Types of Wallpaper

Wallpaper Types by Face Material

The face is the printed surface you actually look at, and six of them cover most of the market.

Vinyl

Vinyl is the most common modern face, and for good reason. It's tough, it wipes clean, it prints well whether flat or lightly textured, and it handles humidity far better than paper, which is why it owns kitchens, baths, and high-traffic rooms. You'll find it in three grades: solid vinyl (a full vinyl face over a paper or non-woven backing) is the heaviest and most durable; vinyl-coated paper sits in the middle; and paper-backed vinyl is the lighter, lower-cost option.

Paper

This is the old-school option, sometimes labeled "uncoated paper," and at the high end it's often hand-printed. It carries a depth of color and texture that vinyl just can't match. The catch is that it's delicate, non-washable, and unhappy in humidity, so it belongs in low-traffic dry rooms like formal living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms. Keep it out of the kitchen and bath.

Grasscloth

Grasscloth wallpaper is a natural-fiber face woven from sea grass, hemp, jute, sisal, or paper threads, bonded to a paper or non-woven backing. The real surface texture is something no printed sheet can fake, and it's one of the longest-running looks going, in steady rotation since the 1960s without ever feeling dated. The trade-offs are real, though: it's non-washable, it shows water stains for good, and the seams are visible by design, since the fibers won't pattern-match. Most installs simply treat those seams as part of the charm.

Fabric

Picture a textile face, silk or linen or suede or a synthetic weave, bonded onto a paper backing. It's gorgeous and it's expensive, and it won't take a drop of water. So you'll find it where those trade-offs make sense: formal rooms, libraries, and the kind of high-end residential and commercial spaces where nobody's worried about scrubbing a wall.

Metallic and foil

Here a metallic-coated face, usually Mylar or thin foil, sits on a paper backing, and the shine throws light around a dark room beautifully. The downside is that the reflective surface highlights every wall flaw it covers, and the foil is non-washable, so it's best left to a pro installer working on perfectly smooth walls.

Paintable

An embossed or textured face made to be painted after it's up, paintable wallpaper adds architectural relief to a plain wall. Anaglypta and Lincrusta are the classic British names. You hang it, prime it, and paint over the texture in whatever color you like.

Flocked

This one has a raised, velvet-like pattern, made by sprinkling cut fibers onto adhesive printed on the paper. If it reads as Victorian or Art Deco to you, that's no accident, since that's where it made its name. Modern flocked designs do exist, but honestly it's a small corner of the market these days.

Wallpaper Types by Backing

The backing sits behind the face and shapes how the whole thing hangs and comes off. Two types run the market now.

Non-woven backing

This has been the standard for good wallpaper since about 2000. It's a polyester-cellulose blend, not unlike a fabric softener sheet, and it's dimensionally stable, meaning it won't expand or shrink when wet paste hits it. That stability is exactly what makes the paste-the-wall method work: you coat the wall, hang the dry strip, and it keeps its shape going up and strips off cleanly years later. Most quality wallpaper sold today rides on a non-woven backing, whatever the face happens to be.

Paper backing

The original backing, used since the very beginning, and it calls for the older paste-the-paper method. You paste the strip itself, let it "book" for five minutes, then hang. Because paper expands a little once it's pasted, skimping on that booking time invites seam drift. These days you'll mostly meet it on lower-cost rolls, hand-printed art papers, and some grasscloth.

Vinyl backing

Less common than the other two. It turns up in some commercial-grade rolls for extra strength, but it adds weight and stiffness and is fiddlier to handle on the wall.

Wallpaper Types by Install Method

There are four install methods, and each is tied to a backing.

Peel-and-stick

A vinyl face with a pressure-sensitive glue backing on a release liner. Peel the liner, press it to the wall, done, no water and no paste, which makes it the most forgiving method for a first-timer. The trade-offs: it lasts three to seven years, struggles in humid rooms, and can telegraph wall texture. Our Peel and Stick vs Traditional Wallpaper guide has the full comparison.

Non-woven paste-the-wall

The boutique standard. You roll paste onto the wall, hang the dry strip, and smooth from the center out. It's cleaner than the old paper-backed rolls because the strip never gets wet, and it's what most designer-mill wallpaper uses.

Pre-pasted

Here the glue is dried onto the back at the factory, and you wake it up by dipping the strip in a water tray for 30 seconds before hanging. It's common at the consumer end, slightly older tech than paste-the-wall, but still widely sold.

Unpasted (paste-the-paper)

The old way: paste the back, book for five minutes, then hang. It survives mostly for hand-printed art papers, grasscloth, and a few specialty products, and most homeowners will never touch it. Whichever of the four you end up with, each has its own technique and tool list, set by the type you chose above. Our How to Hang Wallpaper guide covers the steps and the prep that decides whether any of it lasts.

Wallpaper Types by Washability

Washability is its own system, telling you how much water and scrubbing a roll can take. The terms are industry-standard and usually printed right on the label. Scrubbable is the toughest grade, handling water, mild soap, and light scrubbing with a soft brush, which is why it shows up in kitchens, baths, and commercial jobs. Washable, where most modern vinyl sits, takes a damp sponge with mild dish soap. Spongeable handles only a barely damp sponge for spot cleaning. And non-washable, which covers most paper, grasscloth, and fabric, means dry methods only: vacuum, dry sponge, kneadable eraser.

Match the grade to the room. Baths and kitchens want washable at a minimum, ideally scrubbable, while bedrooms and formal rooms can take anything. Our How to Clean Wallpaper guide pairs the right cleaning method to each.

What Makers Define as Top Wallpaper Types

Material-first specs are what separate designer wallpaper from mass-printed paper. The wallcoverings brand Maya Romanoff bills its catalog as "Luxury Handcrafted Wallcoverings & Wallpapers" where "handmade wallcoverings meet innovative design." That's the framing the top mills use, and it applies right across grasscloth, silk, embossed vinyl, and the other handcrafted types. The category runs far wider than mass-market peel-and-stick, and the material drives both the look and the install.

Pros and Cons by Wallpaper Type

Here's the quick lookup for matching a type to a use case. Vinyl on a non-woven backing, hung paste-the-wall, is tough, washable, the easiest top-tier install, the cleanest to remove, and the longest-lived at 15-plus years, though it's mostly flat with little surface texture. Peel-and-stick is the easiest and most forgiving, fully repositionable, ideal for renters and first-timers, but it's shorter-lived at three to seven years, weak in humidity, and thinner on pattern depth. Grasscloth brings a timeless look, real texture, and the bonus of hiding minor wall flaws, at the cost of visible seams, no washability, water stains, and a higher price. Pre-pasted is easier than paste-the-paper with no mixing, but it's older tech, thin on boutique brands, and needs a water tray on install day. Paintable Anaglypta or Lincrusta gives you any color via topcoat plus serious toughness and flaw-hiding, though it's harder to hang and the texture sets the tone of the room. And metallic or foil delivers light bounce and big drama, but exposes every wall flaw, wants a pro, and won't take washing.

Will Wallpaper Stick to Stucco?

Mostly no. Interior stucco is too rough and porous for anything to bond evenly. The fix is to skim it flat with joint compound first, then prime and hang non-woven paste-the-wall. Our Can You Put Wallpaper on Textured Walls? guide covers the full prep, which works for stucco too.

Will Wallpaper Stick to Melamine?

Yes, with the right prep. Melamine's surface is smooth and non-porous, so it needs a bonding primer made for laminate, given 24 hours to cure. After that, non-woven paste-the-wall or peel-and-stick will grab fine. Pre-pasted and paste-the-paper, though, won't bond well to melamine even over primer.

Which Type of Wallpaper Is Best for Your Room?

There's no single "best," but the matches are pretty clear. Renters and first-timers want peel-and-stick on a PSA-backed vinyl. A forever-home accent wall wants non-woven paste-the-wall under a vinyl or paper face. A bath or kitchen wants scrubbable vinyl on a non-woven backing. A formal dining room or library calls for grasscloth, fabric, or hand-printed paper, again on non-woven. To hide wall flaws, reach for paintable Anaglypta or Lincrusta, or for grasscloth. For light bounce in a dark room, metallic or foil (pro-hung, on smooth walls). And for a kids' room, peel-and-stick wins on sheer forgiveness and how easily you can swap it out.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the different types of wallpaper?

It depends which axis you sort on. Sort by face and you get vinyl, paper, grasscloth, fabric, metallic, foil, paintable, and flocked. Sort by backing and it narrows to non-woven, paper, and vinyl. Sort by how it goes up and there are four methods: peel-and-stick, non-woven paste-the-wall, pre-pasted, and unpasted. And sort by how it cleans and you land on scrubbable, washable, spongeable, or non-washable.

What are the main types of wallpaper materials?

Vinyl leads by a wide margin, with paper, grasscloth, and fabric filling out the everyday options. Then there's the specialty shelf: metallic foil for shine, flocked velvet for texture, and the embossed paintable papers like Anaglypta and Lincrusta that you finish in your own color.

What type of wallpaper is better for different needs?

Renters lean peel-and-stick. Forever-home accent walls want non-woven paste-the-wall vinyl. Baths and kitchens want scrubbable vinyl. Formal rooms suit grasscloth or fabric on non-woven. And to hide wall flaws, paintable Anaglypta or grasscloth do the job.

What types of wallpaper are washable?

Vinyl-faced is the most washable of all. Scrubbable vinyl takes repeated cleaning and light scrubbing, while standard washable vinyl handles a soft sponge. Paper, grasscloth, fabric, foil, and flocked are all non-washable, so stick to dry methods.

What is peel-and-stick wallpaper?

A vinyl face with a pressure-sensitive glue backing on a release liner. Peel the liner, stick it to the wall, and you're done. It's the most forgiving method going, which is why renters and first-timers love it. Our How to Apply Peel and Stick Wallpaper guide has the full walkthrough.

What are the pros and cons of different wallpaper types?

Vinyl is tough and washable but mostly flat. Peel-and-stick is the easiest to hang but the shortest-lived. Grasscloth has timeless texture but shows water stains. Paper takes hand-printing for real depth but won't wash. The full trade-offs are spelled out above.

Specifics Most Buyers Ask About

How non-woven differs from spunbond polyester backing

A non-woven backing is a blend of polyester and cellulose fibers bonded without weaving, much like a fabric softener sheet. Spunbond polyester is all polyester, made by extruding melted polymer into filaments that fuse as they cool. Both are dimensionally stable, but spunbond runs heavier and more tear-resistant and shows up mostly in commercial wallcoverings, while non-woven is the residential standard because it costs less and strips off more cleanly. The two labels get used interchangeably, but they aren't the same material.

Why grasscloth shows seams by design

Grasscloth is woven by hand from real plant fibers (sea grass, hemp, jute, sisal) into mats that are then bonded to a backing. Those fibers are dyed in batches and laid by hand, so the texture and tone shift a little across every roll. When two strips meet, the fiber direction and color simply won't line up, and that's the intended look, one of grasscloth's selling points rather than a flaw. A perfect seam would mean machine-printing the fiber pattern, which kills the whole natural-fiber appeal.

What "paste-the-wall" actually means versus "paste-the-paper"

Paste-the-wall means the wet paste goes onto the wall and the dry strip is hung straight into it, so the strip itself never gets wet. Paste-the-paper is the older way: paste the back, fold the strip onto itself (booking), and after a five-minute rest hang the wet strip. Paste-the-wall is faster and cleaner but only works with non-woven backings that don't expand when wet, while paste-the-paper suits the traditional paper backings that need to soak and expand before they'll lie flat.

Our Take

The category is wider than most people expect. One pattern can arrive as peel-and-stick, non-woven paste-the-wall, or pre-pasted. The face might be vinyl, paper, or grasscloth. The finish runs from scrubbable to non-washable. What sets the right mix is the room, the wall, the lifespan you're after, and the install you're up for.

For most boutique buyers, though, the real shortlist is just two. Choose non-woven paste-the-wall vinyl for a permanent install, and peel-and-stick for renting or a short commitment. The rest stay in the catalog for niche rooms and special looks, but those two formats cover maybe 90 percent of home decisions. Browse our patterns if you already know which one fits your wall.

---

Last updated: May 2026.