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In this video we'll share with you some
easy techniques for hanging even very large wall decals.
The first thing you'll want to do is clean the wall surface with a dust cloth
before applying your decal.
You can use a damp cloth or sponge if necessary but make sure that the surface
dries completely before applying the decal.
You should take any measurements and set some level guide-lines
lightly with a pencil ahead of time. We also like to line up
dark painters tape with our level line that we penciled in. This is much easier
to see through the transfer paper.
The next step is the lay the decal face-down
in peel back a little bit the backing layer. As you can see here
we have three layers... the Backing Paper, the Decal,
and the Transfer Paper. We're going to be using the Transfer Paper and the Decal
to adhere to the wall surface
as we hang, so exposing several inches of the backing paper
gives us plenty of tacky surface with the other layers to stick to the wall.
Now that the prep work is done, it's time to hang our wall decal.
And since we already have our level-line in place,
all we have to do is line up the top of the decal with the bottom of the level-line.
When you use the dark painters tape like this, it's very easy to see through the
transfer paper to line things up.
But... when using just a light pencil line you might want to mark up the transfer
paper just above the decal
to show you where the top of it lines up.
Be sure to press the decal and transfer paper
firmly in place along the wall, because this is used to
hold the decal in place
as we roll down the backing.
A good approach with large vertical decals like this is
to work in small sections... smoothing out as you go,
and then pulling down more of the backing paper.
Once all the backing paper is removed, the next step
is to use a plastic squeegee or even a credit card to slowly work out any
bubbles that you see.
Always work from the center outward. That way you're moving any air bubbles
out towards the edges where they'll be released.
And as a final step... just go over the Edges one last time.
This will help to keep the decal in place
as we pull off the transfer paper.
To finish our
application, all we have to do is remove the transfer paper,
and workout any bubbles. To remove the transfer paper
gently pull down from each corner. We find that working from each of the corners
actually works a lot better than trying to pull down the entire width of the
transfer paper.
So just take your time... always using a motion where you pull in CLOSE to the
wall.
You want to avoid pulling AWAY from the wall, because this may actually pull up
the decal. We found that using kind of a
"rocking motion" from side to side really helps were you are not pulling down the
entire transfer paper.
Any air bubbles
that you see are very easy to remove. Just use the plastic squeegee
and again using a Center to Outward motion, move them out to the edges where
they will be released.
Now, if you have any Wrinkles or Creases, you DON'T want to use the squeegee or credit card...
as that may just push them into place more!
Instead, gently peel back part the decal to expose the crease,
pulling gently here so you don't stretch the decal.
Then, simply push it back into place by hand
and then use a credit card or squeegee to flatten it out again.
You'll find these techniques o be really handy, and when you're all done...
everything looks great!
And there you have it. A plain wall turned Bright and Colorful with a
great wall decal from RetroPlanet.com