Material · Grasscloth and natural fibre
Natural fibre wallcoverings installed to the specification the material was made for. Every roll mapped before a cut. Seams placed where the eye does not look. Installation-only, headquartered in Park City.
What grasscloth is
Grasscloth is a woven natural fibre, most often sisal, jute, arrowroot, or seagrass, hand-loomed across cotton weft threads and laminated to a paper backing. No two rolls are identical. Colour shifts between dye lots and the weave shifts within a single roll.
That variation is the material's character. It is also the reason grasscloth is the wallcovering most often installed badly. Treated like printed paper, the seams telegraph, the panels read as patchwork, and the fibres pucker under the wrong adhesive. Treated as grasscloth, the wall reads as one continuous surface for the life of the room.
Grasscloth is the largest share of Mancini's residential work across Summit, Wasatch, Salt Lake, and Utah counties.
Anatomy of a roll
A grasscloth roll is a sandwich. The face is the strand: sisal, jute, arrowroot, or seagrass, dried and dyed. The weft is a fine cotton thread the strands are loomed across, which is why the surface reads as a weave rather than a mat. The backing is paper, and the paper is the only layer that should ever meet the paste.
Every failure we are asked to repair traces to one of those three layers being treated as if it were another. Paste on the face stains the strand. An unsealed wall lets the paper wick moisture, and the strands drink it. A seam rolled flat crushes the weave at the join and reads as a stripe.
Fibre guide
The word grasscloth covers very different materials. Each one asks something different of the wall and the crew.
| Fibre | Texture and read | Colour behaviour | Seam visibility | Best rooms | At the wall |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sisal | Fine, even, slightly glossy strand. Reads formal. | Dyes evenly; moderate lot variation. | Moderate | Dining rooms, primary suites, studies | Sequenced by lot. Seams off the sightline. |
| Jute | Coarser, softer strand with visible knots. Reads relaxed. | Wider lot variation; warms with age. | High | Bedrooms, dens, hallways | Every roll unrolled and mapped before a cut. |
| Arrowroot | Very fine, tight weave. Reads almost like linen. | Consistent; takes pale colours well. | Low | Powder rooms, dressing rooms, ceilings | Sealed substrate essential; fine strand telegraphs any wave. |
| Seagrass | Thick, rounded strand with natural sheen. Heaviest of the group. | Strong natural variation; greens and golds shift. | High | Entries, stair halls, libraries | Rigid: rests on site before cutting. Fresh blade every cut. |
| Raffia | Flat, wide ribbon-like strand. Reads coastal. | Even; tends pale. | Moderate | Bedrooms, sunrooms with indirect light | Frays fastest on a dull edge. Edges finished, never hidden. |
| Paper weave | Twisted paper strands. Lightest and most uniform. | Most consistent; some are UV-rated. | Low | Rooms with more light; ceilings | Forgiving of humidity swings; still sealed and sequenced. |
| Linen | Woven textile face on paper. Reads tailored. | Very consistent. | Low | Studies, dining rooms, corridors | Handled as a textile: double-cut seams, paste to the wall. |
| Hemp | Irregular, nubby strand. Reads organic. | Wide variation between rolls. | High | Feature walls, mountain-modern interiors | Mapped by lot; seams choreographed to the room's light. |
Where grasscloth performs
What grasscloth demands at the wall
The material is correct more often than the installation. These are the steps that close the gap.
Every roll is unrolled, inspected, and sequenced before a cut is made, so shading reads as one surface across the room.
Grasscloth seams are visible by nature. They are placed off the centre line and away from the sightline from the door.
Natural fibre draws moisture from the wall. The substrate is primed to seal it, so the fibres stay flat and the paste stays where it belongs.
Utah interiors run dry, particularly in winter at elevation. Material rests on site so it settles to the room before it meets the wall.
Fresh blades on every cut. Edges at trim and outlets are finished, not hidden, because grasscloth frays on a dull edge.
The dye-lot map
Grasscloth is dyed in lots, and no two lots match. The order is placed so the whole room comes from as few lots as possible, and the rolls that arrive are unrolled side by side and read in daylight before anything is cut.
Then the wall is drawn. Drops are numbered. Lots are grouped so a shade change lands on a return or past the centre line, never at the first seam the eye meets from the door. The seam that would fall dead centre behind the bed or the sideboard is moved by shifting the start point, not by trimming a strip narrow.
Grasscloth at elevation
A roll that left a warehouse at coastal humidity arrives in a Park City house running fifteen percent in January. If it goes on the wall that afternoon, it dries on the wall, and the seams open a hair as the strands contract.
So the material rests on site, in the room it is going into, until it has settled to the room. The substrate is sealed so the wall cannot pull the last of the moisture through the paper. The paste is matched to the backing and to the season. None of this is visible in the finished room. All of it is why the seams are still closed in August.
How much a room takes
Grasscloth is ordered by the double roll or by the yard, and the wrong quantity is expensive in both directions: too little means a second dye lot on the last drop, too much is money on the floor. So the number is derived, not estimated.
James measures every wall himself. Fractions of an inch round up. Heights round up to the next half-foot. Each wall gains three inches per side. Walls are grouped by height so a tall entry never sets the cut length for an ordinary bedroom. The drops per roll come from the cut length; the rolls come from the drops; the proposal shows the arithmetic line by line.
Living with grasscloth
A natural surface, treated as one.
Dust with a soft brush or the upholstery tool of a vacuum, in the direction of the weave. No water, no cleaners. A dry spill is lifted with a soft eraser; a wet one is blotted, never rubbed, then left alone.
Natural fibre fades under direct, sustained sun, and darker dyes fade first. Rooms with west light are assessed at the measurement. Paper weaves and some sisal lines are UV-rated and are the right choice where light is unavoidable.
Cats read grasscloth as a scratching surface. Where cats live, the material goes above a chair rail or on walls they do not pass. Where hands and bags brush the wall daily, a vinyl grasscloth carries the look with a cleanable face.
Kept in a room with normal humidity and no steam, the fibre is stable. Steam showers, laundry rooms, and unvented baths are declined at the measurement, not discovered later.
Installed to specification on a sealed wall, grasscloth commonly serves a decade or more and often outlasts the décor around it. The seams do not open; the colour softens evenly rather than in patches.
Because the roll order is recorded on the drawing, a damaged drop years later can be matched to its lot and its neighbours. Keep the surplus rolls we leave with you in a dry, dark place for exactly this.
Why Mancini
Seam work and sequencing you only notice when you look closely.
Every roll mapped. Every seam placed. Every substrate sealed before the first strip goes up. The standard is measured in what you do not see.
Installed to the instructions each house publishes, roll by roll.
Every manufacturer writes an installation specification for its grasscloth. We read it before the order and follow it at the wall: the primer, the paste, the seam method, the rest time. No shortcuts, no substitutions.
Four active crews. Twelve trained installers. Scheduling measured in weeks.
Multi-crew capacity means a grasscloth project moves on your timeline. Most projects are on the calendar within weeks, not months.
Grasscloth, installed
A Park City design studio we work with regularly has specified us on four consecutive projects, including a nine-space whole-home installation on the Deer Valley–Heber corridor, completed in two weeks with no callback.
The houses
Each house builds its grasscloth differently and publishes its own instructions. These are the ones we install most, and what each asks for.
Natural-fibre and textured wallcoverings since 1976. Seam and paste instructions are published per collection, and they differ: some lines are butted, others double-cut.
Installation notesNew York since 1889. Grasscloths and textiles that vary visibly by lot; the house's own guidance calls for rolls to be inspected and sequenced before cutting.
Installation notesAmerica's oldest wallpaper house. Grasscloth sits alongside printed paper and textured vinyl in the same collections, each with its own primer note.
Installation notesThe largest US maker, sold by the double roll. Its grasscloth lines are paper-backed; quantities are confirmed from the measurement so the last strip is never a different lot.
Installation notesFrench contemporary textile and grasscloth, often wide-width with printed or metallic surfaces. Wide goods change the seam count and the paste.
Installation notesBelgian texture innovation. Natural fibre sold by lot, with collection-specific instructions that are read before the order is placed.
Installation notesBelgian natural fibre, mica, and textile, often combined on a single roll. The paste follows the backing, never the face.
Installation notesSend the sample and the room. If it is grasscloth, 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 grasscloth
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 grasscloth installation.
Mancini Wallpapers, headquartered in Park City. Grasscloth is the largest share of our residential work across Summit, Wasatch, Salt Lake, and Utah counties, and every roll is sequenced by dye lot before a cut is made.
Yes, and they are meant to. Authentic grasscloth always shows its seams; the strands do not continue across a join. What a good installation controls is where the seams fall: off the centre line, away from the sightline from the door, and with the rolls sequenced so shading reads as one surface.
In the right room it serves a decade or more. It is not a scrubbable surface, so it belongs where hands, bags, and water do not meet the wall. Installed on a sealed substrate and sequenced by lot, the seams stay closed and the colour softens evenly rather than in patches.
Dust it. A soft brush or a vacuum's upholstery tool, moving with the weave, is all it wants. No water, no sprays, no cleaners. A dry mark lifts with a soft eraser. A wet spill is blotted, never rubbed, and then left to dry on its own.
Under direct, sustained sun, yes, and darker dyes fade first. We note the light across the day at the measurement. For a wall that takes afternoon sun, a UV-rated paper weave or a lighter sisal is the right specification, and we will say so before the order.
In a powder room without a shower, yes, with ventilation. In a steam shower, a full bath, or behind a range or sink splash, no; the fibre absorbs moisture and stains. Where the look is wanted in a wet room, a vinyl grasscloth carries it with a cleanable face.
Cats treat grasscloth as a scratching post. Where cats live, the material goes above a chair rail or on walls they do not pass. Where small hands and school bags brush the wall daily, we recommend a vinyl grasscloth or a different wall for the natural fibre.
Yes. Wasatch Back interiors can run fifteen percent humidity in winter. Material that goes up wet dries on the wall and opens at the seams. So the rolls rest on site in the room first, the substrate is sealed, and the paste is matched to the backing and the season.
The wall must be sealed before grasscloth goes on it, so the paper backing cannot wick moisture and the paste stays where it belongs. On most projects the substrate arrives primed by the painter; where our scope includes preparation, we prime to the manufacturer's specification. A liner paper is used only where the house calls for it.
Not as they are. Texture telegraphs through the paper backing and reads as waves across the weave. The wall is skim-coated flat, sanded, and sealed first. That preparation is part of the scope and is written into the proposal when the walls need it.
It depends on the wall heights, the roll length of the house you have chosen, and how the drops fall. James measures every wall, rounds to the rules the material demands, groups walls by height, and derives the quantity from the cut length and the drops per roll. The proposal shows the arithmetic. You choose the product; we confirm the quantity.
A few paper weaves are sold as paintable. Most grasscloth is not: paint fills the weave and flattens the strand, which is the whole point of the material. Choose the colour at the order; the range across the houses is wide.
Carefully, and the wall beneath it repaired afterwards. The face is scored, the backing is softened with warm water or steam, and the paper is lifted in strips. Where a sealed substrate was used, the wall comes back clean. Where it was not, expect skim-coating before anything new goes up.
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, measures it himself, and a written proposal follows, with the quantities derived and shown. Send the property address and a photo of the room to begin.
Begin your grasscloth 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