Note, this article was originally written in 2002 -- in 2023 the product is no longer on the market but still on some walls. Read on for how to patch it.
Patricia from Winnipeg, Manitoba writes: "Our old house is rather cold and is in need of some serious decorating. The walls are covered with numerous layers of wallpaper. Can we apply "Fiber Decor" directly to the wallpapered wall and will it increase our R value? Also, can it be used on the ceiling?"
Fiber Decor is a paper mache looking type of stuff that you mix up wet, then roll it thinly onto a wall.
It has no serious R-value so it won't help on that side of things, except that it's uneven textured surface will feel warmer because it will "radiate" the cold less than a hard smooth surface would.
However, it is specifically designed to cover faults in the walls, like wallpaper overlaps. And yes it can be applied to a ceiling.
Always clean the wall first, then paint the wallpaper with a primer paint. That will give the Fiber Decor a chance to stick to something. For application details, check out Fibre Decor.
MAINTENANCE
One of the nice things with Fiber Decor is that years later you can wet it and scrape it off, even re-apply what you scrape off, which means that you can really repair wall or ceiling damage easily, even "remove" kids crayon marks by literally removing some of the wall cover rather than trying to clean it. You can paint it as well, but don't work your paint roller too much or you will begin to pick up small pieces of the material.