Wall Coverings: Its Importance and Use

Nowadays, home owners are using wall coverings that are easily available and are very efficient. People are now getting stylish looking wall coverings with patterns as they are considered to be an important part of the interior design. Before, people are using paint and match it with the right texture to decorate the walls but not anymore.

With the use of wall coverings, anyone can choose from different kinds of wall interior designs and get textured coverings and other things. Wall coverings provide protection so that your wall can avoid stains and does not get dirty easily. The right and quality wall covering can add a style to your home.

When choosing a wall covering, it is important to choose carefully and choose a pattern that reflects your preference and suits the room design as well. It is essential to get good quality material that compliments the wall interior design.

Layers in Wall Coverings

There are a lot of substrates used to make wall coverings. However, most of wall coverings consist of three layers each of them perform an important function.

·         The Decorative Layer. This is the thinnest layer in most cases because of the comprised ink applied to the top of the intermediate layer. Decorative layer supplies the look of the product and is normally the major reason a wall covering is chosen. This usually has a protective polymer coating to provide added performance characteristics.        

·         The Intermediate Layer. This layer provides the surface upon which the decorative layer is printed. This layer also provides the background color, which is most often an off white but can be any color depending upon the design.

·         The Third Layer. The substrate or backing is the portion of the wall coverings that goes against the wall. This backing can be a wide variety of materials ranging from woven and non woven fabrics to lightweight paper products.

Common Characteristics of Wall Coverings

·         Washable. It is a common characteristics of wall coverings which means that a wall covering can withstand occasional sponging with a prescribed detergent solution

·         A good quality of wall coverings is scrubbable. It means that a wall covering can withstand scrubbing with a brush and a prescribed detergent solution.

·         Wall coverings should be a stain resistant. It must have the ability to show no appreciable change after removal of different types of stains such as grease, butter, coffee, etc.

·         Abrasion Resistance. Wall coverings must have the ability to withstand mechanical actions such as rubbing, scraping or scrubbing.

·         Strippable. It means that wall covering can be drystripped from the wall leaving a minimum of paste or adhesive residue and without damage to the wall’s surface.

·         A good quality wall covering must have the ability to resist change or loss of color caused by exposure to light over a measured period of time.

·         Wall coverings must be peelable. It means that the decorative surface ground may be drypeeled leaving a continuous layer of the substrate on the wall which can be used as a liner for hanging new wall covering.