At the forthcoming Heimtextil home furnishings show which takes place in Frankfurt, Germany, from January 11-14, textile wallcoverings will be more strongly featured than ever before.

One leading nonwovens company which is finding a fast-growing market for its wallcovering products is Ahlstrom - and especially in Asia.

In China, the wallcovering market is reported to be growing at 30% per year and Ahlstrom has established a leadership position with a range including its EasyLife materials based on wet-laid nonwoven technology. The chief benefits of EasyLife are that it:

Is directly printable, Is strippable, Has high opacity, Is easy to hang, Is dimensionally stable, Has a fabric-like feel and look.

For converters and manufacturers, in addition to being easy to hang, easy to strip and easy on the eye, Ahlstrom's nonwovens also deliver high performance advantages, including good runnability, low dust levels, less downtime and better print production.

For designers, the products are usually made with long synthetic sisal or flax fibres, enabling endless variations in structure and surface effects. The advances in digital printing have further expanded design possibilities, and in addition, nonwovens have exceptional stability, and unlike paper, they don't shrink or expand when paste is applied, so seams don't separate.

€100 million investment

A new wallcoverings manufacturing line has just been installed at Binzhou in China as just one of a number of investments worth a combined €100 million made by Ahlstrom in Asia in the past two years, as it accelerates its activities in the region.

Another European leader in nonwoven wallcoverings is Erfurt. This German company's Variovlies and Trendvlies products for DIY work can be painted over, smoothed over with a spatula or plastered as required and the company reports a constantly-increasing demand, with an expanding range of products being introduced to meet new trends. Non-embossed Erfurt Variovlies meanwhile, was specifically introduced for professional decorators, and in addition to its smooth surface, has crack-bridging properties which make it perfectly suited for the renovation of problematic ceilings and walls.

At the 2011 Heimtextil, Erfurt introduced an integrated wall design concept for the combination of digitally printed wallpapers and paintable nonwoven structures. ‘On wall' can be ordered and supplied with any size of image from a choice of well over 200 on four different wallpaper structures.

Digital prints

The impressive digital prints in the range have already earned Erfurt several awards. With builders and renovators increasingly asking for sustainable product solutions, meanwhile, the company has recently introduced BasicVlies Plano, a nonwoven wallcovering with a paper appearance. Free from PVC and softeners, the material creates a breathable and moisture-regulating base surface specifically for paint or wallpaper.

In addition, BasicVlies does not need to be left to soak before hanging. The adhesive nonwoven can also be applied using a pasting machine or paste applied directly onto the wall to be wallpapered. With the wall adhesion technique, the dry lengths of wallpaper can be laid straight from the roll and hung flush against each other.

Once dry, walls covered with BasicVlies are a hard-wearing, abrasion-proof solution that covers cracks and can be simply removed by wetting with water. Messe Frankfurt, the organiser of Heimtextil, reports that fibre-based wallcoverings are experiencing a real boom in today's interior environment. They have developed into a versatile element of room decoration which can be used in a wide variety of ways with contemporary colours and a huge variety of styles.

The 2012 show's ‘Wall Gallery' will provide an overview of new international products for wallcoverings, and in addition the premiere of the German Wallpaper Institute's new exhibition, ‘Wallpapers on Tour 2012', will take place as part of the Frankfurt event.