Guest Editorial

Lining Paper: The Perfect Foundation



By William A. Hock
Doylestown, Pennsylvania

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While lining papers have been around for ages, it is still a subject were there is much confusion.
Often we hear “what does the liner do? do we really need a liner?” The truth is that lining paper does so many things that it is sometimes difficult to explain. It is hard to address each client’s particular concern so that they understand the need and then feel justified in the expense.
As we know clients also raise objections like “well, the other guy never mentioned it”, or “ the other guy said I do not need a liner”.

The fact is that lining paper is part of the best quality job. Any wallpaper job would benefit from lining, but as we know it is not always a justified cost for lower quality papers. But, any project that is using quality wallpapers will always benefit from lining paper. The same is often true of top quality textiles or fabrics.

So the question is – what kind of paperhanging do you do? In my opinion, professional paperhangers should offer the best quality installations. As we know, the wallpaper business is not one of those trades that do well by cutting quality. When there are problems it is costly, and if you are one who is truly concerned for your client’s homes and your installs, you will be the one to pay the price for mediocre work. So it really is not worth the risk. I would say to anyone who is in the business, do it right or do something else – the risk and financial loss you take on by cutting corners will get you someday.

The trend for a while now seems to be toward wallpaper as a specialty item. The increase in higher priced and unique wallpaper has grown and so also has the opportunity to offer the quality installs that should be done. But we need to promote and educate as the consumers have this cheap mentality, especially regarding wallpaper.

I will not go into all the benefits of liner as that has been covered by Bob and others.

But, I would like to point out another benefit, and that is the longevity of the wallpaper installation. By longevity I mean not only the range of time (20 to 30 years for most rooms) but that the install will continue to look its best most of that time. The problem today and in our society is that most consumers are not thinking that far down the road. In fact, they will often make it clear that they do not care if it lasts that long as they will probably not be in the house that long. But this is a weak objection because they really do want it to look great for as long as they are there, and lining is the way to do that.


There are many types of wallpaper lining papers available, with many having specific purposes.
The lining paper that I prefer to use myself is the light weight (10-12oz) paper pulp liner.
It generally comes on 20.5” widths and 4 roll bolts but can also come in wider widths.

I feel the lighter weight liners have a much more functional purpose. They are easier to hang so it goes up faster, and you have the option of using thinner, wetter pastes. These wet adhesives allow the lining paper to fully expand which is what we want, and in doing so, as it dries it puts to the test the integrity of the wall more completely, so as to discover problems. The lighter weight liners have ability to ride the wall tightly and add a softness that gives a 3 dimensional look. If I remember the heaver liners actually have a smoother surface to them (I could be wrong on this as it has been a while since I used a heavier liner) while the thinner ones have a pulpier surface, which I prefer, which is softly telegraphed though to the finish wallpaper. The idea is not to resurface the walls, which would take away from the character of the home or building, but rather to add a layer that adds softness, stability and continuity to the wall areas.

Here are some benefits of using lining paper:

When working with expensive high end material, wallpapers, fabrics or vintage wallpapers, using liner is a great way to prehang the room, get used to the room, develop our mindset for this job (and we know we need the proper mindset), and find the trouble areas before cutting into the finish paper. If the walls have any problem areas it will show up with the liner installed and after it dries the problems can either be corrected or another determination can be made about technique without risking the expensive paper. This is even more important today with common use of drywall, cheap wall paints and improper preparation on previous painting jobs.

Here are some things I do when hanging liner:

I use a thin paste and I like to add in some wheat paste as wheat will give up its moisture quickly and liner needs moisture. I will often use a premix clear as it is somewhat convenient, but I thin it out. I hang my seams very loose and even with a slight gap. We do not need any wired seams that appear after the finish paper goes up and dries (I think you know how this could happen).

I trim all my edges (ceiling, floor, trim) about 1/8” to 3/16” short. This avoids the risk of having any liner edges show, and allows the finish paper to have a tight bond directly to the wall. I almost always size the liner as this gives so much better control and adhesion and a Velcro-like effect, especially around the edges which is where it is really needed, since there is a lot of stress there. Also, I never see the need to railroad my liner except when it will benefit my install, for example, by saving time with longer pieces.