The Stain Library

Material

Textured wallpaper

Embossed paper where the relief crushes permanently under a wet cloth and the texture holds liquid where nothing reaches it.

  • SurfacePorous
  • WashingSpot only
  • Colour run riskHigh
  • Reviewed7 September 2026

What textured wallpaper can and cannot take

  • Heat Avoid
  • Water and soaking Avoid
  • Acids, including vinegar Avoid
  • Strong alkalis Avoid
  • Solvents Avoid
  • Chlorine bleach Avoid
  • Abrasives Avoid

Always test on a hidden area first and let it dry before you treat the visible mark.

General rules for textured wallpaper

The relief is the thing to protect, because it is what a wet cloth and any pressure destroy.

Blot rather than wipe, and let a soft brush do the work in the hollows rather than pressing a cloth into them. Pressure flattens an embossed pattern and it does not come back.

Most textured papers are painted, which helps: a painted anaglypta behaves partly like the paint on it. Woodchip and unpainted relief are far more absorbent.

Check the label

Textured papers are embossed, and the embossing is fragile when wet. Anaglypta and blown vinyl relief crush permanently under pressure, and woodchip absorbs like the paper and wood it is made from. The texture also traps liquid where a cloth cannot reach.

Stains on textured wallpaper

Textured wallpapers are embossed papers and relief vinyls, usually painted after hanging.

The embossing is structural and fragile

The pattern is formed by pressing the paper, and when wet the fibres soften and the relief flattens under any pressure. It does not spring back.

The texture traps the spill

A relief pattern has hollows a flat cloth passes straight over, which is why blotting and a soft brush work where wiping does not.

Paint changes the picture

A painted anaglypta has a paint film on it and behaves partly like whatever paint that is, which is usually matt emulsion, with all of matt's limitations.

Woodchip is the worst case

Paper with wood chips in it, which absorbs, swells and lifts, and which is very difficult to clean at all.

Sources

What we checked and when. Where a manufacturer instruction disagrees with anything here, follow the manufacturer.

  1. How to clean wallpaper, William Morris Wallpaper specialist

    Wallpaper guidance that vinyl faced papers resist moisture, soap and gentle wiping while traditional paper, grasscloth, fabric and bamboo do not, that cloths must be wrung thoroughly because damp rather than wet is the rule, that wallpaper paste is activated by water so excess water at a seam breaks the bond and lifts the paper, that surfaces tolerate gentle wiping but not abrasive scrubbing, that cleaning is done downwards to avoid drip marks, and that the area is dried immediately.

    Checked 7 September 2026

  2. Concealing water stains on plaster surfaces, US General Services Administration authority

    Building conservation procedure establishing that stains in plaster bleed through finish layers of paint if they are not sealed, that the moisture source must be found and the surface allowed to dry completely first, that the area is cleaned with a stiff brush and a damp cloth, that a white pigmented shellac is used to seal, prime and block the stain, and that the whole wall is primed rather than only the stained patch when a standard paint is used, to avoid visible shiny patches.

    Checked 7 September 2026

  3. Dulux Easycare frequently asked questions, Dulux manufacturer

    Paint manufacturer guidance that its washable matt uses a stain repellent technology which makes spills bead rather than absorb, that a mark is cleaned with a soft non abrasive damp cloth, that a stubborn stain is treated with a non bleach based cleaner such as washing up liquid on a soft damp cloth, that abrasive cloths and scrubbing are avoided, that spills are best dealt with quickly, and that the stain repellent property returns once the paint is fully dry again.

    Checked 7 September 2026