Installing Your Print

Pick a smooth, dry and clean surface. The most traditional places are on any wall, door, window, or car (do not block the windscreen). When hanging Phototex on a standard painted wall, make sure the wall has been previously primed prior to painting and is completely dry. If you place Phototex on a pebbly, textured, or porous surface (i.e. brick or cement walls), you may receive poor results, but in most cases, it has worked. We also suggest not placing it above fireplaces.

Use a warm, damp cloth or sponge to clean the wall surface or window and allow it to completely dry. You can remove and replace the Phototex over and over again, however, once the adhesive collects too much dust, dirt or fibers it will become less effective, and the Phototex may not stick as well to your surface.

Phototex is paste free which means there is no need for messy and time-consuming pasting. Depending on the size of your Phototex print it may be helpful to have two people install it. Try not to let the adhesive come together, or the Phototex fold up against itself. It’s okay if it does, you can separate it by carefully pulling it apart so you do not ruin the print. Start at the top of your print and pull down approximately 5 – 10 cm of the backing paper. By lightly pressing and smoothing, apply the 5 – 10 cm exposed adhesive area of your Phototex to the chosen surface area. Then continue to slowly pull the backer downward in 20 – 30 cm increments smoothing the Phototex as you go. Once the Phototex is started, it may be helpful if another person holds the bottom and pulls down slightly giving some tension and keeping it straight and easier to apply. If there are any bubbles or wrinkles, you can lightly press or smooth them out, or just peel back that area and re-apply. Please Note: Pressing too hard will not damage Phototex however, it may cause your hands to gather ink (due to the natural oils on your hands), and it could transfer from your hands onto another surface.

If a bubble re-appears over the next day or two, you can remove it by pressing and lightly rubbing it. This may happen occasionally because oil, dirt or dust could be on your surface. You can use a pin to pop the bubble and then smooth it out with your fingers in a circular motion. If it keeps re-appearing, you may want to move your Phototex to another area.

Before you begin installing your wallpaper, prepare your surface and clear the work area. Make sure electrical outlets are off and remove wall fixtures. For best results, clean and properly prepare all wall surfaces. Old wallcoverings and paste residue should be removed.

Next, prepare your wall with a premixed universal wallpaper primer-sealer. Priming the wall is an important step when hanging unpasted wallpaper as it protects and seals the wall and allows for the wallpaper to remove more easily. If installing York’s Sure Strip Wallpaper or Peel and Stick Wallpaper, a primer is not required if the wall has 2 coats of cured paint.

When ready to begin, measure the wall length, then add 4” and cut your wallpaper. You want the paper to overlap at the ceiling and the baseboard by approximately 2”.

Quick Tip: Be sure to allow for a pattern match, either random, straight across, or drop match.

You can either paste the wall or paste the paper. If pasting the wall, apply the paste evenly to the wall, covering an area for one strip only. If pasting the paper, apply an even coat of paste to the back of the wallpaper, working from the center to the edges. Then loosely fold the moistened strip, pasted sides together, and let sit for three minutes. Avoid creasing the paper. This is known as booking.