Eco-friendly non-woven wallpaper. Eco-friendly wallpaper how to choose. Are vinyl wallpapers harmful to health?

The fashion for eco-friendly wallpaper for walls has become a logical continuation of the obsession with everything natural and organic. Manufacturers raise prices for such safe products significantly - no one will save on the health of their family - but the editors of GidOboev decided to find out in more detail how these same ECO wallpapers correspond to what they say about them in advertising.

What it is?

Already by the name you can understand that eco wallpapers are positioned as the safest for human health. Since they are environmentally friendly, only natural materials were used for their manufacture, and this is an additional guarantee that you and your loved ones will be protected. Protected from what? How: from harmful chemical compounds, allergies, pathogenic mold in the end!

Which wallpapers are environmentally friendly? Let's go through the main materials that are currently used to create ECO wallpapers.

Good old paper. Not so long ago, paper wallpapers were treated with a degree of disdain: there is interlining and vinyl! But now they are back in fashion, however, only because everything natural and environmentally friendly is in fashion.
Natural fabric and no synthetics! We aim only at cotton, linen, silk and other fabrics without the slightest content of polyester. Yeah, many people do not choose their clothes so carefully, but here is the wall covering.
Wood fibres. Jute, sisal or bamboo will add a touch of Asian style to the room, and cork canvases will be a rather non-trivial finishing solution. True, the flexibility in terms of styles for these materials is minimal, so we advise you to think about the design of the entire room in advance.
Leather for luxury lovers. We are afraid to imagine what one medium-sized room will be equal to in the equivalent of pig and cow souls. Unfortunately, there is no way without killing animals: artificial leather clearly does not fit into the category of “safe wallpaper”.
Wear resistant fiberglass. Imagine the same fabric, but not from ordinary threads, but from glass, plus much more durable and dense. This is glassware. The attitude towards them is ambivalent (apparently, memories of glass wool are fresh), but nevertheless they are considered eco-friendly wallpaper.

Sounds good, it remains only to decide on the material, right? Do not hurry. First, read the block about debunking myths, and then make a decision.

Debunking Myths

It is difficult to say which wallpaper is the best for interior decoration: each type has its pros and cons, which must be analyzed when choosing a canvas for a particular room. But ECO wallpaper manufacturers want to assure us that their products are 100% the right investment. What exactly do they say and is it true? Let's try to figure it out.

Such canvases are in no way inferior in wear resistance to interlining or vinyl.

Eco wallpapers are absolutely natural

The naturalness of eco-friendly wallpaper for walls is an ambiguous question and depends on what degree of unnaturalness you are willing to endure. In addition to the double layer, paper wallpaper is made durable by special impregnation. The tree must be treated with various substances, otherwise the wallpaper would look sloppy and would not last long on the wall. You are unlikely to like the look and smell of absolutely natural leather, and the fabric goes through certain stages of processing and painting. Without this, eco wallpapers will have a mediocre look and low wear resistance, so you have to come to terms with the fact that you can’t do without at least basic processing. And remember about the glue: there is no way without it, and its naturalness usually leaves much to be desired.

Natural materials breathe

Yes, vinyl does not let air through, but is breathable wallpaper so critical? They say that they prevent the formation of mold, but this is not true, and you probably know this if you lived in a humid climate with ordinary paper wallpaper. And with a good primer, there will be no mold with either paper or vinyl. Besides, why is it believed that the walls themselves breathe? Slabs and bricks may be porous, but air is unlikely to pass through a layer of plaster, putty, primer and glue. And one more thing: when choosing a breathable wallpaper, do you expect some air to enter the room through porous walls? Then you have to make sure that the brick and concrete are also environmentally friendly: otherwise the wallpaper will suddenly let dangerous substances through. The last question remains: is the air in your city really so good that you want to have breathable walls so badly?

This wallpaper is hypoallergenic

There is an allergy to almost everything, but it is certainly not detected more often on PVC than on other materials. And if your goal is to abandon PVC for an apartment because of its imaginary danger, then you will have to install wooden frames with glass, refuse stretch ceilings, put parquet instead of laminate or linoleum, and you will also have to choose furniture from wood. And if the natural materials in the room are reduced to eco-friendly wallpaper, the environmental friendliness of the room will become doubtful.

Some people claim that vinyl rooms actually feel worse. It’s hard to say what it is: high sensitivity or self-hypnosis, but walls don’t “breathe” through tiles or plastic panels either, and few people talk about this. So we are leaning towards the second option.

It is easy to force a person to buy something, appealing to the health and safety of the family, but as you can see, the right choice of wallpaper for living spaces, even if they are the most environmentally friendly in the world, is not at all a panacea and is unlikely to dramatically change the degree of environmental friendliness of a room.

When burning, vinyl wallpaper emits substances hazardous to health - this is true. The rest of the time, they are absolutely safe for residents.

Natural wallpapers are by no means bad: they often look very unusual, creating the most non-trivial solutions in the interior. The problem is that, given their high price, such a choice is not always justified. Especially if the decision to buy them is dictated by safety and health concerns. In the end, any high-quality wallpaper, including vinyl and non-woven, have eco certification, and if they were so dangerous to health, they would simply be banned from production. So choose what you like for the look and budget, and don't worry too much.

We currently live in an environmentally unfriendly environment, so it is not surprising that the number of people with allergic diseases is increasing. Manufacturers around the world are developing environmentally friendly materials, the use of which allows us to guarantee our safety. This also applies to wallpapers.

The peculiarity of this material is that they can be used in any premises, even in those where there are people prone to allergies. At the same time, the wallpaper features interesting design solutions that will help decorate any office or living space.

What are these materials? Which wallpapers are environmentally friendly? Our center for training in labor protection will tell you about this.

paper wallpaper firmly occupy a leading position in the market of building materials. Made from natural ingredients, wallpaper allows the walls to “breathe”, which is especially true when it comes to houses built of wood.

Cork wallpaper- These are expensive materials that are porous, which guarantees the release of excess moisture, preventing the formation of condensation and mold on the walls. It should be noted that cork options are made from natural materials, and the type of finish has a unique appearance.

In production textile wallpaper only environmentally friendly materials are also used. They include cotton, silk, linen or viscose. All these materials are treated with antistatic compounds during production so that they do not attract dust and do not become a source of allergic reactions in people.

Are in great demand wallpaper combined, in which the base is made of paper, and the top layer is made of linen. These materials are distinguished by their availability and beautiful decoration, which allows you to completely change the interior of any room.

Modern manufacturers offer a large selection non-woven wallpaper. These nonwoven fabrics are highly durable, breathable and have incredible designs. Of course, the relief of the wallpaper can cause dust to collect, but they can be wiped with a damp cloth and vacuumed.

When choosing these products, you should be aware that not all of their types can be attributed to environmentally friendly materials.

So, a modern novelty - phosphorescent wallpaper, which allow you to give an incredible effect of luminous surfaces at night, can emit radon, so all types of this series entering our market must necessarily undergo specialized research.

Also vinyl wallpapers should not be used for pasting walls in apartments or offices where people with allergic reactions are constantly present. The fact is that these wallpapers can release toxins that are harmful to human health.

Of course, not only wallpapers can affect the ecological situation at home, but also the glue that is used when pasting the walls. You should beware of low-quality cheap materials.

If in doubt, ask the seller for a certificate. It is better to choose products from well-known manufacturers that guarantee the safety of materials. And if you have to use non-environmentally friendly materials, follow all labor protection instructions. Don't forget! Health is above all!

Ecological hypoallergenic wallpaper for walls

The fashion for everything environmentally friendly, from food to cars, is growing from year to year and is not going to give up its positions. People suddenly realized that catastrophic environmental pollution turns into intractable problems, including serious diseases, unknown to our ancestors.

Every person lives somewhere, and it is good when his house is his fortress, safe both outside and inside. A lot can be said about the ecological cleanliness of the home, but this article will focus on ecological and hypoallergenic wallpaper for walls, which is not exactly the same.

The first thing to consider when choosing environmental wallpaper is an eco label.

The second is the presence of a quality certificate and instructions with a list of components included in the wallpaper. Among them should not be artificial dyes, heavy metals, formaldehydes and other chemical compounds.

Ecological wallpaper for walls

All paper wallpapers are considered environmentally friendly. However, some of their types are made using chlorine-containing bleaches and synthetic dyes. Therefore, truly environmentally friendly paper wallpapers are those that are made from unbleached paper and dyed with natural dyes.

Environmentally friendly non-woven wallpaper is a non-woven material consisting exclusively of natural ingredients - cellulose and textile fibers, without any toxic additives.

Another type of environmentally friendly and safe wallpaper is textile, the raw materials for which are natural fibers of cotton, viscose, silk or linen, known for their bactericidal properties, and paper is used as the base.

The most environmentally friendly wallpapers are glass wallpapers made from quartz sand and other natural materials. They are harmless, antistatic, resistant to mold.

What other environmentally friendly wallpapers are offered by modern manufacturers:

Linkrust, created according to the original technology without chemical additives. Liquid wall-paper from natural natural components. Metal wallpapers that protect against electromagnetic radiation - however, they have a drawback: they do not "breathe", therefore, in a room with walls pasted over with them, it is necessary to maintain good air circulation.

Environmentally friendly wallpaper for painting consists only of materials of natural origin that are safe for humans. This group includes paper, non-woven, glass and linkrust. They are painted with paints that do not contain harmful substances - dispersion, acrylic, water-based. And after painting, they remain breathable.

Eco style wallpaper

Newfangled eco-style implies interior design using environmentally friendly building materials, furniture and other decorative elements with a predominance of natural shades, floral ornaments, images of natural landscapes.

Eco wallpapers for walls are made from raw materials harmless to human health - bamboo, algae, reed, cork, coconut shell, straw, leather, wood veneer, suede.

However, today the term "Eco wallpaper" is used in a broader sense, including to refer to environmentally friendly wallpaper as such, and the abbreviation ECO can often be found in the names of brands and collections.

For example - Swedish eco wallpaper Wallpaper. They are not always decorated with drawings in the style of flora and fauna, but they are made of eco-friendly paper, the raw material for which is trees grown in an ecologically clean area. In general, all eco-friendly wallpapers produced in Sweden are of good quality and environmental friendliness.

Environmentally friendly Japanese wallpaper for walls and want to be called "smart". They are able to regulate the level of moisture, resist bacteria, freshen the air, absorb and neutralize allergens. Only there is a small nuance: the environmental safety of wallpaper does not guarantee their hypoallergenic properties.

Hypoallergenic wallpaper for walls

Not all environmentally friendly wallpapers are suitable for allergy sufferers. For example, paper, fabric, embossed - those are still dust accumulators. The exception is their varieties treated with antistatic impregnation, but then the question arises about the environmental friendliness of this impregnation.

Of course, allergies are different, so you need to choose hypoallergenic wallpapers individually. If it’s not dust that causes an allergic reaction, but mold or fungus, air-permeable wallpapers are suitable: paper, textile, non-woven, the above wallpaper for painting and other types of environmentally friendly wallpaper, especially those with bactericidal properties: linen, cork.

But what kind of wallpaper is actually hypoallergenic in every sense - this is glass wallpaper. They inhibit the development of pathogens, do not gather dust, but stick them with harmless mineral glue.

Speaking of glue. Environmentally friendly wallpaper paste should be made from natural ingredients such as starch or casein.

Buy environmentally friendly wallpaper

The cost of environmentally friendly wallpaper, as a rule, is slightly higher than the cost of their synthetic counterparts. This is understandable - really high-quality materials are not cheap. If the manufacturer claims that the wallpaper is environmentally friendly, and the price for them is clearly underestimated, it would be logical to doubt the veracity of this statement.

If you are determined to buy hypoallergenic or eco wallpapers, it is better to choose reputable suppliers. And it doesn't matter which one you choose - let it be an online eco wallpaper store, Eco House - a liquid wallpaper manufacturer's dealer, or Ecostyle Moscow wallpaper factory. The main thing is to check eco-labels, certificates and carefully study the list of materials included in the composition.

Eco-friendly wallpaper for: apartment, bedroom, nursery, kitchen

It's great when the wallpaper for the bedroom is environmentally friendly, and even absorb sound - cork, for example. Thick paper, non-woven, fabric, liquid wallpapers also cope well with this function - they are all environmentally friendly and are quite suitable for the bedroom.

Among environmentally friendly wallpapers for a nursery, paper ones are usually chosen, especially if the child is small, because they understand that the artist will definitely wake up in him, and the walls will serve as an easel. Also good for children's ecological wallpaper for painting.

As for environmentally friendly wallpapers for the kitchen, it is desirable that they are washable, and glass wallpapers are just perfect. And do not write off vinyl eco wallpapers - there are some. They do not emit harmful substances, and thanks to micropores they “breathe”. You can distinguish them by marking with the sign of environmental safety.

Linkrust, textiles, any kind of eco-friendly wallpaper - bamboo, jute, leather, wood, as well as their harmonious combinations will look great in the living room.

When furnishing a children's room, or making repairs in an apartment where small children will live, we try to purchase only the safest materials, including eco-friendly wallpaper for walls. Of course, it is desirable to use such tapestries everywhere, but in the case of the younger generation, the importance of this task is difficult to overestimate.

Below we will tell you what is meant by the term "environmental wallpaper for walls", as well as what types of materials it is better to purchase.

Security Analysis

Choice Basics

In search of information about which wallpapers are environmentally friendly, you can find a lot of information, and only some of them will be true.

A fairly large number of myths are concentrated on the issue of the purity of materials, and therefore it is worth analyzing all the facts presented very meticulously:

The environmental friendliness of wallpaper means, first of all, their safety for a person who permanently lives in a finished room. In principle, almost all tapestries that can be found on the market meet this requirement, but there are some nuances.
The first thing you need to pay attention to is the base material.. When deciding which wallpapers are the most environmentally friendly, you need to give preference to those that have the lowest content of synthetic substances.
It is also worth noting that sometimes the source of problems is not the base, but the pigment or protective layer.. Most often, this drawback is typical for frankly cheap materials, the manufacture of which uses low-quality (and therefore toxic) raw materials.

Note!
In most cases, the price is a direct indication of the environmental friendliness of the product: the use of good raw materials and production control require costs, which is necessarily reflected in the final cost.
There are exceptions, of course, but they are very few.

When analyzing the material, it is also worth paying attention to the labeling and the presence of a certificate.. The information presented there will definitely tell you what rooms the tapestries are intended for, what substances are included in their composition, etc.

After analyzing the entire array of information, here are some tips:

99% of the materials on the market can be safely used for home decoration. The exception is wallpaper for children's rooms, as well as materials that will be used in homes where allergy sufferers or people with hypersensitivity to certain substances live - they need to be selected especially.
Quality material is almost never cheap.

The presence of a certificate is the main requirement for the material. Instructions for tapestries must contain information about the composition.

Note!
Attractive green stickers "Eco", "100% natural", etc. should not mislead you.
Their use is not regulated by law in any way, therefore they relate exclusively to packaging design.
If you want to know the true state of affairs - study the certificate!

If you plan to carry out repairs with your own hands, then in addition to wallpaper, you should also pick up glue. Usually they do not contain toxins, but you can check the composition of the material for reinsurance!

With these simple tips, you can pretty quickly determine which wallpaper is environmentally friendly and which is better to use in public buildings. In the following sections of our article, we will analyze the most popular types of materials and evaluate them in terms of health safety.

Range overview

Suitable Options

When choosing ecological wallpapers for a bedroom, kitchen or living room, we find ourselves in a rather advantageous situation: we have more suitable options than varieties that should be discarded.

The easiest way is to use ordinary paper tapestries (single-layer or two-layer). Their high-quality varieties are made from natural cellulose with the addition of non-toxic pigments, therefore they do not contain chemically active substances.

Note!
In children's rooms, special attention should be paid to the composition of the paint that is used to apply the drawings.
Many children have the habit of licking their finger, rubbing a beautiful picture and pulling all the "kaku" into their mouths, therefore, to prevent poisoning, it is worth choosing specialized materials with persistent pigments.

Textile material (paper canvas with the addition of cotton, linen or viscose threads) is also quite acceptable. If we take into account the high hygroscopicity, and apply only in dry rooms, then such wallpapers demonstrate an enviable operational stability.

The environmental friendliness of non-woven wallpaper also deserves praise. If the absence of synthetics is important to you, then choose trellises made of natural non-woven fabric, which consists exclusively of cellulose fibers. In addition to non-toxicity, such material is also characterized by high ventilation rates, so the risk of damage will also be minimal.

Note!
In a fairly common discussion about which wallpaper is more environmentally friendly - vinyl or non-woven, the second variety wins confidently.
Why this is so will be discussed in the next section.

Fiberglass material contains almost no organics. It is made from the same raw materials as ordinary glass and is therefore chemically inert. Thanks to this, fiberglass wallpapers acquire high resistance, and therefore do not affect the room and the people in it.

As you can see, the main types of finishing materials are quite safe from an environmental point of view. Of course, when buying tapestries for painting, you need to pay attention to the composition of the pigments used for decoration. In this case, by the way, it is worth giving preference to acrylic paints or water-dispersed compositions based on liquid latex.

What to Avoid

Now we need to figure out which wallpaper is not worth buying if it is ecological cleanliness that is important to you. And here only vinyl tapestries fall under the blow.

The reasons are as follows:

Firstly, synthetic substances are actively used for the production of vinyl (or rather, polyvinyl chloride). This type of material is the least natural of all listed.
Secondly, the production technology itself is characterized by a high risk for personnel.
The disposal of this material is also problematic: heavy metals and their salts, which are in a bound state, can lead to soil and groundwater pollution.

Finally, it should be noted that for some time after gluing, PVC-based trellises may release phenolic volatile organic compounds. And if for a high-quality finish it’s enough just to ventilate the room once, then cheap materials from unscrupulous manufacturers from China and the surrounding area can smell for quite a long time.

Conclusion

Finding eco-friendly wallpaper for walls on sale is quite simple: just carefully study this article and follow its recommendations. But it is very important to understand where the use of absolutely natural material is justified, and where cheaper varieties can be used. The video in this article contains additional information about these aspects of finishing work, so it will be useful first of all for beginners!

Since we are striving for the environmental safety of our home, we cannot do without paper wallpaper. Like it or not, paper is a material, although not super-durable, but one of the most natural and environmentally friendly. And if in the hallway or in the living room you can use fashionable non-woven wallpaper, then the most suitable for repairing a child's room, bedroom is paper wallpaper.

If you think that paper wallpapers are a relic of the past, you are deeply mistaken. Nowadays, the range of such wallpapers is so large that it can satisfy the whims of any consumer - both in design, in strength, reliability, and in cost. Indeed, today these are not only ordinary single-layer wallpapers with a printed pattern (the so-called simplex), although they are very widespread.

Multilayer

Modern eco wallpapers can consist of two or even more layers of paper (duplex) with embossed embossing. They are durable, resistant to deformation (simply speaking, they will not tear when glued) and perfectly hide possible wall defects (roughness, unevenness, color differences). In addition, a moisture and dirt-repellent composition is often applied to such wallpapers, and they are also treated with a special agent that prevents fading in the sun. Today it is the most common environmentally friendly wallpaper due to its quality characteristics and reasonable price.

For painting

There are also special wallpapers for painting. They are multi-layered, strong, have a high density, because they are made of extra heavy fibrous paper. They are necessarily impregnated with a water-repellent agent and have a different structural pattern, which ensures an excellent appearance of the pasted walls as a result of light refraction.

Such eco wallpapers are painted with water-based or dispersion paints, which in themselves are environmentally friendly and safe. And after painting, the wallpaper still remains breathable - "breathable".

One of the advantages of such wallpapers is the ability to paint them repeatedly (from 5 to 15 times). This is especially true for, where the walls involuntarily become an easel for a young artist.

If after painting you still have paint - do not rush to throw away the jar - after a while a particularly “artistic” place can simply be painted over in the same color without resorting to re-gluing the wallpaper or completely painting the walls.

Wall mural

Well, and finally, another type of paper wallpaper worthy of special attention is photo wallpaper. Widespread almost everywhere in the 80s with the same image of a waterfall or a forest, they got fed up with the order and were unpopular for a long time. However, today, either thanks to modern technology, or the imagination of many designers, photo wallpapers have regained their former relevance and popularity. After all, you can depict anything on them from your own photo to unimaginable "space" fantasies. Although the most common options are still images of landscapes. Apparently, in a city apartment, at least such a drawn, natural island is very lacking.

Wall mural can have different sizes - it depends on their purpose. So, you can paste over the wall completely - from floor to ceiling, or part of the wall, making a kind of panel. In addition, they produce narrow photo wallpapers for door decoration.

In addition to wallpaper, there are many other environmentally friendly materials for wall decoration: textiles, bamboo, sedge, wood, etc. (more about bamboo wallpapers in the article ““) They all have a different design and, accordingly, are suitable for different rooms. One thing unites them - the ability to turn an ordinary city apartment into a real eco-house.

Ksenia Poddubnaya