Wallcovering Dictionary
A
American Single Roll: Comes in a wide variety of lengths and widths ranging from 18 to 36 inches in width and from four to eight yards in length. Regardless of length or width, each single roll contains 34 to 36 square feet of wall covering. Wallcovering is usually packaged in double or triple rolls, but prices are normally quoted by the single roll.
Antimicrobal (Biocide): Compound commonly added to a polymeric compound or coating to inhibit the growth of bacteria, fungi and algae on the surface of a finished product.
Appliqué: Cut-out design or ornament in fabric or other material that is applied on top of another, larger surface. In wall covering, cut-outs applied to plain, textured or figured backgrounds.
B
Base: The vinyl sheet or ground produced at the manufacturing plant in color on which design prints are added.
Baseboard:Decorative molding found at the bottom of the wall, along the floor.
Blankstock: Blank paper used under wallpaper. Lining paper is a traditional product used under fine wallcoverings to absorb excess moisture from the finish wallpaper. It allows seams to dry sooner and safer, and the promotes short term stability of the installation.
Bleeding: In printing, a spreading of pigment beyond the design outline or the appearance of one color through another.
Blister: Small air pocket that forms behind wallpaper during installation. Causes can include inadequate booking time, installation in conditions under 50 degrees F., and pockets of air not removed during the installation process.
Bolt: Two single rolls of wallpaper, in a continuous strip. The bolt, or double roll, is priced as two single rolls but is packaged as one unit or length of paper to minimize waste.
Block Cutter:Craftsman who, by hand, hammers into a roller the brat strips and felt from which a design is printed.
Block Printing: Block printing involves the carving of a wood print block (usually one for each color) and pressing it sequentially along the length of the paper.
Blooming: Hazy or foggy appearance due to the incompatibility of son of the compounds in the coating or plastic sheeting.
Blown vinyl:Process of imparting a specific pattern, graining, or raised effect to the surface of the material. This can be done during the film formation process or at a later operation. It generally requires the material to be at an elevated temperature during the process and then cooled to set in the embossing pattern. Often used in paintable wallcoverings.
Blush:Reversible color change that darkens the surface of wallpaper after pasting.
Bolt: Roll of wall covering of a given length. In America, this term usually applies to a quantity of paper equivalent to two single rolls of wallpaper
Booking: Folding (without creasing) a continuous strip of wallpaper which has just been pasted, allowing time for the adhesive to soak into the paper, and keeping the adhesive tacky until ready to hang. The paper is folded over on itself, pasted sides together with the edges in alignment. The correct amount of booking time varies, and should be noted on the directions that come with the paper.
Borax: Colloquialism of the home furnishings trades, denoting cheap or in bad taste.
Border: Decorative strip of wallpaper which traditionally has been used as a chair rail or in combination with a chair rail. Because of the wide variety of designs and widths now available, borders are now being used along ceiling lines, baseboards, around doors and windows, and in any manner that a trim could be used.
Breathable:Wallcoverings that allow water and air to pass through. Solid vinyl and foils are not breathable. String wallpaper, vinyl-coated paper, and paintable woven fiberglass wallcoverings are breathable.
Bridging material: Porous under-wallcovering material designed to cover irregularities on walls or smooth surfaces, such as brick or paneling, to hang decorative wallpaper. Woven or non-woven (spun), either synthetic or a blend in composition.
Brocade: Elegant wall covering with an allover design of figures or flowers.
Butt Seam: Most common type of wall covering seam in which the edge of two strips of wall covering are tightly butted together without any overlay or spacing between the strips.
C
Caen stone:Wall covering that resembles a cream-colored building stone that comes from Caen in France.
Calendar: Machine composed of large steel rollers between which material is run for smoothing or compressing. The process of forming materials to make a film/sheet by passing them through a series of precision rollers. Calendar coated fabrics have a selected textile material adhered to the plastic film/sheet.
Calendered Stock: Coated stock which has been compressed to make it smooth and glossy. It can be of any ground color.
Canopy Ceiling:Decoration on a ceiling, which can be made of wall covering, giving a domed effect.
Capital: The upper, ornamental part of a pillar or column, such as those, used in classical architecture. They often appear as motifs in wall covering
Ceiling Papers:Plain, geometric, trellis or foliage patterns of wall coverings which look good on a ceiling from all directions.
Cellulose Paste: Cellulose methyl ether, produced by treating cellulose from wood or cotton with an alkali, such as sodium hydroxide, followed by methyl chloride. The resulting product is a white granular solid, soluble in cold water but insoluble in hot water.
Center of Interest: The principal focal point in a room. In a wall covering design, the dominant motif. It is usually hung at eye level in the central area of the room to establish a starting point for hanging the re of the wall covering.
Chalk line:Used to establish a vertical plumb line on a wall to get paper properly aligned on the wall.
Chair rail: Topmost molding of a dado which is placed on the wall at the height of a chair back. Complementary wall covering patterns are often used above and below a chair rail. A wall covering border is often used as a chair rail.
Chinoiserie: Originally, a term that applied to European designs adapted from Chinese papers that were first imported in the late 17th century. The term now applies to wall coverings or fabrics with Chinese or Oriental themes. Usually represented by graceful, flowing floral designs with birds, and branches. Subdued tones or rich, multi-colors are used.
Chintz:Wall coverings resembling printed cotton materials from India once known as Chintz which feature brightly-colored designs.
Clay Paste: It consists of clay, dextrin, and small amounts of cellulose, biocides and other additives. There is a machine-grade clay premix which includes glycerin, for use in pasting machines. The color ranges from tan to gray, and it usually is packaged in 1 and 5 gallon pails.
Coated Fabric: This wallpaper has a fabric substrate coated with liquid vinyl or acrylic.
Coatings:Thin protective surface layer, usually of acrylic, which is applied to wall coverings to provide wash ability and durability.
Colorway:The combination of colors in which a design is printed. Most designs will be made in from two to six colorways, and will all be shown in the same sample book.
Coordinating wallpaper: Wallpaper patterns which complement each other due to color and design. They are often used over and under each other as companions, or they visually tie together two different rooms.
Collage: Technique in which pictorial images or patterns and pieces of colored, textured material are superimposed onto each other.
Color Change:Putting different colors in place of those used on the previous run when manufacturing wall coverings. The pattern does not change.
Color Pan: In printing, containers spaced around a rotary press which transfers pigment to a sieve cloth, which in turn transfers it to the printing roller.
Color Run:Particular batch of wallpaper rolls that are printed at the same time. All rolls should be from the same color run to insure uniformity. Subsequent runs of that same design and color-way may be slightly different. Also called a dye lot.
Color-way:Combination of colors in which a design is printed. Any given design is usually made in from two to six colorings. Each color-way is referred to as a sheet or style.
Commercial:Product manufactured in quality and width to serve high traffic areas.
Companion Wall Coverings:Set of wall coverings designed and colored to be used together in the same or adjoining areas.
Contract Wall Coverings:Wall coverings produced for commercial use and normally available in 48 or 54 inch widths. Term is also applied to wall coverings that are manufactured and labeled for another wallpaper company.
Corduroy:In wall covering, a narrow stripe imitating the fabric.
Cork:They have a variegated texture with no definite pattern or design. Cork veneer is shaved from cork planks or blocks and laminated to a substrate that may be colored or plain. Cork naturally absorbs sound, insulates, provides visual contrast and can be used as a bulletin board.
Correlated: Wall coverings and fabrics designed to be used together in the same or adjoining areas. They are known as correlates or companions.
Cove Ceiling:Ceiling which is rounded where it meets the wall.
Crewel Work:Form of full-color hand embroidery originating in India. It is usually produced in typical native designs and is often simulated in wall covering in tree of life designs.
Crocking:Coloring that rubs off and causes discoloration.
Cylinder:A roller, usually metal, engraved with one color of a design. Most designs utilize 8 to 10 cylinders.
D
DRC: Drywall repair clear. It is a special penetrating primer that is designed to penetrate the wall surface and seal up any problem areas due to wall damage or any situation where wall surface anomalies are suspected.
Dado:The wall space between the chair rail and the baseboard.
Dado Paper:Wall covering which covers the lower part of the wall, or dado, and ending at the chair rail height.
Damask:Patterns imitating stylized textiles, usually of self-toned variety with floral, foliage or swag themes.
Decorative layer: Topmost printed layer of wallcovering.
Delamination:Splitting apart of the wall covering layers.
Design:A plan, or a single unit of decoration. A pattern of a wall covering.
Diaper:Small units of design framed or spaced to create an all over diamond shaped pattern.
Directional print: Pattern on a wallpaper or border which must be installed in a particular direction to be aesthetically pleasing.
Doctor Blade:The part of the machine printing equipment which wipes off excess color as the pigment is transferred from the roller to the wall covering on a rotary screen printer.
Documentary: Replica historic wallpaper.
Domino: Early wallpaper in small sheets which originally imitated marble and later carrying patterns. Wall coverings manufactured today which imitate the original. The earliest dominos were popular icons representing God and the saints.
Double Cut Seam:Type of seam used in situations where it is necessary to overlap two strips of wall covering and yet avoid a raised ridge. One example would be when a border is being used as a chair rail with coordinated wall coverings above and below the border/wall covering. A straightedge is placed at the center of the overlap and, with a razor knife or blade, a cut is made through both layers. The top cutoff section is removed and then the bottom cutoff portion is removed leaving a tightly butted seam.
Double roll: Bolt of two single rolls of wallpaper, in a continuous strip. The double roll, or bolt, is priced as two single rolls but is packaged as one unit or length of paper to minimize waste.
Drill Cloth:Coarse linen or cotton cloth with a diagonal weave.
Drop Ceiling:Form of decoration in which the ceiling paper is brought down onto the walls of a room and divided from the walls by a border or molding. This gives the illusion of a lower ceiling.
Drop match: A pattern match in which every other strip will have the same pattern design along the ceiling line. There is waste with the drop matching of large scale patterns, therefore, when dealing with a drop match, paper hangers use the technique of measuring and cutting adjacent strips from different rolls of wallcovering and alternating them.
Dry hanging: Method of hanging wallcoverings in which the adhesive is applied to the wall instead of the back of the wallcovering.
Drywall: Also known as sheetrock, wallboard, or gypboard. Drywall is simply cut, butted together, nailed to the wall studs, and all seam areas and nail holes are finished with joint compound creating a smooth uniform appearance. It is the modern day construction material to construct walls.
Dye lot: Particular batch of wallpaper rolls that are printed at the same time. All rolls should be from the same dye lot to insure uniformity. Subsequent runs of that same design and color-way may be slightly different. Also called a color run.
E
Embossing: Process of imparting a specific pattern, graining, or raised effect to the surface of the material. This can be done during the film formation process or at a later operation. It generally requires the material to be at an elevated temperature during the process and then cooled to set in the embossing pattern. In-register emboss is the technique whereby the ink colors are applied at the time the paper is being embossed, generally resulting in a pattern of embossing that duplicates the printed pattern.
Engraving:Machine priming of wall covering with etched-out rollers to obtain subtle and fine effects.
Etching:Process in which a copper shell is slowly revolved in an acid bath.
Euro-roll:A Euro roll contains 28 to 30 square feet per single roll. It is usually 21 inches wide and 16 feet long, or can be 27 inches wide and 13 feet long. Also known as a Metric Roll.
Expanded vinyl: An "expanding agent," added to liquid vinyl, makes the wallcovering expand in size after it is heated at high temperatures, producing a three dimensional effect. Vinyl is printed on a paper substrate and may be strippable or peelable. This wallcovering provides a unique and dramatic appearance and retains three-dimensional effect after hanging.
Expansion joint: Area in a wall surface for the purpose of expansion. Similar in principle to grooves in concrete. Expansion or contraction should be performed at these joints and not crack the wall surface.
Extruder:To force, press or push out, or to shape by forcing through a die. A process in which heated or unheated plastic is forced through a shaping orifice in one continuously formed shape, as in film or sheet.
F
Fabric-Backed Wallcovering: This wallpaper has a substrate laminated to a solid vinyl decorative surface.
Festooning:Process by which wall covering is hung and dried after being hand printed.
Fill: Area between the chair rail and frieze of a wall, also known as the sidewall.
Filling Agents: Typically composed of calcium carbonate, alumina or other inorganic compositions, these agents impart certain desired characteristics to the finished product such as flame retardancy and smoke suppression. They also can act as processing aids.
Flame Spread: Propagation of a flame away from the source of ignition across the surface of the specimen.
Flexographic:"Flexo" is an updated version of surface printing. This printing process was developed in England around 1900 and uses rubber cylinders or rollers. There is an engraved roller with a raised image to transfer inks to paper.
Flock:Wallcoverings made by a machine that shakes very fine cotton, silk, rayon or nylon fibers from a hopper over a pattern printed in varnish or slow drying paint to give the appearance of velvet or damask or create a three dimensional effect.
Fluting: Carved, parallel depressions embellishing a wood or stone surface, or wall covering that imitates this.
Foil Wallcovering:Constructed by laminating a thin sheet of aluminum foil onto a substrate of paper or scrim.
Frieze:Type of wall covering popular in the early 1900s. Generally a pictorial border which ran above the door height or, in dining rooms, above the plate rail.
G
Grass Cloth: Natural materials, such as vines, jute, wool, seagrass, coir, cork, hemp, sisal, cotton, and grass that have been dyed and laminated to a paper backing.
Gravure Printing (Rotogravure):Gravure printing, also known as Intaglio, uses a hard engraved cylinder to transfer the image to paper, but unlike surface and flexo, the image is recessed instead of being raised.
Gray Goods:Raw woven cloths before any processing.
Ground:Raw stock onto which a coat of pigment has been applied before the top colors are put on in wall covering manufacturing.
Ground Coat:Coat of pigment applied to raw stock before the top colors are put on in wall covering manufacturing; the background color.
H
Hand Blocked: This printing method is the forerunner of surface printing. Block printing involves the carving of a wood print block (usually one for each color) and pressing it sequentially along the length of the paper.
Hand Screening (Hand Prints):Also known as hand prints, silk screening, hand screening, and serigraphy. Involves the use of stencils to transfer the design. Paint is applied to a frame of stretched silk, polyester, or nylon screen and penetrates areas of the screen not blocked by the stencil pattern.
Header Strip:Strip of wall covering that is allocated to be hung above a door or window.
Hemp: Wallpaper made from the fibers of the hemp plant. It resembles grass cloth with a finer weave.
Hot Spots:Shiny spots on wall covering caused by chemical reaction with the plaster wall.
I
Impregnate: Saturating of a piece of cloth with a special coating
Ink-Embossed Wall Coverings:The ink colors are applied at the time the wall coverings are being embossed.
Inlay Embossing:During the embossing of vinyl, ink is inserted into the valleys.
In-register: Embossing technique where the ink colors are applied at the time the paper is being embossed, generally resulting in a pattern of embossing that duplicates the printed pattern.
Intaglio: Also know as gravure printing.
Inside corner: Joint formed when two walls come together and do not protrude into the room.
J
Jaspe: French term for wall coverings that reproduce the appearance of jasper stone cut across the grain. They feature shaded, fine, vertical line sometimes in irregular widths.
Job-Lot:Discontinued patterns which are often sold at reduced price.
Jute: Wallpaper made by using jute, a strong coarse fiber that is used in making burlap.
K
Kill Point: This will be where the final strip of wallpaper is placed. When working with papers with a pattern, there will usually be a pattern miss-match at this junction. The wallpaper installer will generally try to arrange this point in an inconspicuous area.
L
Lamination: Process of building up thin layers of materials and bonding them together as one product under heat and pressure with an adhesive added.
Lap Seam:Method of hanging in which strips overlap slightly.
Leather Paper:Heavily embossed and varnished papers imitating tooled leather.
Line:Merchandise belonging to one group or series offered by a manufacturer. In wall covering, name collections appearing periodically every year or two.
Linen:Natural fiber which can be made into a finely woven textile wall covering.
Lineal Yard:Lengthwise measure of a good.
Lining Fabrics: Muslin or canvas, sometimes applied to the wall horizontally, used under fine wall coverings to avoid small cracks in a plaster wall and allowing for easier removal at a later date in the case of wallcovering that you wish to re-use.
Lining or Liner Paper:Blank paper used under wallpaper. Lining paper is a traditional product used under fine wallcoverings to absorb excess moisture from the finish wallpaper. It allows seams to dry sooner and safer, and the promotes short term stability of the installation.
Lithographed Wall Covering: Lithography is a mechanical planographic process in which the printing and non-printing areas of the plate are all at the same level, as opposed to other methods where the design is cut into the printing block.
M
Marble Patterns: Patterns resembling marble, usually made by silk screen, hand painting, or machine.
Metallic: Wall covering that gives the appearance of a sheet metal or foil.
Metric Roll:A metric roll contains 28 to 30 square feet per single roll. It is usually 21 inches wide and 16 feet long, or can be 27 inches wide and 13 feet long. Also known as a euro roll.
Moiré (Moire):Wall coverings having a watered silk-sheen or wood grain effect embossed on the decorative surface.
Molded Wallcovering: Also known as sculptured wallcoverings. Permanent wall covering coated with a wood flour and linseed oil mixture on a paper backing which is molded instead of printed. These wallcoverings normally have a raised pattern and are paintable.
Molding (crown molding): Ornamental strip of wood that lies along the ceiling line.
Monk's Cloth:Rough weave material made of coarse cotton yarns.
Mural: Wall decoration with a pictorial design that continues over two or more strips of wallcovering and is intended to cover part or most of a wall without repeat. These scenes may be photographic, digital, custom, hand, or machine printed.
Mylar: Often mistaken for foil, it has similar application and appearance features. It is not actually mylar, but metallized PVC. Mylar is a common miss-spoken term for these types of wallcoverings.
N
Nonmetallic Substrate:Any substrate such as paper or fabric that does not contain metal.
Nonporous: Also referred to as "non-breathable." Wallcovering with this characteristic does not allow water and air to freely pass through its surface.
Nonwoven Fabric:Non woven wallcovering substrates are produced on a paper machine from a mixture of long fiber cellulose pulps and textile fibers combined with binders. The web is reinforced with acrylates and pigments are added to provide opacity. Special additives are used provide wet strength and absorbency. Non wovens provide a substrate that is dimensionally stable when wet thus allowing a paste the wall technique to be used for hanging.
O
Oatmeal Paper: Rough, textured wallpaper, usually in a neutral color
Off Grades:Not first quality goods.
Ombre:Striped wall coverings where one color is used in several values.
Open Time: The time period available between the activation and application of adhesives until they dry.
Osnaburg:Type of coarse, heavy cloth, usually cotton, used as a backing in Type II vinyl coated fabric wallcoverings.
Outside corner: A corner formed when two walls, not facing each other, are joined and protrude into the room.
Overlapping Seam:Method of hanging wall covering. Primarily used on commercial goods.
P
Panel Decoration:Style of wallpaper which developed in the second half of the 18th century, designed to be framed in the wood paneled walls then in use. Today they are used as spot decorations and framed with molding.
Paper-Backed Vinyl (Solid Sheet Vinyl): This wallpaper has a paper (pulp) substrate laminated to a solid decorative surface. This type of wallpaper is very durable since the decorative surface is a solid sheet of vinyl.
Pearl finish: Pearl pigment added to clear liquid vinyl coat to obtain pearl essence finish.
Peelable:Wallcovering from which the decorative surface (usually vinyl) may be dry-stripped from the backing (usually paper), leaving a continuous layer of the backing on the wall.
Pigments:Colorants that are insoluble in the medium in which they are used. They can be organic (contain carbon in molecule basic component) or inorganic (contain a metal in molecule basic component) and derived from both natural or synthetic sources. Used in the manufacture of durable vinyl wallcoverings. Quality pigments are the most costly item in a vinyl compound. Many of the pigments used in the coloring of other products will not withstand the high processing temperatures used in vinyl.
Pimple: Blister under wallpaper caused by wall defect, usually a small bit of drywall that protrudes above the normal wall surface.
Plaster: Older way of wall manufacture where either lime or gypsum based plaster is anchored onto a wall framework using various methods and built up to form smooth walls.
Plasticizer: Substance incorporated in a material such as vinyl resin to increase its workability, flexibility or processability.
Plastic Coated Wall Coverings:Wall coverings which feature a thick plastic coating.
Plastisol: Mixture of plasticizer, resin and pigments. A vinyl homopolymer or copolymer suspension containing plasticizer(s) and other needed additives. The liquid suspension is relatively stable at lower temperatures, but will solvate the resin to form a flexible solid material at elevated temperatures. The plastisol can be used in varied manufacturing processes including coating or casting a film.
Pliability:Degree of softness and ease of flexing and bending of a wall covering.
Plumb Bob/Line:Weighted line used to produce a vertical line to assure that each strip is hung perfectly straight.
Polymer:Compound formed by the reaction of simple molecules.
Pre-pasted: Wall covering that has had adhesive applied to the back of it by the manufacturer. They must be soaked in water, activator, or a thinned down wallpaper paste to activate the paste.
Prep coat: Acrylic primer that normally, when dry, leaves a tacky surface. This surface allows wallcoverings to easily adhere to the surface. Sometimes referred to as a primer/size.
Pre-trimmed:Rolls of wall covering from which the selvage has been trimmed at the factory.
Primer:Most primers are applied to make the substrate more uniform for acceptance of the finish coat. They also improve the adhesion of the topcoat.
Primer/Sealer: Also known as DRC,drywall repair clear. It is a special penetrating primer that is designed to penetrate the wall surface and seal up any problem areas due to wall damage or any situation where wall surface anomalies are suspected.
Print Roller: In machine printing, the cylinders onto which the design is cut.
Production Run:Production of one pattern in one combination of colors from the beginning to end on one machine.
Putter-On:Artist who traces the final hand-colored sketch from the design studio to a series of acetate sheets and from these onto a set of rollers in wall covering printing.
R
Random Match: A random match is one in which the pattern matches no matter how adjoining strips are positioned. Stripes are a good example.
Raw Stock:Paper in large reels. Also, the substrates used today, before lamination.
Reedcloth: Handcrafted wallcovering in which every individual reed is inserted into the cotton warp threads of a hand made loom.
Registration (register):Proper adjustment of each shell so that each color prints in precisely the correct place with no improper spacing or overlapping. The correct alignment of colors.
Relief Cut:Cut made in a inside corner, at a window casing or at a molding to relieve pressure on a large sheet of paper, enabling it to lay flat against the wall.
Repeat: Distance from the center of one motif or pattern to the center of the next.
Reverse Hanging: Technique of paperhanging where each strip is alternately hung "right side up" and "upside down" in papers with a random match. This is used to negate or lessen the effects of shading problems on the edges of those wallcoverings, if applicable.
Rigid Vinyl Acrylic: This product was developed to be used in areas where there is a potential for high-impact concerns such as hospital corridors, high traffic areas in commercial buildings and the hospitality environment where movable carts are used.
Roll Change:Putting a new roll on in place of a roll which has been run.
Room Lot:Sale unit consisting of enough rolls of a pattern for a given room.
Rotogravure (Gravure Printing):Gravure printing, also known as Intaglio, uses a hard engraved cylinder to transfer the image to paper, but unlike surface and flexo, the image is recessed instead of being raised.
Rotary screen: An automated form of hand screen printing.
Run: Number of times an individual wall covering is made. Colors, and other features can be slightly different from run to run.
S
Screen Print:Also known as hand prints, silk screening, hand screening, and serigraphy. Involves the use of stencils to transfer the design.
Scrim:Durable plain-woven fabric, usually cotton.
Scrubbable:Wall covering that can withstand scrubbing with a brush and a prescribed detergent solution.
Sculptured Wallcovering:Also known as molded wallcoverings. Permanent wall covering coated with a wood flour and linseed oil mixture on a paper backing which is molded instead of printed. These wallcoverings normally have a raised pattern and are paintable.
Seam:Area where two wall coverings are joined.
Seam roller:Small tool used to used to secure the seams of wallpaper to make them adhere to the wall when dry. This is done by rolling or pressing the seams after the paper has been applied to the wall and the air bubbles, if any, are smoothed away.
Self-Tone:Wall covering in which shades of one color are featured.
Selvage:Either edge of a roll of wall covering carrying no design, intended to protect the design during shipment.
Semi-Automated Wall Coverings: Those in which the selvages are partially severed and can be detached easily by tapping the ends of the roll against a flat surface. Also, wall coverings fully trimmed on only one edge.
Shading:Effect that can sometimes appear along the seams of no patterned or textured wall coverings due to heavier ink coverage at one edge than the other during printing.
Shell:Hollow copper cylinder containing an etched design used in printing coated fabrics.
Sheet:One color-way of a wall covering design.
Shiki:Hand-made Oriental silk glued to a backing.
Sidewall:Area between the chair rail and frieze of a wall, also known as the fill.
Sieve Cloth:Woolen blanket moving as a continuous belt which transfer colors from the color pan to the roller in machine-printing.
Silk Screening:Also known as hand prints, silk screening, hand screening, and serigraphy. Involves the use of stencils to transfer the design. Paint is applied to a frame of stretched silk, polyester, or nylon screen and penetrates areas of the screen not blocked by the stencil pattern.
Single Cut: What you do to seam a sheet that is wet with a sheet that has already dried. This technique mainly applies to sidewall paper and borders. You overlay the wet sheet on the dry sheet, use a smoother or putty knife to force the impression line of the underlying dry seam and then with the feel of your fingertips and a single edge blade, you cut a butted seam using the creased line as your guid
Single Roll:Single roll of wall covering that comes in a wide variety of lengths and widths ranging from 18 to 36 inches in width and from four to eight yards in length. Regardless of length or width, each single roll contains 34 to 36 square feet of wall covering. Wallcovering is usually packaged in double or triple rolls, but prices are normally quoted by the single roll.
Sisal: Wallpaper made from the fibers of the sisal plant.
Size: In the case of plaster walls, it will prevent too much paste from being absorbed into the wall. It usually comes in the form of a white powder that is mixed with water according to the manufacturer's instructions. Another form of size is to coat the walls with a thinned down version of the adhesive that ultimately be used in the installation of the wallcovering.
Slip: Characteristic of an adhesive that allows sliding and repositioning of the wallcovering while it is being installed.
Smoke Density: Comparative measure derived from smoke obscuration data collected during the test for surface burning characteristics.
Smoothing brush (smoother): Used to smooth out wrinkles or air from behind wallpaper during installation. Most often used on delicate wallcoverings.
Soffit:Structural part of a wall, the area often found in kitchens extending from the top of cabinets to the ceiling, or the underside of a beam..
Soirette:Wall covering accurately reproduced to effect silk fabric.
Solid Vinyl: Wallpaper consisting of a vinyl film laminated to a fabric or paper substrate. It is generally considered the most durable wallcovering because the vinyl is a solid sheet and not applied in a liquid form.
Solid Sheet Vinyl (Paper-Backed Vinyl): Wallcovering that has a paper (pulp) substrate laminated to a solid decorative surface. This type of wallcovering is very durable since the decorative surface is a solid sheet of vinyl.
Soubassement:French term for wood-paneled dado, sometimes imitated in wallpaper
Spanishing:Printing process where the print solution is deposited in the bottoms and sides of the grain depressions of an embossed material. Usually, the top of the grain surface is wiped clean of the print vehicle. Also referred to as shadowing, wash coating and flood coating.
Stabilizer:Additive used to prevent the vinyl compound from degrading during high temperature processing; also helps protect the finished product from discoloring during its useful service life.
Stain killer primer: These specifically formulated primers are excellent for covering brightly painted surfaces or stains that may otherwise bleed through to the finish surface.
Stain Resistant Wall Covering:Wall covering on which a coat of acrylic has been added to make the surface resistant to stains.
Stipple:To create a pattern which gives a paint like appearance.
Stock:Different qualities and grades of paper or the man made materials.
Straight Edge:Six foot or seven foot ruler used by a paperhanger to dry trim the selvage off of wall covering.
Strie:A thread-like, striped effect.
Strike-off:Proof of a design run off before actual production, in order to check the quality of reproduction and colors.
String: Wallcoverings that have very fine vertical threads laminated to a paper type substrate. Threads may be of a man made material or natural fiber such as silk or linen.
Strip:Length of wall covering, cut to fit the height of the wall.
Strippable:Wall covering that can be dry-stripped from the wall leaving a minimum of paste or adhesive residue and without damage to the wall's surface.
Substrate:The backing of a wall covering. It is laminated to the bottom of the design layer. Unexposed layer or layers in a composite used to impart physical properties rather than appearance. Materials used range from woven and non-woven fabrics to light weight paper products.
Sulfite:Paper pulp made by removing the non-cellulosic components of wood to increase strength and whiteness.
Surface Printing:The oldest automated printing method still in use today. Surface machines lay down very heavy amounts of ink. The ink "creeps" when it hits the paper, so the images are not as crisp as the other methods. Also, there is no drying between color stations, so the registration (alignment of the printing) is very important to keep the inks from running into each other. Because of the heavy lay down of ink, and the inexact image rendering, surface printing has a very distinct look.
Swag:Swinging or suspended decoration, representing garlands, drapery, ribbons or leaves.
Swatch:Sample cutting of wall covering.
T
Textile Wallcoverings: Wallcoverings are usually laminated to a backing to enhance dimensional stability and to prevent the adhesive from coming through to the surface. These backings are usually acrylic or paper. Textiles are manufactured in a variety of widths and are constructed of natural fibers.
Texture: Tactile surface quality of wall covering or fabric, perceived through touch.
Toile De Jouy (Toile):Line engraved landscape and figure motifs first printed in monotone colorations on cotton or linen in Jouy, France.
Total Weight:Combined weight of both backing and coating, measured in ounces per square yard of wall covering.
Trimmer:Machine or device that removes the selvage,
Trompe L'oeil (Loeil):French for "fool the eye". Design that creates a three-dimensional illusion by means of shadow and graphic textures
Two-Tones:Wall coverings that show only two-toned values of one color.
Type I:Light duty commercial grade wallcovering weighing between 7 and 13 ounces per square yard. Generally produced on a scrim or non-woven backing.
Type II:Medium grade commercial wallcovering weighing between 13 and 22 ounces per yard. It is produced on an osnaburg, drill, or non-woven fabric backing.
Type III:Heavy duty commercial grade wallcovering, weighing in excess of 22 ounces per square yard. Usually produced on drill fabric backing.
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Unpasted wallpaper:Wallpaper to which paste must be rolled or brushed on during the installation process.
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VOC:Volatile organic compounds that flash off from a coating when it dries.
Vinyl (Polyvinyl Chloride or PVC):Man-made material used in the manufacturing of wall coverings. A polymer prepared by the polymerization of vinyl chloride as the sole monomer.
Vinyl Coated Paper:This wallpaper has a paper substrate on which the decorative surface has been sprayed or coated with an acrylic coating. The proper name for this type of paper should be acrylic coated paper, but the inaccurate name has caught on and is used in it's stead.
Vinyl Coating: Either a liquid acrylic or flexible film applied to a wall covering backing material. It gives a wall covering strength, durability and scrubbability.
Vinyl Laminate: Vinyl laminated to either paper or fabric.
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Wall Coverings: Coverings applied to walls for decoration, scrubbability and to hide imperfections. May be manufactured utilizing paper, natural fibers, synthetics, or a wide variety of substances.
Wall Fabric: Durable and decorative textile surface on a backing used to cover walls.
Wallpaper: Wallpaper with a paper substrate/ground combination upon which the decorative layer is printed. True papers are not coated, but some may have a acrylic coating applied to seal in the inks. Often misused term to describe all wall coverings.
Washable: Wall covering that can be cleaned with a sponge, mild or prescribed detergent, and water.
Waterbox: Tray that holds the water into which pre-pasted wall coverings are dipped before they are hung.
Wet hanging: Method of hanging wallcoverings in which the adhesive is applied to the back of the wallcovering.
Wheat Paste: Common wheat flour Triticum vulgare (sativum), readily available in temperate climates, is the most frequently recommended flour for making wallpaper paste. The type sold in retail decorating centers is sold in bags: the user simply adds the white or off-white powder, sifting it slowly into lukewarm water, while stirring with a stick or cooking whisk to avoid lumps. This powder has been cooked first in a factory, then dried and re-combined with other ingredients. There are many grades of wheat paste available, but it is sometimes difficult to find in traditional decorating retail outlets.
Wire Lap: Method of hanging in which strips overlap slightly.
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