No, painted fibreglass wallpaper on the wall is not unhealthy according to manufacturers: the fibres are fixed in paste and paint. Itching arises when the material is worked, for example when cutting, sanding or removing it, and it is then an irritation of the top layer of skin. One manufacturer of woven glass fabric wallpaper also describes its product as suitable for people with allergies.
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Can you live healthily with fibreglass wallpaper on the wall?
Yes. Fibreglass wallpaper is painted after it is hung. The fibres are then held between the paste on the back and the layer of paint on the front. A wall that you leave alone does not release loose fibres.
What manufacturers state themselves shows what to look out for. The technical data sheet for a woven glass fabric wallpaper from a German manufacturer lists these points:
The paint also counts towards the air in your home. We paint with Sigma. According to the data sheet for Sigmatex Superlatex Matt, this wall paint is solvent-free, with less than 1 gram of VOC per litre, emission-free and permeable to water vapour.
Where does the itch from fibreglass come from?
Fibreglass wallpaper is made of glass: woven yarns for woven glass fabric, a fleece of loose fibres for glass fleece. When it is cut, sanded or pulled off, tiny pieces of fibre break off. They prick the skin, and that feels like itching. It is a mechanical irritation, not an allergic or toxic reaction.
When does it bother you? Mainly during the work itself: cutting strips to size, sanding corners and removing old wallpaper. Whoever hangs or removes the wallpaper comes into contact with the fibres. Whoever leans against it afterwards does not.
Most is released during removal. If you plan to remove fibreglass wallpaper yourself, follow the precautions given in the safety data sheet for a glass fleece wallpaper.
What if you drill a hole or damage the wall?
Hanging a picture or fitting a shelf is perfectly fine. Drilling releases some dust from the paint, wallpaper and wall. Vacuum that dust up rather than blowing it away or wiping it dry, and it will not hang in the air.
Is the wallpaper damaged in one spot, so that the fabric is exposed? Then you may feel something there when you touch it. Such a spot can be repaired and painted over; whether that can be done without redoing the whole wall depends on the damage. After that comes the painting, which is about coats, paint and drying time.
Isn’t fibreglass just as dangerous as asbestos?
No. The comparison is an obvious one because both are described as fibres, but they are different materials. Fibreglass wallpaper is woven or formed from glass, and the manufacturer above describes it as free of harmful substances.
In the safety data sheet we looked at earlier for a glass fleece wallpaper, the product is not classified as hazardous. The irritation of skin and eyes during the work does remain a real point, though. That is why the difference between living with the wallpaper and working on the wallpaper is the heart of the answer.
If you are torn between fibreglass and a wallpaper without fibreglass, renovation fleece is the alternative. It is a paintable fleece without fibreglass. Between renovation fleece and glass fleece, that is then the difference that matters to you.
Do you have asthma, eczema or sensitive skin?
Then it is mainly the work itself that you should hand over to someone else. Sensitive skin reacts more readily to the fibres during cutting and sanding. If there is mould on or behind old wallpaper, that is a separate problem with its own approach.
After painting, that changes. The fibres are then fixed and the paint is dry. The paint itself also carries a label: for Sigmatex Superlatex Matt, Sigma states that the wet product can cause an allergic skin reaction. So ventilate the room well during painting and drying.
Who puts it up, so that you don’t have to handle it?
Our own wallpaper hangers: 40 of the 97 tradespeople we employ on permanent contracts. They do the cutting, pasting and sanding, exactly the moments when the fibres prick. They paint the wallpaper in the same job, so the fibres are fixed before you are back in the room.
If someone in the household has asthma or sensitive skin, say so during the phone consultation. We then plan the work so that this person does not have to be at home during the cutting and sanding. You receive a free quote within 24 hours; after you agree, the site visit follows.
If you want to have glass fleece or woven glass fabric put up, we do the whole job for you. And glass fleece, woven glass fabric and fibreglass cost per m² exactly the same.
By the Bouwsector België team, 97 in-house tradespeople · reviewed by