EMF Shielding Wallpaper: A Complete Guide

If you’re working on lowering your home’s EMF levels, you may have noticed that, even after taking multiple steps, your EMF levels are still higher than you would like. Outside sources of EMF radiation, such as nearby smart meters, cell towers, and neighboring WiFi signals, can be a huge source of frustration because they are oftentimes beyond our control.

So while we can’t control external sources of EMF radiation, we do have some degree of control over whether or not they enter our homes. Of course, putting up a “no-EMF trespassing” sign isn’t going to do the trick. Rather, ridding your home of external EMF radiation involves shielding either your interior or exterior walls. This can be done in a variety of ways, including the use of EMF protective paint and protective barriers.

These methods are quite effective, but not always the ideal solution. If you’re not big on painting, for example, the thought of decking your whole house out in protective paint and then covering it up with a normal wall color may seem a tad overwhelming and potentially messy.

That is where EMF shielding wallpaper can help. Just like regular wallpaper, the EMF shielding version is an alternative to paint that some find preferable. And most protective wallpapers are plainly colored to match any room’s decor. If you prefer the look of wallpaper to paint, this may be a better route for you.

Top EMF shielding wallpaper options

4. Bobby’s Health Shop EMF Protection Wallpaper. Capable of blocking up to 99.9% of frequencies between 50Hz and 10GHz, Bobby’s Health Shop’s protective wallpaper is non-metallic, flame retardant, and eco-friendly. It is a non-woven wallpaper that is durable and not necessary to ground (although you certainly can for added effectiveness). The wallpaper itself is a greyish-white color, but if that doesn’t match your room, don’t worry. The manufacturer notes that this wallpaper is easily paintable, so you can always paint over it in whatever color you desire.

3. Block EMF Anti Radiation Wallpaper. This silver-grey plaid wallpaper from Block EMF is coated with nickel and copper, making it 99.9999% effective against EMF radiation between 30 MHz and 1500 MHz. It is resistant to wear-and-tear, fingerprints, and dust. Additionally, it features a waterproof splash, which means water can be splashed onto the wallpaper and, once dry, no watermark is left behind. The wallpaper is not conductive, and useful for both residential and commercial applications. This is a woven wallpaper, and each sheet comes in rolls that are approximately 42-inches wide, although the exact size varies by the sheet. If you’re looking for a plain wallpaper that can match any room, this is a great choice.

2. Leblok Absorb EMF Shielding Wallpaper. Leblok’s EMF wallpaper is industrial-strength yet accessible to anyone. Each roll is 20 meters (or just over 65 feet) long. It comes in a neutral grey color that can easily be painted over to fit the look of your room. When grounded with copper tape, this wallpaper is 99.999999% effective at 1MHz. The shielding drops below 99.9% at 2GHz, but the wallpaper is still quite effective at shielding against frequencies up to 10GHz. It is made from a flame-retardant material that is easy to install, durable, and made to last.

1. Wallpaper From The 70s GUARDIA Electromagnetic Shield. GUARDIA comes in a solid grey color and is sold by the roll, with each unit measuring 20.87-inches wide and 10.99-yards long. It has a matte look but a smooth texture, and it is intended to protect against all kinds of EMF radiation. If you don’t like the look of GUARDIA, you can cover it with another layer of decorative wallpaper, or even paint over it. This wallpaper shields against up to 98% of high-frequency radiation (such as RF-EMF radiation,) and nearly 100% of lower frequencies, including ELF-EMF radiation. The manufacturer does suggest that it can be made even more effective by applying two layers of wallpaper, as well.

Applying your wallpaper

Unless the wallpaper you choose comes with its own directions, the process for applying EMF shielding wallpaper isn’t too different from that of regular wallpaper.

There are two main ways that you can apply wallpaper, depending on the type you have. Some of the options on our list, such as LVFEIER’s wallpaper, are self-sticking. This means they already have an adhesive coating on the back of the paper. You simply need to peel off the protective paper to reveal the sticky side when you are ready to apply the wallpaper. Other types require you to apply an adhesive to the wall before laying the paper down.

Before you can apply anything to the wall, however, it is important that you scrub it free of any dirt, dust, or other debris. If there are any holes, use a drywall patch such as 3M’s High Strength Small Hole Repair All in One Applicator Tool to fill them in. Simply pasting your wallpaper over holes may cover them up, but there will always be the chance that something could go through the wallpaper and the hole, leaving you with an even bigger issue than before. If your walls aren’t flat — for example, if they have a layer of textured paint on them — you will need to scrape off or sand down the bumps, as well.

Once your walls are fully prepped, take a tape measure and measure out the length of your wall. Next, add five or six inches onto the measurement in order to account for trimming and to add a little bit of wiggle room in case your measurements are off. You can trim away excess paper in the end much easier than you can make a pre-cut sheet longer.

If you are using the self-adhesive style wallpaper, you can immediately begin sticking it to your walls. Use a smoother tool, such as Rust-Oleum’s Flexible Smoothing Tool, to force out any pockets of air. You want to lay this onto the wall as flatly and evenly as you possibly can.

If your wallpaper requires you to use your own adhesive, you could use any number of things. Wallpaper tape, for example, or paste. For this example, we will talk about the paste because that is arguably the more common route. ROMAN PRO’s Heavy Duty Wallpaper Adhesive is one option. This adhesive comes in a 1-gallon bucket and can cover up to 280 square feet of wall space.

Use a brush to evenly apply a layer of paste to the wall. You can technically apply it to the paper, too, but then you have a long sheet of sticky paper to contend with — it’s much easier if the adhesive goes on the wall first. You can technically spread adhesive over your whole wall, but it’s a little safer to do so in sections. That way you don’t wind up with dust and debris sticking to your adhesive if you don’t lay all of the wallpaper in one sitting.

After applying your adhesive, the process is quite similar to that of the self-adhesive wallpaper. Line up your sheet and press it against the wall, taking care to remove any air pockets or bubbles with a smoothing tool.

Regardless of the type of wallpaper you use, EMF shielding wallpaper does require a couple of different steps from its traditional counterpart. For one, with regular wallpaper, you generally place each strip of wallpaper next to each other with no overlap. With EMF shielding wallpaper, however, you need a little bit of overlap to create a continuous protection zone. When laying the next sheet down, make sure there is at least a small bit that goes over the sheet laid before it. If you are using your own adhesive, this will require brushing a small amount onto the overlapping part of the existing sheet.

Also, some EMF shielding wallpapers are most effective when grounded. This can be done using a copper grounding tape, such as LOVIMAG’s Copper Foil Tape.

It’s also important to note that you don’t need to cover every wall with EMF shielding wallpaper, although you certainly could. But if you aren’t looking to create a dead zone in your home, simply cover the interior walls that are opposite some significant source of radiation, such as a smart meter or your neighbor’s WiFi router.

Testing your wallpaper

If you already have an EMF meter, you have all you need to test your wallpaper. If not, see our guide to The Best EMF Meters For Any Budget to see what options are out there.

Ideally, you would take one measurement before applying the wallpaper, and one after. But, if you have already applied your wallpaper, you can simply measure the levels in different areas of your home. The areas nearest the wallpaper should have less EMF radiation present.

Parting thoughts

EMF shielding wallpaper is an excellent solution for those who prefer the look of wallpaper over paint. If you are looking for a way to reduce outside sources of EMF radiation from entering your home, consider investing in one of the options on our list.