Wallpaper facts for kids

Wallpaper is a kind of paper used to cover walls inside of houses and buildings. Wallpaper is used to decorate the inside of buildings instead of paint. It is sold in rolls and are put onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come either plain (so that it can be painted), or with pictures or patterns.

"Wallpaper" is also a word for a picture on a computer monitor.

History

Wallpaper was first used in Europe around the year 1500. Wallpaper was made to look like rugs that hang on walls because they were like pictures. Soon after people started making wallpaper, England and France started making a lot of wallpaper. For a while in 1650, wallpaper was not used because the religious leader in England did not like it. However, by 1750 people were using wallpaper all the time and more people got better at making wallpaper.

How to get rid of wallpaper

Water

Water is the easiest way to get rid of wallpaper. Water makes the wallpaper paste become not sticky, then the wallpaper falls off.

Chemicals

Sometimes the wallpaper paste is too strong for water, then special chemicals need to be used to make the paste not sticky. Most of the time only new wallpaper has to be taken off with chemicals.

Steam

Really hot water makes it easier to remove wallpaper. There are special machines that people can use to make water into steam and use it to remove wallpaper.

Images for kids

• 

  The traditional hand-blocking technique, here in France in 1877

• 

  Hand-painted Chinese wallpaper showing a funeral procession, made for the European market, c. 1780

• 

  "Artichoke" wallpaper by Morris and Co, designed by J H Dearle

• 

  Close-up of a piece of wallpaper art by Tsang Kin-Wah

• 

  'Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique', panels 1-10 of woodblock printed wallpaper designed by Jean-Gabriel Charvet and manufactured by Joseph Dufour