The Best Wallpaper Pastes For Every Paper

Solvite All Purpose is the paste in our photos and our top pick. It's a powder that comes as five sachets in a pack, and Solvite says each sachet hangs up to five rolls, so you can mix one at a time and keep the rest dry for the next room.

Mixing it is quick. When we used it, a sachet stirred into water was ready in around 20 seconds. It's made for all wallpaper types on walls and ceilings and contains a fungicide to protect against mould behind the paper. Getting the water quantity right is the only thing to watch. Too much and the paste is thin and slippery, too little and it's hard to brush out, so follow the chart on the sachet for your paper weight.

Polycell Maximum Strength is the powder to use when the paper is heavy or the surface is overhead. We hung a fairly thick textured paper on a large ceiling with it, and the paper never sagged once it was up, which is the real test of a strong paste.

Despite the grip, it still lets the paper slide enough to line up a pattern before it grabs. Polycell says it's suitable for all wallpaper types, and each pack hangs up to five rolls. Like the Solvite, it includes a fungicide to help stop mould forming behind the paper, which is a good thing in a bathroom or a cold bedroom with a history of mould on the walls. It costs more per roll than standard pastes, so save it for the jobs where strength matters.

Everbuild Wallcovering Adhesive is a ready-mixed paste in a 4.5kg tub, and it's extra strong, which makes it a good match for heavy and luxury papers. There aren't as many ready-mixed pastes as powders, and this is the one we rate for strength against cost.

The high initial tack means the paper grabs the wall straight away, but there's still enough adjustment to shift a sheet into line. Everbuild says the tub hangs up to five rolls and contains a fungicide against mould. It's much thicker than the other pastes here, and when we used it, spreading it took more effort, so a good wide pasting brush helps. With five rolls per tub, a full room can take two tubs.

A lot of modern papers are made to be hung by pasting the wall rather than the paper, and Solvite Ready Mix is made for that method. You roll it straight onto the wall from the tub, then hang the dry paper onto it, which is quicker and far less messy than a pasting table.

The paste goes on pink so you can see exactly where you've rolled, then dries clear. That makes it easy to avoid missed patches near corners and edges. It's non-drip, which helps when you're rolling above head height, and we were impressed with how much slide it gave us for matching patterns. It comes in two sizes. It costs more than the powders in this list, but for paste-the-wall papers it's worth it.

Mixing a bucket of paste to stick down one lifted seam is a waste, and this Solvite repair adhesive solves that. It's a 56g tube with a fine nozzle, made for torn paper, lifted edges and overlapping seams.

Solvite describes it as extra strong, and it spreads easily from the tube. Run a thin line under the lifted edge, press the paper down with a seam roller and wipe off any squeeze-out with a damp sponge. It's useful in rentals, where a corner that's been knocked or a seam that's lifted near a radiator needs a quick fix between tenants. It's dear for the amount you get, so it's for repairs only.

Bartoline All Purpose is a powder paste that mixes easily with water and works with all common wallpaper types. Bartoline says one pack hangs up to 10 rolls, twice as many as a pack of Polycell Maximum Strength, and the price is low.

That makes it a sensible buy for papering several rooms or lining paper across a whole house. Bartoline describes it as extra strong. As with any powder, the result depends on the mix, so measure the water carefully against the chart on the pack for the weight of paper you're hanging.