Material · Woven fabric and textile
Linen, wool, cotton, and woven textile wallcoverings, backed or upholstered, installed to the specification each house publishes. Railroaded where the width allows. Seams double-cut with fresh blades. Installation-only, headquartered in Park City.
What textile is
Textile wallcoverings are woven fabric, linen, wool, cotton, or a blend, laminated to a paper or acrylic backing, or stretched over padding on a perimeter track as an upholstered wall. Fabric brings depth, softness, and sound absorption that paper cannot.
It also stretches, frays on a dull blade, and shows paste through an open weave. A textile installed as if it were paper telegraphs every shortcut: a seam that gaps as the fabric relaxes, a pattern that drifts across the room, a stain where adhesive reached the face.
Textile is specified across Park City and the Heber Valley for libraries, studies, media rooms, and primary suites, and in hospitality work along the Deer Valley corridor.
Two systems
Fabric arrives at the wall one of two ways. A backed textile is a wallcovering: the weave is laminated to paper or acrylic, it is pasted at the wall, and its seams are cut and closed like any other wallcovering with a woven face. It gives depth and warmth, and a little quiet.
An upholstered wall is joinery. A track is fixed around the perimeter of each panel, acoustic padding fills it, and the fabric is stretched to tension and tucked into the track. Nothing is glued. It gives the room depth and real sound absorption, and it comes off in one piece when the fabric is changed.
Fabric guide
The word textile covers very different materials. Each one asks something different of the wall and the crew.
| Fabric | Texture and read | Stretch and stability | Seam visibility | Best rooms | At the wall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Linen | Dry, slubbed, matte. Reads tailored. | Stable when backed; relaxes when upholstered. | Low when railroaded | Libraries, studies, dining rooms, bedrooms | Railroaded where the slub runs true. Double-cut seams. Paste on the wall only. |
| Wool | Soft, hairy, deep colour. Reads warm. | Stable; heavy on the wall. | Low | Studies, media rooms, hotel lounges | Nap direction kept consistent. Seams double-cut. Acclimated on site. |
| Cotton | Crisp, even, takes print well. | Shrinks with moisture; backed only. | Moderate on prints | Bedrooms, dressing rooms, children's rooms | Pattern registered across the room. Backed cotton pasted at the wall, never wetted. |
| Bouclé | Looped, dimensional, high texture. | Stable when backed; loops catch on a dull blade. | Low | Hallways, feature walls, bedrooms | Fresh blade every cut. Loops bridged at the seam, not pressed. |
| Velvet | Dense pile, deep sheen. Reads formal. | Pile shades by direction; crushes under pressure. | Low | Powder rooms, bars, dressing rooms | Pile direction consistent. Never rolled. Upholstered where possible. |
| Silk blend | Silk sheen with a linen or cotton hand. | More stable than pure silk. | Low | Dining rooms, primary suites | Treated as silk: Level 5 wall, paste on the wall, gloves. |
| Hemp and jute cloth | Coarse, open, organic. | Open weave shows paste. | Moderate | Mountain-modern interiors, entries | Acrylic backing required. Paste held back from the edge. |
| Performance weaves | Polyester or solution-dyed blends; cleanable. | Very stable; UV-rated lines available. | Low | Family rooms, corridors, hospitality | Installed as a backed textile; the only fabric for high-contact walls. |
Where textile performs
What textile demands at the wall
The material is correct more often than the installation. These are the steps that close the gap.
Where the width allows and the weave permits, the fabric is turned sideways and run horizontally, so a wall below nine feet has no vertical seam at all.
Adhesive goes on the wall, never on the fabric, and is held back from the edge so nothing reaches the face through an open weave.
Where seams must fall, both edges are made in one pass through both layers with a fresh blade, so they meet without a gap or an overlap.
Upholstered walls are built on a perimeter track over acoustic padding and stretched to an even tension in both directions before the edge is tucked.
On printed and patterned textiles, the pattern is planned across the whole room on the elevation, so the repeat lands where the eye expects it.
Railroading
Fabric is woven wide, typically fifty-four inches, and a wall in most rooms is under nine feet tall. Turn the roll ninety degrees and the width of the fabric becomes the height of the wall. That is railroading, and on a plain woven it removes every vertical seam from the room.
Whether a fabric may be railroaded is decided at the measurement, not at the wall. The weave direction, the slub, the nap, the pattern, and the house's instruction all have a say. Plain linens and wools usually can. Most prints and any directional weave cannot, and those are hung in drops with the seams planned.
Textile and sound
A painted wall reflects almost everything it hears. A backed linen softens the room a little. An upholstered wall changes it: with half an inch of padding it absorbs the greater part of mid-frequency sound, and with an inch of acoustic batting it absorbs most of it. The fabric is the finish; the padding does the work.
That is why media rooms, home theatres, and offices in Park City are specified with upholstered walls rather than a backed textile. The depth of the padding, the density, and the fabric's openness are chosen together, and the room is quieter the day the last panel is tucked.
The double cut
A textile's edge is cut by the mill, and no mill edge is true enough to butt against another. So where a seam must fall, the second width is laid two inches over the first, a straightedge is set on the line, and a fresh blade makes one cut through both layers. Both offcuts come out. The two edges were made by the same blade in the same pass, and they meet exactly.
The blade is changed at every seam, because a dull edge drags the weave and frays it. The paste beneath the overlap is protected so the cut never scores the wall or reaches the adhesive. None of this is visible in the finished room, and all of it is why the seam stays closed as the fabric relaxes.
Living with textile
A fabric on the wall, treated as one.
Vacuum with the upholstery tool on low suction, in the direction of the weave. No water, no sprays. A dry mark is lifted with a soft brush; a wet spill is blotted, never rubbed. Performance weaves take the cleaning method the mill publishes.
Natural fibres soften under direct, sustained sun, wool and dark linens first. Sun exposure is read at the measurement. Where light is unavoidable, a UV-rated performance weave carries the look.
Backed linen and wool belong where hands and furniture do not meet the wall. In family rooms and corridors with traffic, a performance weave is the right specification; upholstered walls take chair backs better than backed textiles do.
In a room with normal humidity and no steam, fabric is stable. Upholstered walls on a track are the most forgiving of seasonal swings, because nothing is glued.
A backed textile on a sealed wall serves a decade or more. An upholstered wall serves as long as the fabric does, and the fabric can be changed on the same track without touching the wall.
Because direction, seam positions, and pattern start are recorded on the drawing, a damaged width can be matched and reset. Keep the surplus we leave with you, rolled and dry.
Why Mancini
Railroaded where it can be. Double-cut where it must be. Tensioned by hand.
Fabric shows the hand that set it: a seam that stays closed, a pattern that lands, a panel that reads as one plane. The standard is measured in what you do not see.
Installed to the instructions each house publishes, width by width.
Every mill writes an installation specification for its textile: the backing, the paste, the seam method, whether it may be railroaded. We read it before the order and follow it at the wall. No shortcuts, no substitutions.
Four active crews. Twelve trained installers. Scheduling measured in weeks.
Multi-crew capacity means a textile project moves on the designer's timeline. Most projects are on the calendar within weeks, not months.
Textile, installed
Textile is installed by the same crews that carry Mancini's grasscloth and silk work across the Wasatch Back: four crews, twelve trained installers, fully insured and bonded, with 70+ five-star reviews.
The houses
Each house builds its textile differently and publishes its own instructions. These are the ones we install most, and what each asks for.
Wool, linen, and cashmere textile wallcoverings on paper or acrylic backing. Instructions are published per quality, including which may be railroaded.
Installation notesParis since 1935. Woven linens, wools, and printed textiles on backing, installed to the house's textile instructions: paste on the wall, seams double-cut.
Installation notesTrade-only textile houses whose decorator fabrics are backed for the wall or upholstered over track. Backing and paste follow the house's specification per fabric.
Installation notesNew York since 1889. Linens, wools, and textural weaves on paper backing; the house's own guidance sets the paste and the seam method.
Installation notesFrench contemporary textiles, often wide-width, printed and woven. Wide goods change the seam count and the paste.
Installation notesContract textiles and wallcoverings, including wool and performance weaves specified for offices and hospitality. Tested values published per product.
Installation notesContract textiles and acoustic wallcoverings. Backing, adhesive, and fire ratings published per product and followed to the letter.
Installation notesSend the sample and the room. If it is fabric, we have installed something built the same way, and we read the manufacturer's instructions before the order.
Send the sampleDesign house and manufacturer names referenced on this page are the property of their respective owners. They identify materials we install and completed project history. Mancini Wallpapers holds no partnership, certification, or endorsement from any house named, and installs every product to the instructions its manufacturer publishes.
Client reviews
Where we install textile
Four crews, twelve trained installers, most projects on the calendar within weeks.
Old Town, Thaynes Canyon, Aerie, Pinebrook, Silver Springs, Trailside.
Empire Pass, Deer Crest, Bald Eagle, Silver Lake Village.
Heber City, Midway, Red Ledges, Victory Ranch, Tuhaye.
Alpine, Highland, Traverse Mountain, Cedar Hills.
Golf and mountain club residences above Kimball Junction.
Federal Heights, The Avenues, Holladay, Cottonwood Heights.
Questions
The questions homeowners and designers ask before, during, and after a fabric wallcovering installation.
Mancini Wallpapers, headquartered in Park City. Backed textiles and upholstered walls are installed by the same crews that carry our grasscloth and silk work across Summit, Wasatch, Salt Lake, and Utah counties, to the instructions each house publishes.
Yes. Upholstered textile walls are among the best acoustic treatments a room can carry. They are built on a perimeter track over acoustic padding, stretched to tension, and tucked, and the room is quieter the day the last panel goes in.
A backed textile is a wallcovering: fabric laminated to paper or acrylic, pasted at the wall, seams cut and closed. An upholstered wall is joinery: a track around each panel, padding inside, fabric stretched over it. Nothing is glued. The first gives depth; the second gives depth and real sound absorption.
Turning the roll ninety degrees so the width of the fabric runs as the height of the wall. On a plain woven in a room under nine feet, it removes every vertical seam. Whether a fabric may be railroaded is decided by the weave, the pattern, and the house's instruction, at the measurement.
On a railroaded plain fabric there are none. Where seams must fall, they are double-cut: one pass through both layers with a fresh blade, so the edges meet exactly. Seams are placed off the centre line and away from the sightline from the door.
Vacuum with the upholstery tool on low suction, moving with the weave. No water, no sprays. A dry mark lifts with a soft brush; a wet spill is blotted, never rubbed. Performance weaves take the method the mill publishes, which usually allows more.
Under direct, sustained sun, natural fibres soften, wool and dark linens first. Sun is read wall by wall at the measurement. Where light is unavoidable, a UV-rated performance weave carries the look.
In a powder room without a shower, a performance weave with ventilation, yes. In any bath with a shower, a laundry room, or behind a range or sink, no. Those rooms are declined at the measurement.
Backed textiles are acclimated on site before they are cut, and the substrate is sealed so the paste stays where it belongs. Upholstered walls on a track are the most forgiving system at elevation, because nothing is glued and the fabric can move with the season.
The wall is sealed with a primer matched to the paste and the backing. On most projects the substrate arrives primed by the painter; where our scope includes preparation, we skim, sand, and prime to the manufacturer's specification. A liner is used only where the house calls for it.
Not as they are. Texture telegraphs through a backed textile as waves across the weave. The wall is skim-coated flat, sanded, and sealed first. An upholstered wall over padding is the one textile system that tolerates an imperfect substrate, and it is often specified for that reason.
It depends on the wall heights, the width of the fabric, whether it can be railroaded, and the pattern repeat. James measures every wall, plans the direction, and derives the yardage from the cut lengths. The proposal shows the arithmetic. You choose the fabric; we confirm the quantity.
Yes. That is the system's advantage: the fabric is tucked into a track, not glued, so it comes off in one piece and a new fabric goes on the same track and padding without touching the wall.
No. Mancini is installation-only. Material comes through your designer's trade account, a showroom, or your own order, and we install what arrives. Designers keep their procurement chain and their markup; we are the execution at the end of it.
With a complimentary on-site measurement. James walks the space, reads the light and the wall heights, plans the direction of the fabric, and measures it himself. A written proposal follows, with the yardage derived and shown. Send the property address and a photo of the room to begin.
Begin your textile project
Send the property address and a photo of the room. James will come back with a time to walk the space and measure it himself. A written proposal follows.
hello@manciniwallpapers.com · Mon–Fri 8 AM – 7 PM MT · Saturday by appointment