Spamghetto Wallpaper

Spamghetto is no good rolled-up, sitting around your house – so here is your how-to guide to hanging it right.

Your first option is to call a professional and have him do the job. Hanging Spamghetto is so easy, you'll make his day. However, we definitely encourage you to hang Spamghetto yourself. Whether you have some experience with wall coverings or are a total novice, rest assured Spamghetto is way easier than traditional wallpapers. Just follow our instructions. You can do it!

First of all, remember Spamghetto is a non-woven fleece wallpaper. This means it is much more durable than traditional wallpaper and won't expand or shrink. It also means you won't have to soak or paste the back of the strips: all you do is spread paste on the wall, and roll out your dry Spamghetto.

Provided you follow our instructions, Spamghetto will also be much easier to remove than traditional wallpaper: it can be stripped dry and even re-used, if you handle it carefully.
Anyway, enough with the pep-talk. Let's get to it!

Before ordering Spamghetto, make sure to measure the wall you want to cover from a few different places (e.g. at the floor, mid-height, and ceiling for width). Walls are often not perfectly regular, so you want to make sure you consider the widest, tallest parts of your wall.
Then add 5 cm (2 in) both in height and width: this gives you a little leeway for when you will hang Spamghetto (you might want to have a bit of paper going over the wall's edges and corners, so you can make an exact cut with a craft knife once the wallpaper is in place).
So, the sizes you should be entering in our planner when placing your order are the maximum height and width, + 5 cm.

Once you are ready to hang Spamghetto, make sure all the necessary tools are in good condition and easy to grab. Here is a complete list of everything we have ever used when hanging Spamghetto:

• steel measuring tape
• pencil
• wallpaer paste
• plumb (if you don't have a proper plumb, you can use any heavy object tied to a string)
• paperhanging scissors (i.e. long-blade, study and well-sharpened scissors)
• table or workbench
• medium size bucket
• small, clean paint roller
• brush
• rubber roller
• sharp craft knife

For best results, you need a solid foundation. The wall on which you plan to hang Spamghetto should be clean and dry, with a nice even surface and single plain, light color (all-white is ideal). This means you need to remove any old wallpaper, plaster any holes, nicks or cracks, get rid of any rough patches, flaking paint, and so on.
Use a water-based primer on any plastered or uncoated surfaces so the wall doesn't end up absorbing all your paste.
We also suggest using a pigmented primer if the color on your wall is uneven.

Your Spamghetto will be delivered in sealed rolls. Each roll will probably include more than one strip of wallpaper, but each strip will be numbered so that you know in what position and in what order to hang them.
When you open a roll on the table or workbench, and carefully separate each strip, please remember to either leave the numbered label still attached, or use the pencil to mark (lightly) the number on the back of the strip!

5. Mix the paste

To hang Spamghetto you will need a paste for non-woven fleece wallpaper, not a glue intended for traditional wallpaper. We've found METYLAN SPECIAL does a great job: you can use it on its own if you think someday you might want to remove and reuse your Spamghetto on a different wall, or mix it with 20% METYLAN OVALIT T for an extra-strength hold.
Prepare the paste in a medium-size bucket, according to the manufacturer's instructions.

6. Draw the line

Starting from the corner or edge of the wall, draw a vertical line from ceiling to floor using a plumb and a pencil. The line should be almost as far into the wall from the corner as the width of the strip of wallpaper: hanging the first strip, you will align it to this line and end up with a little extra paper (about 2.5 cm) around the corner or edge, which you will trim later.
Make the marks on the wall as light as possible to avoid them showing through the paper.

One of the reasons why Spamghetto is much easier to apply than traditional wallpaper is that paste goes on the wall, not on the paper. Here's how you do it: use the small paint roller to spread enough paste on your prepped wall for about 2-3 strips of wallpaper, starting from either the right or left corner or edge; then use the brush to get paste all the way to the corners and intersections with the ceiling and floor.

Apply the first strip of Spamghetto from top to bottom aligning it to the line you just drew, not the corner or edge of the wall (walls are often not perfectly regular).

Remember to leave a few extra cm of wallpaper at the top and bottom too – you will trim them later with a craft knife. Use the rubber roller to press Spamghetto onto the wall and get rid of any air bubbles. Go all the way up to the ceiling and down to the floor.

Use the back edge of the scissors to press the paper into the creases at the intersection with other walls, the ceiling or floor. Gently pull the edge of the paper away from the wall, and trim along the line. Brush back in place.

Repeat with the next strip, aligning it to the first one.
After 10-15 minutes, go back to each strip with the rubber roller, making sure the seams adhere to the wall (but don't press too hard or the paste will squeeze out!).
If you do have any excess paste oozing out, remove immediately with a moist sponge. While Spamghetto is drying, protect it from excessive heating and draughts, which may cause the edges to lift.