how to wallpaper on glass ?

[Eddy]

Hi.

I have a room which has a fine built-in wardrobe all along one wall. Each of the five sliding doors has two framed panels and in each of these these is a mirror. Now this would be OK if this room was being used as a bedroom perhaps but it's now a study. So I want to apply a suitable heavy paper over the mirror inside each panel. (It so happens that the wallpaper that looks best is a heavy one.)

The trouble is: wallpaper won't paste well to glass, will it? I don't want to sand the mirrors or remove them. The next occupant might like to remove the wallpaper and enjoy the mirrors again.

Any ideas?

Thanks, Eddy.

[Mungo "Two Sheds" Toadfoot]

I think it's a really bad idea to wallpaper glass in case it gets broken in the future by someone who doesn't know it's there.

Si

[Eddy]

Good thought, Si. You're obviously safety-conscious, which is good.

But the paper I've selected is sturdy one, so if somebody were to press against one of the panels and crack the mirror the paper would almost certainly hide the crack and stop any slivers of glass from getting away. Also the mirrors are stuck into the wood panels by way of adhesive on their backs, so if somebody snapped one of the mirrors they wouldn't tumble down.

So I don't think hiding the mirrors behind wallpaper is a problem.

The problem is how to adhere the paper to the mirrors with a good finish and possible be able to remove it at a later date.

Eddy.

[Mungo "Two Sheds" Toadfoot]

Fairy nuff. I would expect normal Solvite or Polycell to do the job easily enough as long as you didn't use too much paste, but as for getting it off at a later date... well, it might get messy! PVA maybe?

Si

[John Rumm]

I would use one of the temporary mount spray adhesives - the sort of thing you get in art shops for mounting things on cut'n'past boards etc.

[Andrew Gabriel]

You can PVA glass. When the PVA has dried, I expect normal wall paper pastes would stick to it, but I haven't tried myself. You can apparently plaster onto glass if you PVA it in this way first.

I share the views of others on safety. Might be better to stick sheets of hardboard on first, but even then it may be an unwelcome surprise for anyone who later decides to pull down what you've built.

[RobertL]

Plus remember that mirrors are not made with safety glass. However, you could stick some of that plastic safety film on first.

R

[Dave Plowman (News)]

I'd guess the glue used where you overlap vinyl paper - or add a border to it would work with glass. Not cheap, though.

[John S]

I would tend to go along with that sort of approach. I don't see the paper needing a much higher strength adhesive because the contact area is large. Also one day you will need to remove the paper.

[Steve Firth]

We use PVA to glue labels onto glass bottles. It works fine.

[Phil Jessop]

I would use 1/8" MDF cut to size for each mirror, then attach to mirrors with strong double sided carpet tape - then wallpaper the (sized) mdf. You can then fairly easily rip off the mdf and remove the carpet tape with a solvent later if desired.

[Owain]

I would suggest using a 'frosted glass' vinyl film which will be easier to apply, safer if the glass breaks, not conceal the fact that it is glass, and be fairly certain of being removable without damaging the glass if the room reverts to a bedroom.

Owain

[R]

Blue Peter Badge time

Sticky back plastic.

[Andrew Gabriel]

but now that Woolworths is gone, where can you buy it? ;-)

[Phil Jessop]

Wilkinson's is the new Woolies!

[Stuart Noble]

The problem is likely to be that the wallpaper paste, or anything water based, will take forever to dry unless the water can evaporate through the paper. If there's any vinyl content, I'd say the chances are minimal.

[dennis]

I bought some in Lidl.. I don't think it will suit you, its a mirror finish.

[Rob G]

B 'n Q

[Eddy]

Oh, dear. Sorry, no Badge, R. I didn't say I haven't already bought the heavy wallpaper! It's a luxury paper that looks like rough leather

- it won't look like someone has put wallpaper on the doors!

Eddy.

[The Natural Philosopher]

try spray on carpet adhesive.