The parcel arrived by COD at four in the afternoon. By twenty past four there is a bubble the size of a roti in the middle of Ayatul Kursi, the left edge is slightly higher than the right, and your brother-in-law is explaining how he would have done it.
Almost every sticker that goes wrong goes wrong in those first twenty minutes, and almost always for one of four reasons: the wall was not ready, the backing came off too fast, nothing was used to press it, or it was lined up by eye. This is how to apply wall stickers so that none of those happen, and how to take one off a rented wall later without a repaint bill.
Before you open the parcel: is the wall ready?
The sticker is the easy part. The wall decides everything.
Fresh paint: wait
Paint feels dry in a day. It is not cured for three to four weeks. Stick vinyl onto two-week-old emulsion and the adhesive bonds with paint that has not finished hardening. When you peel it off next year, the paint comes with it.
Surfaces that work
Smooth emulsion or plastic paint on plaster, the standard finish in most Pakistani homes. Painted wood, flat MDF and smooth cupboard doors. Glass, tiles and mirrors.
Surfaces to avoid
- Distemper. The chalky, powdery finish on many older houses. Run a finger over it. If it leaves a white mark, the sticker will stick to the powder, not the wall, and fall off in a week.
- Rough or textured plaster. Vinyl needs full contact. On a rough surface it touches the peaks and bridges the valleys, and air gets in from every side.
- Damp walls. Any wall with seepage or a water stain, common on Karachi ground floors and under bathrooms.
- Wallpaper. The sticker will hold. The wallpaper will not, when you try to remove it.
Clean it
Wipe the area with a slightly damp cloth, no soap or spray, then let it dry for twenty minutes. Dust is the quiet killer of stickers.
How to apply wall stickers: the step-by-step
You need two people for a large 26 by 18 inch sticker, masking tape, a measuring tape, a pencil and an old credit card or ATM card. For the small 11 by 8.5 inch size, one person is fine.
1. Measure and mark
Decide where the centre should sit. Above a sofa, 8 to 10 inches above the backrest. On an open wall, around 57 to 60 inches from the floor to the middle of the sticker. Mark the top two corners lightly in pencil and check both with the measuring tape from the ceiling. Trust the tape, not your eye.
2. Hang it with the backing still on
Hold the whole sticker, backing paper and all, against the wall and tape the top edge with masking tape. Step back and look from the sofa and from the door. Adjust now, because this is the last moment adjusting is free.
3. Make a hinge
Run one long strip of masking tape across the middle of the sticker, horizontally, taping it to the wall. This is your hinge. Lift the bottom half up and over the hinge, peel the backing paper off that half only, and cut the backing away.
4. Press with the card, from the centre out
Lower the exposed half slowly back onto the wall. Starting at the hinge, run the edge of the card firmly across the sticker, working outwards and downwards in overlapping strokes. Never from the edges inwards; that traps air in the middle. Use the whole flat edge of the card, not the corner.
5. Repeat for the top half
Remove the hinge tape, lift the top half, peel its backing, and press from the middle up and out the same way.
6. Peel the transfer film slowly
If your sticker has a clear transfer layer on top, pull it back on itself at a very low angle, almost flat against the wall, slowly. If a letter lifts with the film, lay it back down, press that spot with the card, and try again.
The sticker does not fail on the wall. It fails on the backing paper, in the ten seconds you peeled it too fast.
Made for painted walls
Every Dua Pixels sticker is matte vinyl that peels off clean.
Duas, Quranic verses, the 99 names and reusable planners, dispatched within 24 hours with cash on delivery.
Fixing bubbles
Small bubbles, under the size of a coin, often disappear on their own within a few warm days as the vinyl settles. Leave them.
Larger ones have two fixes. If the bubble is near an edge, press it towards that edge with the card and out. If it is in the middle, take a sewing pin, prick the very centre of the bubble once, and press the air out through the hole with your thumb. The pinhole is invisible on matte vinyl. Do not try to lift and re-stick a section; the adhesive picks up dust and never sits flat again.
Apply stickers in daylight, with the fan off. A fan blowing on a half-peeled sticker folds it onto itself, and once vinyl sticks to vinyl it is finished. Do it in the morning, when the power is least likely to drop and the room is still cool.
Removing a wall sticker without taking the paint
Easier than renters fear, if you do it in the right order.
- Warm it. A hairdryer on low, held about six inches away, moved slowly over a section for twenty to thirty seconds. Heat softens the adhesive. Do not use high heat on one spot.
- Lift a corner with a fingernail or the card, never a knife.
- Peel at a low angle, slowly. Pull the vinyl back on itself, almost parallel to the wall, not straight out. Straight out pulls paint. Low and slow leaves it.
- Keep warming as you go. Heat a section, peel a section.
- Wipe any residue with a cloth dampened with warm water. If anything remains, a drop of cooking oil on a cloth, then a clean wipe, lifts it.
On cured emulsion this leaves nothing behind. On fresh paint or distemper it will not, which is why the first section matters more than the last.
Before you order
Check the wall first. Run a finger over it, look for damp, remember when it was last painted. If it passes, measure the spot, read our guide to choosing the right size and type for each room, and order with confidence. The same technique applies to our reusable wall planners, which many families put up on the kitchen wall by the fridge.
Twenty minutes, a card and a hinge. That is the whole method.
Wall ready?
Pick the sticker. You already know how to put it up.
Matte vinyl wall stickers for every room, delivery Rs 210 and free over Rs 3,000, cash on delivery across Pakistan.
