Manufacturers

Metylan

Wallpaper paste and accessories

Items: 3
Categories: 4
Headquarters: Düsseldorf, Germany

What are you looking for?

Adhesives 2 Wallpaper Paste & Speciality Adhesives 2 Tools, Decorating Supplies & Safety Equipment 1 Decorating Tools 1

About Metylan

Metylan is Henkel's wallpapering brand and for decades has been an established name in the painting trade. We stock the three things that actually make up a wallpapering job: the normal wallpaper paste for paper wallpapers, the seam and repair adhesive Ovalit for the places where something comes loose later after all, and the 30-litre mixing bucket with lid and scale in which the paste is mixed.

The seam is the place where too little paste sits first

A wallpaper strip is pasted by spreading the paste from the centre outwards. It is precisely in doing so that the least stays at the edge – and the edge is the place that is later under tension and works most as it dries. That is why a strip almost always opens at the seam, not in the surface.

Orange is the paste, light the wallpaper, grey the wall. Edges first, surface afterwards. When pasting it is worth deliberately wetting the strip edges additionally, instead of only spreading the paste from the centre outwards. If a seam opens later anyway, Metylan Ovalit is the remedy: a water-based dispersion that according to the product data is very strong and heat-resistant, dries clear and even bonds vinyl to vinyl. The spatula is in the lid, so that the adhesive gets under the edge without creasing the strip.

The second cause of open seams lies before the paste: the substrate. If the wall absorbs unevenly – for example because filled areas lie next to old paint – it draws the water out of the paste immediately at one spot and not at all at another. The strip then dries at different speeds and contracts unevenly. A primer evens out the absorbency and is therefore not a side issue but the step that decides the later seam pattern.

Selection guide: which Metylan product for which step?

The overview arranges the Metylan range we stock by work step. The details in the last column come from the product data of the respective article.

Metylan range at Baustoff-Held, arranged by work step
Product	Base	Purpose	Special feature
Metylan Normal	water-based	Pasting paper wallpapers	Moisture-resistant · tolerates lime and cement · 125 g
Metylan Ovalit	Dispersion, water-based	open seams and repairs	Bonds vinyl to vinyl · dries clear · spatula in the lid
Metylan mixing bucket 30 l	Plastic	Mixing paste and storing it covered	Inner scale for the amount of water · lid · smooth inner wall

Why normal paste does not hold on vinyl

Wallpaper paste sets as the water escapes – partly forwards through the wallpaper, mostly backwards into the absorbent substrate. On a non-absorbent surface such as an old vinyl wallpaper, an oil-paint coating or a tile, this path is missing. The paste stays wet, does not lose its adhesion but never gains it.

Dispersion instead of paste. On dense substrates – old vinyl wallpaper, paint coating, tile – a dispersion adhesive such as Ovalit works: it forms a film that also becomes firm without an absorbent substrate and, according to the product data, is expressly approved for vinyl on vinyl. For the whole surface it is not a solution – there the substrate has to be prepared: abrade and roughen the old coating, prime absorbent spots, remove loose wallpaper.

What tradespeople use Metylan for

Hanging paper wallpapers with high adhesion
Still correcting strips after positioning
Using paste on substrates containing lime and cement
Closing open seams afterwards
Re-bonding detached corners and edges
Bonding vinyl to vinyl where paste does not hold
Mixing paste in sufficient quantity
Keeping mixed paste covered overnight

Metylan product families

Pack of Metylan Normal wallpaper paste, 125 g — **Metylan Normal** – wallpaper paste

Tube of Metylan Ovalit seam and repair adhesive, 60 g — **Ovalit** – seam and repair adhesive

Metylan mixing bucket, 30 litres with lid and scale — **Mixing bucket** – 30 litres with scale

Good to know

Metylan belongs to Henkel. The Düsseldorf group, by its own account, celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2026; its adhesive brands also include Ponal, Pattex and Optalin.
Paste and adhesive are not the same. Paste sets by releasing water into the absorbent substrate, a dispersion adhesive forms a film of its own. On dense surfaces only the second way works.
The scale in the bucket is not an accessory. The mixing ratio decides the adhesion; a bucket with an inner scale saves measuring with a measuring cup and thus the most common cause of paste mixed too thin.
The lid extends the standing time. Paste left open forms a skin and loses water; covered, it stays usable overnight according to the product data.
Ovalit dries clear. That is decisive for a seam repair: an adhesive that applies white leaves a visible rim at the edge that can no longer be removed later.
Source of the company information: henkel.de, legal notice and “Company” page, retrieved on 17 September 2026.

Frequently asked questions about Metylan

Why does my wallpaper seam open?

Usually because too little paste sat at the strip edge. When pasting, the paste is spread from the centre outwards, and that is exactly where least stays – yet the seam is later under the greatest tension. Two further causes: a soaking time that is too short or uneven, so that neighbouring strips stretch differently, and an unevenly absorbent substrate. Ovalit is intended for reworking.

Can I stick wallpaper on wallpaper?

Not reliably with normal paste – an old, dense wallpaper does not absorb water, and the paste does not set. For small spots and seams, Ovalit is, according to the product data, even approved for vinyl on vinyl. For a whole wall the right way remains to remove the old wallpaper: on a second layer the weight becomes too high, and when it gets wet the lower one comes away with it.

How much water belongs to a pack of paste?

That is printed on the pack and depends on the type of wallpaper – the same quantity of powder yields a different mix for paper wallpaper than for heavy strips. The mixing bucket with inner scale takes the measuring off your hands. Paste mixed too thin does not hold the strip; paste that is too thick cannot be applied evenly and shows through thin wallpapers as a streak.

How long does mixed paste keep?

Covered, overnight according to the product data. Left open it forms a skin, and beneath it the consistency changes. Before continuing work it is stirred through vigorously once more; a skin that has formed should be removed and not stirred in, because it no longer dissolves and ends up as a lump on the strip.