Use of wallpaper can be traced back to the use of rice papers glued onto walls in China around 200 B.C. By 105 A.D. the chinese developed papermaking from textile waste.

But it wasn’t until 1675 that a french engraver, Jean-Michel Papillon, started making designs in continuous patterns on paper to put on walls, giving him the distinction of being considered the inventor of wallpaper. Wallpapers came to America with the first printing of them in Philadelphia in 1739 . A paper shortage occurred during the Civil War, slowing their popularity. Exhibiting a resourcefulness, during the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg, the paper shortage prompted a newspaper editor to remove the wallpaper from his own home to print the news on the back and get it out to his fellow Confederate citizens. This news item is housed in the Library of Congress.
Wallpaper's popularity roared in with the 1920's, and in the 1950's plastics were introduced and wallpapers then became wallcoverings. The entire industry was revolutionized with plastic resins which offered stain resistance, washability, durability and strength. Catering to an increasing do-it-yourself market, manufacturers introduced pre-pasted, pre-trimmed and strippable wallcoverings.
Included in the process of making conventional wallpapers are binders, inks, dyes, fungicides, pesticides, pastes and flame retardants — all contributing to indoor air pollution. Fabric coverings are often treated with flame retardants. Prepasted wallcoverings have either glues, which contain mold retarders and insecticides, or self-stick synthetic adhesives which can outgas VOCs. Many conventional wallcoverings these days are either all-vinyl or vinyl-coated papers which can grow mold and outgas. In addition, vinyl is not considered a sustainable product. We do not recommend it.
There are many types of sustainable wallcoverings to choose from as healthier alternatives including old fashioned hand made wallpapers and embossed wallpapers that can be painted — similarly popular in Victorian times. Several innovative companies have developed more sustainable non-woven wallcoverings that are just as durable and washable as vinyl. Many are from natural, renewable or recyclable materials.
Other wallcoverings are available in wood veneers from sustainably managed forests, alternative papers such as rice paper and parchment that are a renewable resource, fiber wallcoverings, cork wallcovering which is so resilient and adds insulating qualities, fabrics which use significantly less dyes, and glass textiles are often installed as wallcovering.
Wallpaper and coverings are subject to insect and mold growth, often from the paste growing behind the covering where we can’t see it. Now available are adhesives which contain boric acid to help retard molds and insects, or you can add your own boric acid to a wheat-flour paste.