Peel and Stick vs Traditional Wallpaper: Which Do I Choose?
A straight comparison of our three papers, decided by your wall first, your room second and how long you intend the wallpaper to stay third
Choose peel and stick if you are renting, if you want the wall changed this weekend, or if you expect to change your mind, and only if your wall is smooth and painted. Choose traditional paste-the-wall paper for anywhere you intend the wallpaper to stay, for rooms that get steamy or take knocks, and for any wall that is less than perfectly smooth.
Every Claret & Key design is available in all three of our papers, in the colourway you choose, so this is a decision about the wall and the room rather than about the design.
The short version
| Traditional (150gsm) | Heavy-grade (300gsm) | Removable (180gsm) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Method | Paste-the-wall | Paste-the-wall | Peel and stick |
| Wall required | Solid, clean, flat | Solid, clean, flat | Smooth, painted, fully cured |
| Works on texture | No | No | No |
| Bathrooms | Usable | Recommended | Not recommended |
| Kitchens and hallways | Usable | Recommended | Light use only |
| Finish | Super-matte, smooth | Matte, sand texture | Super-matte, smooth |
| Wipeable | Gently | Yes, vinyl-coated | Gently |
| Tools needed | Paste, brush, roller, smoother | Paste, brush, roller, smoother | Knife and smoother |
| Coming off later | Usually dry, in whole lengths | Usually dry, in whole lengths | Dry, depends on the paint beneath |
Start with the wall
This decides it more often than anything else does.
Peel and stick holds by pressing its own adhesive against a surface, so it needs full contact with something smooth and firmly bonded: a painted wall, clean, dry, dust-free, with the paint cured for at least thirty days. It will not hold on texture, Artex, woodchip, bare plaster, bare plasterboard, fresh paint or chalky paint.
Pasted paper is more tolerant. It still needs a clean, flat wall in good order, because no wallpaper hides texture, but it will happily go over bare plaster or plasterboard once sealed, over an older painted wall, and over surfaces that peel and stick would slide off.
If your wall is anything other than smooth painted plaster in good condition, the decision is already made.
Then the room
- Bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, studies: any of the three. Traditional is the usual choice.
- Bathrooms: heavy-grade, in a ventilated room and out of direct spray. Traditional can be used. Peel and stick is not suitable, because steam is what defeats a pressure-sensitive adhesive.
- Kitchens: heavy-grade, away from the hob and sink splash zone.
- Hallways, stairs and landings: heavy-grade for the wear, and because a stairwell is not a wall you want to re-do.
- Nurseries and children's rooms: traditional for a wall that stays, removable if the room will change again in two years.
- Rented flats: removable, with your landlord's agreement.
Then how long you're staying
A wallpaper you have had recoloured to suit your own room is not a temporary thing, and most people who hang one intend to live with it. Pasted paper is the right answer for that.
Removable paper earns its place when the answer is genuinely "for now". A rental, a room whose use is about to change, a first flat, a child's room that will be a teenager's room before long.
How difficult each one is
Neither is hard, and they are difficult in different places.
Pasted paper is slower to set up, with adhesive, bucket, brush and roller, and quicker to hang, because a whole length goes up in one movement and slides on the wet paste until the seam is right.
Peel and stick has almost no set-up and a slower hang, because you work down the wall in sections, peeling and smoothing as you go, and the top edge has to be right before you press it down.
For a first-time decorator hanging one feature wall, both are manageable. For a whole room, the pasted paper is the easier day.
What happens when it comes off
Non-woven pasted papers are designed to come away in whole lengths when you are ready for a change, with a corner lifted at the skirting and pulled steadily.
Removable paper also comes off dry, and it is designed to. What it leaves behind depends on the paint underneath: its age, its quality and how well that paint was bonded to the wall in the first place. No adhesive-backed paper can make a promise about someone else's paintwork, which is why it is worth testing one length in a corner before you paper a room, and why photographing the wall first is sensible in a rental.
What each one is not
- Peel and stick is not a fix for a bad wall. It is the least forgiving of the three.
- Pasted paper is not difficult, and it is not the paper your parents wrestled with. There is no soaking and no pasting table.
- Neither one hides texture. Nothing does.
- Neither is a solution to damp. Fix the wall first.
Is peel and stick wallpaper as good as traditional?
On the right wall it looks identical, the same design, the same colourway, printed the same way. The difference is what it will and will not stick to, and how it behaves in a steamy or high-traffic room.
Which is better for renters?
Removable, provided the walls are smooth and painted and your landlord agrees.
Which lasts longer?
Pasted paper, and by a clear margin in rooms that get real use. That is what pasting is for.
Can I use peel and stick in a bathroom?
We do not recommend it. Use heavy-grade instead.
Do they cost the same to hang?
Peel and stick needs no adhesive and fewer tools, so the outlay is slightly lower. Over the life of the wall it is a small difference.
Can I mix them in one house?
Yes, and people often do, with heavy-grade in the hallway, traditional in the bedrooms, removable in a rented room or a nursery. The same design and colourway can be printed on any of the three.
Which should I order a sample of?
Order the sample in the colourway you are considering to judge the colour, and choose the paper by the wall and the room using the guidance above.
