Sunday, June 18, 2017

Mod Podge Wallpaper Update: How Does it Last?

Shortly after buying our condo, I used Mod Podge to wallpaper a bathroom with old book pages.
I frequently get email asking me how using Mod Podge as wallpaper glue holds up after the 10+ years I used it to remodel my bathroom.

I thought I’d give you an update.

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Long story short – pretty darn well.


For several reasons:
  • I bought a gallon of Matte Mod Podge and used that to decoupage instead of watering down white school glue. School glue isn’t also a sealer like Mod Podge. Watered down PVA glue also eventually yellows the paper. My book pages were already yellow and I didn’t want them to become brittle later. So far they are not. Let’s hear it for The ‘Podge!

  • A few minor edges lifted over the years, approximately 3 to 6 in the room. In the beginning of the project I used a paint brush and may not have fully coated the entire piece of paper with Mod Podge before applying it to the wall. The paint brush was slow going and messy and I quickly switched to using a small foam paint roller and paint tray. That solved my problems with coverage and later minor lifting.


  • I used a glue stick to reglue the paper corners that lifted. It also helps that it is an unwritten House Law that horrible and unspeakable punishments will ensue if anyone (aka children) picks at a lifted page and rips it from the wall. But they don’t because everyone still thinks my bathroom remodel looks cool.

  • This a powder room so I don’t have to deal with moisture in the air from a shower doing anything to my DIY wall paper.

  • I let the Mod Podge dry for several days and finished it by applying a coat of clear glaze to the book page wall paper so I can (and do) wash the bathroom walls with soap and water. I used clear glaze because Mod Podge did not make water resistant Mod Podge Outdoor or   waterproof Mod Podge Dishwasher Safe at the time. If I were to do this project today, I’d save myself a step and buy the waterproof Mod Podge.



Would I do this project again? Absolutely! I love the color and texture. I paper the room with pages from old almanacs, travel guides, and other non fiction books so some weird little factoid often catches your eye.







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2 comments:

Unknown said...

I love this! We bought an old mobile home in SoCal and paneling was all painted; easy enough for us to repaint for an update. However, the master bathroom has a dressing area in which the previous owner must have stuck on some paper rectangles at odd angles and then painted over with a glossy Pepto pink. Needless to say, I'm dying to cover that up! This should do the job nicely and inexpensively! Thanks for sharing this!

Unknown said...

Enjoyed this ..so do you think its ok water proof mode proge is ok in a bathroom. With a shower,?

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