my new wall paper won't stick properly, has it something to do with the wall being previously painted with a satin paint? if so, whats the remedy? would sugarsoap help?
Hi judrop, if it was painted with just a normal satin emulsion there should be no problem and the paper should stick but maybe it was an eggshell satin finish which would be a oil based paint. I would agree with the other replies and give the walls a good sanding, then size the walls. As legendis.god says it really is all in the preparation. If you do this and it still isn't sticking properly try using a ready mixed heavy duty paste and make sure that you get the paste right to the edge of the paper.
If there is no suction on the wall (bare untreated plaster) then you are wasting your time using PVA. As the poster says, the wall has silk emulsion on it. To eliminate any chance of the joints on the paper opening up whilst it is drying(caused by the silk finish emulsion), he should cross-line the wall.
Cross-lining not only hides imperfections in the substrate, it also gives you a uniform surface to hang your paper to.
As carrust says cross lining the walls first can help the paper to stick and it also hides a lot of blemishes in the walls. It is fairly quick and easy to do and gives good results. I think carrust got the one thing mixed up though and that is (bare untreated plaster) has got a lot of suction. Probably going on the previous answer about PVA.