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Painting over Wallcoverings

• The most usual papers to paint over are woodchip, lining, anaglypta and blown vinyls.
• Woodchip(a plain paper with small bits of wood throughout) comes in various weights and degrees of coarseness.
• Woodchip is good for hiding bad wall surfaces and ceilings and where a hard wearing paper is needed.
• It is usual to paint wall coverings with emulsion/latex, applying at least two coats.
• Anaglypta is suitable for finishing with gloss or eggshell; first applying acrylic water-based undercoat.

It is possible to paint over most kinds of wallcovering. It is best to use a latex/emulsion water paint. At least two coats should be applied; the first coat being thinner than the second. When you apply the first coat, the paper may bubble up here and there where the pasting was thin or inadequate. These bubbles should go down as the paint dries but if the bubbles are especially large (say, over 6 inches) then it may be better to cut the bubble open with a sharp blade and slosh the paint underneath it and smooth it down.

It is often a good idea when decorating over wallpaper to try sponging, ragrolling or frottage as this will hide any defects in the wallcovering. Directions for sponging and frottage can be found on the Bozzle.com site.