Glass fiber: what is it and what are their features?

Currently, the market offers many materials for wall decoration. You can opt for paint, plaster, tiles, wallpaper. One of the modern coatings that deserves attention is glass fiber. They have a long service life, are ideal for painting, are presented in a wide range of colors and types and are very practical to use. More and more buyers are choosing them.

Glass fiber is a decorative wall covering based on special glass. It is heated to high temperatures, and in this state, the fibers are drawn to form yarns, which can be of different thicknesses and types. The yarn is subsequently woven into fabric.

Fiberglass wallpaper has a texture. Their front side looks like decorative weaving, which can be of various types: diamonds, leaves, geometric shapes, abstract lines, flowers.

Fiberglass wallpaper is suitable for gluing various surfaces: concrete, plastic, metal, wood, plasterboard, brick, chipboard. The wall is preliminarily prepared - primed. If there are gaps, they must be repaired.

Thanks to glass fibers, these wallpapers last 20-30 years if properly used and maintained. They can be painted several times (up to 6 times) without affecting their appearance.

Currently, manufacturers are trying to produce fiberglass wallpapers with new functions, for example, magnetic or additional noise reduction.

Like any finishing coating, fiberglass wallpaper has a number of disadvantages and advantages that must be analyzed before making a choice in a store.

The benefits include several characteristics.

• Strength. The material does not tear, deform, or scratch. In addition, it is able to withstand wet cleaning, including the use of chemical cleaning agents. It is believed to be the most durable wall covering available today.
• Improving the indoor climate. The structure of the wallpaper resembles a knitted product - it consists of loops, which allows water vapor to move freely between them. Thanks to this, dust is not attracted to the wallpaper, static electricity does not accumulate.

• Environmental friendliness, safety for others. The basis of the coating is glass, which does not harm people and does not allow dangerous microorganisms to multiply. Such wallpaper is an excellent prevention of the occurrence of fungus or mold, therefore, glass cloth is not harmful to the health of others, it is suitable for decorating rooms for children and people prone to allergies.
• Resistance to mechanical damage. The canvas does not deform when it comes into contact with furniture, human hands. If it becomes necessary to replace a separate fragment, this can be done without difficulty; horizontal gluing can be used with glass cloth.
• Non-flammability. Thanks to the glass in the composition of the material, the wallpaper does not burn and does not emit harmful substances in contact with fire.

• Ease of pasting walls. No special skills required when working with fiberglass wallpaper. It is easy to stick them on yourself without an invitation from a specialist.
• Long service life. With proper care and use, wallpaper can last up to 30 years.
• Presented by a wide assortment various types of flowers, textures, patterns.

Other features can be named as disadvantages of fiberglass cloth.

• Price. The price of a canvas can reach large sizes, depending on the complexity of the texture and image.
• In the process of pasting walls, special protective clothing must be used. If micro-particles of wallpaper come into contact with the skin, they can cause severe irritation and allergies.
• To paint a wall covered with glass cloth, a large amount of paint is required due to the high absorbency of the wallpaper.

• When several layers of paint and glue are applied, the wallpaper may begin to peel off the wall under the influence of gravity.
• With each new layer of paint, the texture and relief of the wallpaper is lost.
• With the wrong paint, wallpaper can be difficult to wet clean.
• Wallpaper is difficult to remove from the walls. With subsequent repairs, you need to make a lot of effort to prepare the wall for a new coating.
• To work with them, a perfectly flat wall is required, since the glass cloth bends poorly and cannot take any shape.

Despite several drawbacks, fiberglass wallpaper is one of the most popular types of material for wall decoration both in Russia and in European countries.

Depending on different criteria, glass wallpaper can be of different types.

• Smooth. Wallpaper is a "spider web" (fiberglass). They are ideal paintable surfaces. In addition, the "cobweb" can smooth out small cracks and irregularities on the wall. It combines reinforcing and decorative functions.
• Embossed. Such material has a more porous structure, greater weight and density. It is less prone to stretching and deformation and is well suited for the final finishing of wall decoration.

• First grade. They are of high quality, long service life, very dense - from 100 g / sq. m. The price for such material is high.
• Second grade. The quality is average and can behave unpredictably during operation. If you choose products of well-known foreign brands, the wallpaper will be of a fairly high quality. The second grade will only indicate a non-standard length of the canvas.
• Economy class grade. Wallpaper of poor quality, with a short service life and low density. Despite this, they are the most popular option with buyers due to their reasonable cost.

One-layer and two-layer, consisting of a decorative layer and a backing.

Fiberglass wallpaper and spider web for further painting. The canvas is white or light in color and is intended for further processing. They are an excellent option for ceiling decoration. For walls, such wallpaper is used only as a rough version.

Fiberglass, which requires further filling. Suitable for covering uneven surfaces.

Glass fiber of various colors that do not require further staining.

Liquid glass wallpaper. It is not recommended to use them in rooms with high humidity.

Multicolored and white or light with a slight tint. The latter are usually used for painting.

• Complicated. It is made on a jacquard loom.
• Textured. It is made on a loom.

• 1 degree. The material is not highly durable. Only dry clean with a suede cloth. Marked with one wave.
• 2 degrees. Average degree of moisture resistance, tolerate cleaning with a slightly damp cloth, are marked with two waves.
• 3 degrees. High degree of moisture resistance. Wet cleaning can be applied to them, including the use of chemicals.They are marked with three waves. If a brush is added to the marking, the wallpaper can be cleaned with a brush. This is the highest degree of strength and moisture resistance of wallpaper.

For the manufacture of fiberglass, only natural materials are used, so the finished wallpaper does not emit harmful substances and has a long service life. In addition to glass, the composition of the canvas includes dolomite, soda, clay, quartz sand and lime.

First, all the components are formed into briquettes, which are subsequently drawn into threads under the influence of high temperature. Cloth is woven from threads on weaving machines. Then the canvas is impregnated with a special solution based on modified starch. Thanks to this impregnation, at first, the wallpaper keeps its shape before it is glued, and then, mixing with glue and paint, is firmly fixed on the surface.

After that, all fiberglass wallpapers are thoroughly tested for compliance with GOST R 52805-2007 standards.

All characteristics of fiberglass cloth meet the highest requirements.

• Environmental friendliness. All fiberglass wallpapers undergo quality control, the concentration of harmful substances in their composition should not exceed the permissible limits, according to the SanPiN of the Russian Federation.
• Density. The higher this indicator, the stronger the canvas, and the longer it will last. Good wallpapers have a high density - from 100 g / sq. m. They are durable and can tolerate multiple paints. Lighter wallpapers are less durable. It is not recommended to choose them for living quarters, since often the canvas has a defect - threads knocked out of weaving, a lost pattern.
• The size. A standard roll is 1 m wide and 25-50 m long.

• The whiteness must be at least 70%.
• Water vapor permeability. This indicator should be measured by the manufacturer and indicated on the packaging.
• Parallelism of edges. The longitudinal edges of the wallpaper must be parallel to each other. The deviation cannot be more than 1 cm.
• Integrity. The canvas cannot consist of composite fragments, it must be solid.
• Web winding. The material should be wound tightly and the protrusion should not exceed 1% of the roll width. The front side should be wound outward.
• The presence of mechanical damage. The material should not have tears, wrinkles or other damage.

• Flammability, flammability, toxicity in contact with fire, smoke formation. These indicators should not exceed the norms established by GOST 32044, 30402, 12.1.044.
• Impregnation with a special compound. Non-impregnated areas should not exceed 3 cm.
• Marking. All wallpapers must be labeled in accordance with the requirements in a form accessible to consumers.
• Water resistance.
• Durability and resistance to mechanical stress.

In order to decide on the color of the wallpaper, first of all, you need to be guided by your own taste preferences.

However, there are some general tips to help you make your choice.

• It is not recommended to choose too bright colors for coloring. They quickly get bored, can cause irritation, and interfere with rest and relaxation. It is better to give preference to neutral, calmer tones.
• If you want to highlight the walls in an original way, add bright colors to the interior, it is better to highlight them with separate elements, for example, with bright patterns on a neutral general background of wallpaper. In this way, you can achieve the originality of the room, as well as make it visually larger.
• It is important to pay attention to the combination of wallpaper with furniture in the room. They should complement each other in color, patterns and style.

• If you plan to apply drawings to glass wallpaper, you need to observe harmonious proportions depending on the size of the room. Large details contribute to a visual reduction in space, which is inappropriate in small rooms. A small drawing, on the contrary, is suitable for a small room and will help make it more spacious.
• It is important to keep in mind what purpose the room itself has, and how harmoniously the wallpaper in one color or another will look in it. For the kitchen, colors should not be too bright, easily soiled, gloomy. If it has enough natural light, you can choose cool shades: green, blue, gray. If you need to add light to the kitchen, it is better to give preference to warm colors: yellow, pink, orange.

• For living rooms, shades found in wildlife are suitable: green, pink, yellow. To add originality, you can use stencils to add colored patterns to the walls to your liking. For bedrooms, calm tones are suitable that will help you relax and unwind: beige, blue, light green, pink.
• With the help of various textures and colors, you can select one of the walls, divide the room into zones. An interesting solution is the choice for different walls of the same pattern, but different in size.

Glass fiber can have a different texture. The most common are the following.

• "Herringbone" - classic pattern, suitable for decoration of any premises, can be of different sizes. A large herringbone will be an excellent option for a spacious room.
• "Rhombus". Suitable for connoisseurs of geometric shapes and straight lines. Such a pattern will organically fit into the interior of the kitchen, dining room, corridor.

• "Rogozhka". Wallpaper has the same relief on both sides, can be glued on horizontal and vertical surfaces. There are small, medium and large "matting". This texture, in addition to decorative, also performs reinforcing functions. This option is very popular in office spaces.
• "Cobweb" - classic, chaotic, abstract drawing. When paint is applied, the texture becomes almost invisible, but not smooth, which makes it ideal for ceiling decoration. Wallpaper with this pattern does not need to be adjusted.

There are also exclusive models with an unusual texture.

• Crepe pattern. The drawing resembles a jacquard weave with a chaotically located fine texture. If a layer of paint is applied to the wallpaper, they visually resemble embossed plaster, which creates a play of light and shade on the surface.
• "Papyrus". Outwardly it resembles ancient paper with ornaments, creates a unique atmosphere of comfort.

• Stripes. These include the patterns "Empire", "Modern" and "Stripe". They all represent a beautiful intersection of stripes. "Stripe" is suitable for original people who love a unique interior. The pattern is an alternation of small and large stripes.
• "Vertical". The texture is unobtrusive, restrained. Such wallpapers can be chosen for rooms of any size and purpose.
• "Deruzhka". Such a pattern will organically fit into the country style, chalet, suitable for a house in a summer cottage. The large relief resembles natural bamboo or linen weaving, like mats. This creates a comfortable and cozy atmosphere in the room.

In addition to the above patterns, there are many more options offered by manufacturers: "chess" and "quadro", which are a combination of squares, "polka dots", suitable for rooms with children, "diagonal" used in rooms where you want to visually correct the geometry of the space.

With the help of various painting techniques for fiberglass wallpaper, you can diversify the interior, make it original.

• The use of borders. With the help of them, you can divide the surface into several parts. The texture can be the same, or it can be different on different sides of the border. After gluing fiberglass wallpaper to the wall, without waiting for them to dry, you can proceed to the next step.A strip is cut out on the canvas, which will correspond to the future border. The remaining canvas on both sides of this strip is painted in two layers. An interesting solution is the use of contrasting colors. After the paint has dried, a border is glued to the designated place.

• Using stencils. With their help, you can create any drawings and patterns on the wall. A stencil is applied to the already painted wallpaper, its borders are fixed with masking tape. Then paint is carefully applied - so that it does not flow under the tape. Then the wallpaper is painted again, and after the paint layer has dried, the adhesive tape is removed. The finished ornament can be additionally decorated or supplemented with another ornament using another stencil. In this way, you can create patterns scattered over the entire surface of the wall, or be limited to a single pattern.

• Squeegee painting. With the help of it, the effect of a fabric surface is created. To begin with, the fiberglass cloth is painted with a base color, on top of which a paintwork of the same color scheme is applied with a rubber or plastic spatula. This can be done with a water-based varnish or a varnish with a metallic effect. After the top layer is dry, use a damp sponge to remove any excess.

• Azure staining. To do this, first, a base coat of paint is applied in the form of a varnish from a mixture of contrasting colors with decorative splashes of white. After this layer has dried, glaze is applied. A special brush is used for this. Movements during paint application should be short, crosswise. After 20 minutes, use a rubber spatula to spread the flakes evenly on the canvas. A brighter effect can be achieved by applying another layer of azure.

Based on the feedback from satisfied customers, in today's market there are several leaders among manufacturers of glass-cloth wallpaper, which produce high-quality products and are the most popular with consumers.

• Welton. The Swedish company is a team of professionals, one of the long-standing leaders in the production of fiberglass. Products of this brand can be found in all developed countries of the world. In addition to wallpaper, the assortment of this brand includes all related products for gluing them. Glass fiber is presented in three collections: Classic, Optima, Decor. The first version is made at a factory in Sweden and can have a variety of texture, density, roll length. The second and third options are produced at a factory in China and have a lower cost.

• Vitrulan. A German company that initially appeared on the market as a glass manufacturer, and then glass wool. Currently, the plant produces high quality glass wallpapers and offers a wide selection of various collections for every taste.

• Nortex - Russia. The company has factories in China and the Czech Republic. The products are represented by a wide selection and are distinguished by affordable prices suitable for the Russian buyer.

• Tassoglass - America. High-quality products suitable for the price of people with an average living standard.

• X Glass - Russia, the plant is located in Finland and offers mid-priced products.

• Bau Master, Waltex, Veterman, Mermet - China. The wallpapers are of good quality and inexpensive.

When deciding which wallpaper to buy, you can follow a few tips.

• The main indicator of the quality of fiberglass is their density. You need to be careful, since sometimes unscrupulous manufacturers can add starch impregnation to increase this indicator. At first glance, it is almost impossible to determine this, because the wallpaper is packed in rolls. This can be noticeable only at the gluing stage, when glue is applied and the starch layer dissolves. Therefore, it is better to give preference to well-known brands.
• Texture. This indicator can also be artificially changed.Some manufacturers fluff up the threads, which makes the texture more voluminous. This is found only in the process of gluing the canvas to the surface, when excess air is expelled with a spatula.

• It is possible to determine in advance whether the material meets the declared characteristics. To do this, you can take a small piece of wallpaper as a sample, stick it on the wall, paint it and see if its properties have changed.
• When choosing a paint, you need to understand how often the surface will be exposed to, how often cleaning will be carried out. It is better to give preference to latex glossy and semi-gloss paints. In rooms where high permeability of people is characteristic, it is better to choose a paint with a waterproof effect that will not wear off.
• When choosing wallpaper for the ceiling, it is better to give preference to a cobweb that has no relief and texture. In this case, you do not need to adjust the drawing. In addition, fiberglass has reinforcing properties, which will make the surface perfectly flat.

• For the ceiling, you can choose a material of the second grade. Such glass wallpaper is lighter in weight, which will simplify the procedure for gluing them, and the ceiling is not exposed to frequent mechanical stress and rarely gets dirty, allowing you to save on material. For walls, wallpaper of the first grade with the best quality characteristics is better suited. To determine the type of wallpaper, you need to pay attention to how many meters are in a roll. If 15 is the second-grade wallpaper, if 50 is the first.
• Fiberglass wallpaper can be chosen for any room. Due to their properties of strength, durability, resistance to mechanical stress, they are suitable for premises with high traffic of people: for a hallway, a nursery or any other room. Resistance to frequent wet cleaning, including the use of chemicals, makes them an ideal coating for kitchen and bathroom walls, and non-flammability and non-toxicity allows them to be used as a decorative coating for the stove.

• To determine how much material is required, you need to know the size of the surface in length and width. In addition, it should be borne in mind that the joining of the pattern will require 5-10 cm of allowance for each cut off blade.

Fiberglass wallpaper can be used to paste over wooden, metal, concrete and brick surfaces, as well as walls made of plasterboard and chipboard.

You need to glue the wallpaper, observing the order of the main stages.

• Surface preparation. Large cracks and irregularities must be repaired. For this, the wall is putty and primed with a weak glue solution.
• Applying glue directly to the wall, not to the wallpaper. Special glue is selected. It is based on starch and PVA, and the consistency should be thick.

• Wallpaper gluing. This is done end-to-end. It is important to observe the alignment of the pattern. To do this, cutting off the required length from the roll, it is necessary to make an allowance of about 5 cm in order to fit the canvas. If fiberglass wallpaper with a "matting" or "spider line" texture is used, allowances are not required. When working with fiberglass wallpaper, horizontal joints are allowed, which can be resorted to in the presence of incorrectly cut pieces or remnants from rolls. To determine which side is the front (the texture of the wallpaper is the same on both sides), many factories designate it with a gray stripe.
• Application of paint (if necessary) in two layers two days after gluing. The time between application of layers is at least 12 hours.

• after staining, it is necessary to let the wallpaper dry, protecting it from sunlight and draft for this time;
• for coloring it is better to choose a roller with a high pile so that the pronounced relief is well painted over, although the "cobweb" or "matting" can be painted over with a regular roller;
• coloring is best done only in natural light;
• to paint the wallpaper near the baseboard or other details, you can use a small brush;
• in the process of gluing wallpaper, it is better that the room temperature is 18-25 degrees, and the humidity is about 79%.

Currently, glass fiber is increasingly used for the repair of houses and apartments. With their help, you can refine any room, give it uniqueness and originality, using safe and high-quality material.

Glass fiber can be pastel shades, which will pacify and calm, but can also be a bright accent for the entire interior.

Glass fabric with a large pattern will help to reduce the space.

Small drawing can visually expand the room.

Watch a video on the topic.