Making Sure Your Wall Stickers Last the Longest Time

How to make wall stickers stay on the wall for the longest time?

This article about wall stickers is actually not about wall stickers at all. This article is about paint, cleaning and temperature! Yes, it is all about the preparation.

When you buy a wall sticker you are wasting your money IF you have not checked your surface, have not prepared the surface and read the instructions carefully.

Wall sticker companies sell you a product that mostly will apply and look great. BUT how long will this sticker look great depends totally on the paint, the surface and the exposure. It does also depend on the quality of the wall sticker but we will save that explanation for another article.

In this article we are going to discuss paint, cleaning and temperature.

PAINT

In brief, you want to have an interior acrylic paint, not an oil based paint. The paint cannot have any Teflon or silicon properties in it as stickers will not stick. And the paint must be cured for 3 weeks before applying wall decals.

The other factor is paint methods. If you use a hairy roller to paint the surface, the paint will come off the hairs leaving little points and a relatively textured surface which is not ideal for wall decals.

If you are planning to apply wall decals to the wall, then ensure a smooth painted finish is achieved.

Once you have a dry, smooth, painted wall you MUST follow the next step.

CLEANING

This is often the forgotten step, or if not forgotten it is poorly executed.

If you want your wall stickers to last a long time, then cleaning the surface as detailed in the article is very important.

Painted walls will collect dust, air contaminants and sometimes grease which lightly lands on the contours and attaches itself to the surface. So you probably think giving it a light dust will be enough.

If you apply wall stickers to a surface with a contaminant it might look great for a week, a month and even multiple months, but after time, that contaminant will affect the adhesive qualities and the decal will start to lift. Normally this begins at the edges. (Note this is also because of the quality of the decal and you can read about that in our next article).

TO CLEAN WALLS: Do not use household cleaning products that might contain silicones to reflect dirt because they will repel the wall decal as well.

Use a soapy detergent (baby shampoo is good) or something without any solvents added and soap the area that the wall decal will be applied. Dry thoroughly and double check to ensure that there is not foreign matter on the wall.

FOR GLASS: Do not use window cleaning products as they contain silicones. Use a hot soapy mix and wash the window. Run a blade or metal ruler over the surface to get any foreign matter off. We like to finish with a dampened piece of newspaper to dry off the surface.

TEMPERATURE

Wall stickers are best applied at just the right temperature. Too cold and the life of the wall sticker will be shortened, too hot and the wall decal will be impossible to apply and the transfer tape will probably wrinkle during application making it very hard to apply.

The optimum temperature for applying wall decals is 18 to 25C. This means the air temperature and also the surface temperature.

Do not apply window decals to glass during a period of direct sunlight. Apply when the glass is in shade. Once applied it is okay for the stickers to be in direct sunlight, just not during application as it makes it very difficult.

Conclusion

The application of wall stickers and their longevity of life will be greatly affected by proper surface preparation and cleaning.

Be patient and take the time to properly prepare your surface for wall decals, and this will make the difference between a mediocre application and a professional application.

By: Lindsay Frangs

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