The mudroom fabric wall treatment- an update • Avenue Laurel

Hey guys, the original post I did about how to hang fabric on the wall using liquid starch has had a few “mini viral” surges (if that’s even a thing) and every time I get a flood of questions. More about how it’s holding up and other stuff than about the actual process. I thought I’d go ahead and do a whole post about that now.

By the way, I know I’m doing a few update posts now, but that’s because I’m gearing up for a huge new project, which I’ll tell you about Thursday! Okay, it’s Beau’s room. I’m doing Beau’s room. And it’s going to be the funnest room ever! But I digress.

Fabric wall treatment- updates and FAQs

Does it smell?

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at how often I get this question, but I am. I think folks are worried about kitchen odors, maybe? Anyway, the answer is, no, it doesn’t smell. It’s right off the kitchen too, and so far, no odor that we’ve noticed. Unless maybe we’re nose blind 😉

Now, we do like to keep that screen door in the mudroom open as much as the weather allows, so that might help.

Does it get covered in dog hair?

We’ve got two very rambunctious dogs who are mostly outdoor dogs. They do come in when the weather is bad, when we are having the grass cut, or just for snuggles. But they do shed like crazy. I’m always amazed as the amount of hair they leave behind for the short periods that they are in the house. That said, there isn’t any dog hair on the fabric wall treatment. But, I’m sure that having the fabric just on the upper half of the wall helps a lot. If it was on the bottom half, it would probably be a different story. Which leads us to the next question…

Does it get dirty? How do you wash it?

The answer is, no, and I don’t. It doesn’t get dirty…so far. If it did, I imagine I would just spot clean it. You could, in theory, take this fabric off the wall, throw it in the washer, then easily reapply it with starch. If you wanted to do that, you would need to: 1- make sure that your fabric is machine washable; and 2- make sure that you washed your fabric before you starched it to the wall- otherwise, it will shrink after you wash it, and it won’t be big enough to cover the wall when you try to reapply.

This is a case of think about where and how you use it. I probably wouldn’t use fabric on a whole wall in our mudroom because of how high traffic it is. The bottom walls in our mudroom do get dirty. Fabric there just wouldn’t be a practical choice. But, on the upper walls, it works very well!

How is the fabric wall treatment holding up? Is it starting to come down?

It is doing great. It’s as snug to the wall as the day I put it up. It will only come down if I pull it down.

Does this really not damage the walls? Is this renter friendly?

I think that these two questions (which always seem to come together) may be the most common that I get about this project. I know a project that is this easy, inexpensive, and impactful is hard to believe. But it’s true. It won’t damage the walls. When I was putting the fabric up, I totally miscalculated and put up way too much fabric and had to take some down after it had already dried. Not a bit of damage. Just wiped away the dried starch with a rag and warm water. I had planned to paint that area with white paint before I did the board and batten treatment, and that’s what I did- didn’t even prime first. No issues whatsoever.

Is it easy to remove?

Yes. Just pull it off! No special tools required. Unless, like me, you built trim or molding on top of it- then you’ll need a sharp utility knife to cut around the molding first.

Where did you get the….?

I’m linking all sources at the bottom of this post 🙂

I hope this helps clear up any questions you have about the fabric wall treatment! Let me know if you have any more questions- I’ll be glad to answer them!