order to avoid stretching of drying oil and the appearance of spots on the surface.

Therefore, it is advisable to prime the surface under the wallpaper, especially if it is covered with oil or plastic paint, metal or brick. In the presence of old paintwork, areas with different absorbency and other problematic surfaces, a waterproofing primer based on acrylic binders is applied. Recommended primer – fixative “Isacrilico” (“Jsaval”, Spain). It is also possible to use a water-dispersive acrylic primer “ASTAR”, BAYRAMLAR (Turkey) (packs of 10 and 25 kg) or similar primers on a water-dispersive binder.

To give the surface additional strength and water resistance, after the silk coating has dried, it is recommended to apply a colorless fixer varnish, for example, Silkcot CX-2000 or Svyatozar, a colorless domestic varnish.

4. Roughly the same can be said about the Turkish liquid wallpaper of the Bayramix koza brand. They differ from the previous ones in a slightly different color scheme and their price is slightly lower.

five. A novelty on the Russian market that appeared at the beginning of this year – Stenol wall covering – is a dry mixture of natural fibers (cellulose), color additives, colorants, thickeners and non-combustible rice (anti-perennial) based on a natural binder. The cellulose used is produced from hardwoods growing in the Arkhangelsk region. The wall covering “Stenol” was tested in the testing laboratory of the Main Directorate of the Fire Service and, according to the test results, was classified as a low-combustible material. This allows it to be used in the repair and decoration of the so-called escape routes. Based on the results of testing in the center of the State Sanitary and Epidemiological Surveillance in the city of Moscow, it was recommended to them for housing and civil construction.

Coating “Stenol” has great ductility. It can be used as a heater or leveling compound, that is, after drying, it can be applied both paint and ordinary paper wallpaper. The use of various types of rolling rollers from foam rubber to rubber with a pattern allows you to make each wall in an unusual way.

6. Another domestic liquid wallpaper is sold under the attractive, but strange name “Danish” decorative plaster. The price of one package, in contrast to the price of French and Turkish liquid wallpaper, is approximately equal to the price of a standard roll of paper wallpaper. They are similar to the French cotton coating “COTEX” in that they make it possible to independently create any color composition, adding decorative additives to the white cellulose base: “Colorant” – a liquid color additive, the different amount of which varies the saturation of the basic color tone of the wallpaper;

“Bummix” – a dry mixture of various colors (similar to colored coconut flakes);

“Sena” – a golden addition, gives the wallpaper a characteristic shine.

On the stands, with “Danish” decorative plaster, there are relief rollers, with the help of which textured finishing is made for matting, stone or wood. It is possible to use liquid wallpaper in rooms with excessive moisture, as written in the instructions for use, although given their cellulose composition, which perfectly absorbs moisture and is soaking, you should seriously think about the reliability of this statement.

It should be noted that after the crisis on August 17, consumer demand for liquid wallpaper fell 3-4 times. Potential buyers became more concerned about the price, not the quality of the product. Unfortunately, this is also facilitated by the policy of Western manufacturers. Lack of serious interest and proper efforts in promoting your product to the Russian market can lead to the gradual displacement of liquid wallpaper by more consistent manufacturers of other materials with a similar purpose..

…But still. Shopping is interesting, but it is even more exciting to visit various trading companies. In the store, you may not be noticed or answered unkindly. And when you come to a company that sells liquid wallpaper, you are welcomed.

As a rule, these firms trade in both wholesale and retail, so you will hear an exhaustive story about all the advantages of the product and coating technology. They are interested in you, which is always nice and even if you don’t buy anything, you will get a lot of pleasure from communication and from acquiring new information.

And if you did buy liquid wallpaper, remember your childhood, how it pulls after a summer rain to tinker in the mud, knead the “porridge”, remember it with your hands, smear it on the walls, and instead of a slap on a soft spot from your mother, you will get a wonderful coating on the walls.

Interview with Vladimir Vinokur (about liquid wallpaper)

Vladimir Natanovich, who advised you to buy liquid wallpaper, because of what qualities?

– The director of the theater has already made liquid wallpaper and advised me.

Why the choice fell on liquid wallpaper?

– Because of the novelty, probably.

What surface was the wallpaper applied to?

– On plaster.

How was it applied by hand or with a pistol, was a team of craftsmen called, how much time was spent on preparation?

– Spray gun and roller. The company did complex repairs, the team did everything at once, including the application of wallpaper.

What color scheme of liquid wallpaper did you prefer? Is the ceiling covered?

– Light beige, the ceiling is not covered.

Are there pipes, batteries in the room, are they covered with liquid wallpaper?

– Radiators are imported, in niches, closed with curtains, so they were not covered.

Was the liquid wallpaper covered with varnish to increase moisture resistance?

– Yes, they covered, but only in the corridor. A staircase leads from the corridor to the second floor, and the living room was not covered.

What liquid wallpaper looks like in comparison with conventional paper?

– Why, I like it, okay.

And how long are they on the walls of your house?

– The renovation ended in November last year. So far, everything is fine, beautiful and no complaints. In general, I am happy, which is what I wish for you..

Katya Tets