Topcoats are specialized coatings are designed to extend the life of your wallpaper, ensuring that the beauty and vibrancy you fell in love with remain intact through the years. They serve as a protective varnish and barrier against wear, tear, and environmental factors, making them invaluable for homeowners, interior designers, and commercial spaces alike. Whether it’s a bustling café, a serene bedroom, or a high-traffic office corridor, the right topcoat can make all the difference in maintaining the aesthetic appeal and longevity of your wallpaper. Let’s delve into some topcoat options to help you make the best choice for your space.
Option #1: DreamGuard ProTex3 Topcoat
DreamGuard ProTex3 Topcoat, from the same company that brought us Dreamscape Printable Wallcoverings, is a unique solution in the area of wallpaper protection, offering a perfect balance of durability, aesthetic variety, and practical application. This topcoat is perfect for both home and business areas since it protects your wallpaper from the demands of daily life. Its Matte and Satin finishes allow for customisation based on the desired look and feel of your room.
Key Features and Benefits
Versatile Finishes: The Matte finish provides a subtle, non-reflective look that enhances modern and minimalist interiors, while the Satin finish adds a touch of sheen, enriching the color depth and pattern details of your wallpaper.
Ease of Application: DreamGuard ProTex3 is formulated for a smooth, hassle-free application process, making it accessible for both professional installers and DIY enthusiasts. This ease of use ensures a uniform, streak-free finish that enhances the wallpaper’s appearance.
Durability: The topcoat is designed to withstand the challenges of high-traffic areas, protecting against scuffs, stains, and fading. This durability ensures that your wallpaper maintains its pristine condition over time, reducing the need for frequent touch-ups or replacements.
Eco-Friendly Composition: In line with contemporary environmental concerns, DreamGuard ProTex3 is developed with an eco-friendly formulation. This aspect makes it a responsible choice for projects where sustainability is a priority.
Ideal Use Cases
DreamGuard ProTex3 is versatile enough to be used in various settings. In residential spaces like living rooms and bedrooms, it adds an extra layer of protection while preserving the wallpaper’s aesthetic appeal. In commercial environments such as hotels, restaurants, or offices, where wallpaper might be subjected to more wear and tear, the topcoat provides an essential protective barrier, extending the life of the wall coverings. Its combination of aesthetic flexibility, ease of application, and eco-friendly attributes makes it a smart investment for a wide range of wallpaper projects.
Option #2: Marabu ClearShield Professional Wall Armor
Marabu’s ClearShield Professional Wall Armor is a high-performance liquid laminate designed specifically for digitally printed wall coverings. Well-known for its unrivaled protection, this topcoat is an excellent choice for commercial applications that require Type II certification. It’s compatible with a variety of inks, including latex, eco-solvent, and UV curable, making it adaptable to a variety of printing methods.
Key Features and Benefits
Increased Durability: ClearShield Wall Armor provides additional stain and abrasion protection, ensuring that wall graphics and wallpapers remain pristine even in high-traffic areas.
Fire Resistance: This product is crucial for commercial settings since it has fire retardant features, which contribute to the overall safety and compliance of the space.
Type II Certification: Wall Armor meets the rigorous standards of Type II accreditation and is ideal for areas such as retail stores, hotels, restaurants, healthcare facilities, and commercial buildings where durability and safety are critical.
Versatile Application Methods: The product can be applied manually with a short nap roller, automatically using equipment such as the StarLam 1600R liquid laminator, or with an HVLP spray gun, providing flexibility dependent on project requirements.
Compatible Substrates: ClearShield Wall Armor works well with a variety of wall coverings, including DreamScape Matte, DreamScape Terralon, Korographics Abaco Beach, PhotoTex, and Ultraflex Wallscapes Suede, among others.
Ideal Use Cases
The Marabu ClearShield Professional Wall Armor is an excellent alternative for safeguarding digitally printed wallpapers and wall graphics. Its mix of durability, safety features, and compatibility with diverse substrates and inks makes it an ideal choice for commercial applications that require beauty, utility and safety. It is a popular choice for restaurants, healthcare, or any other sector with stringent requirements for safety and air quality.
Aqua-Clear Water-Based Topcoat 3.0
Colour & Design’s Aqua-Clear Water-Based Topcoat 3.0, available since 1998, offers a substantial development in wall covering protection. This topcoat is a patented composition that uses urethane, acrylic, and vinyl polymers to seal and protect the surface of wall covering goods. Aqua-Clear distinguishes out as a Teflon-free, water-based topcoat that meets the growing demand for environmentally friendly, low-emitting protective solutions.
Key Features and Benefits
Enhanced Durability: The topcoat has been engineered for improved abrasion resistance, ensuring that wall coverings can withstand the rigors of high-traffic areas and everyday use. Exceptional Stain Resistance: Aqua-Clear is formulated to be scrubable with sanctioned commercial cleaners, including diluted bleach, providing a robust defense against stains and spills.
Non-Yellowing Surface: The topcoat maintains the original color and vibrancy of the wall covering, ensuring a non-yellowing surface that preserves the aesthetic appeal over time.
Compatible Substrates: Aqua-Clear Topcoat works with various types of wall coverings, including vinyl, non-woven, and fabric-backed wallpapers. Its compatibility extends to both residential and commercial-grade wallpapers, ensuring that regardless of the material, this topcoat provides a durable and protective finish.
Ideal Use Cases
Aqua-Clear Water-Based Topcoat 3.0 is ideal for a variety of commercial and residential settings where wall coverings require extra protection. Its compatibility with a range of wall covering materials, including those offered by Colour & Design, makes it a versatile choice for different design needs. Whether it’s a hospitality venue, healthcare facility, or a residential space, Aqua-Clear provides a durable and aesthetically pleasing protective layer. It’s an ideal topcoat for a wide range of applications. With Aqua-Clear, you can ensure that your wall coverings remain as striking and vibrant as the day they were installed, even in the most demanding environments.
Conclusion
If you want your wallpaper to last for many years while retaining its quality and color, then opting for a topcoat varnish is a no-brainer. Not only will the inks look richer, but you will have additional control over the finish and there’s the added element of protection and safety. We highly recommend the use of topcoats for both permanent and temporary projects for the added value they provide for any wallpaper installation.
About the Author
Joseph Gornail is a multimedia artist and fourth-generation print craftsman whose family has lived on the same block in SoHo for over 90 years. With an extensive background in photography, writing and creative direction, Joseph has a love of the arts and a proud New Yorker. When he’s not documenting city life or curating historic images for History101.nyc, he can likely be found sailing the New York harbor to enjoy his native city from a different perspective.