Paper mâché is one of the easier materials to live with, as long as you know what damages it: water first, then heat and flame. Almost everything below follows from those two, and from the fact that it is made from paper.
This is written about our own pieces: bowls made by hand in Jaipur from recycled paper and painted by hand, and our paper mâché Easter eggs. Most of it applies to any paper mâché object you own, including pieces you have made yourself.
The short version
- Dust with a dry cloth or a soft brush.
- Never use a damp cloth, water, or cleaning spray.
- Never put it in a dishwasher or a sink.
- Keep it out of bathrooms, conservatories and anywhere else that gets steamy.
- Keep candles, tea lights and any open flame away from it, and keep it clear of radiators, heaters and fires.
- Keep it indoors, and out of long direct sunlight.
- Hold it by the body, not the rim.
Is paper mâché waterproof?
No. Paper softens when it gets wet. Water makes the fibres swell and the surface go soft, and the shape can warp as it dries out again. A splash wiped off straight away is not a disaster, but the damage adds up and it does not undo itself. A painted finish does not change that: painted is not the same as waterproof.
This is why we describe our bowls as dry use only. They will hold whole fruit, potpourri, keys or post. They will not hold water, so no flowers in water, no damp plant pots and nothing wet. Is paper mâché food safe? We make no food-contact claim for our bowls, so the only food that goes in one is whole fruit with the skin on, and nothing else edible. For a fuller list, see what to put in a decorative bowl, and what to keep out.
Everyday cleaning
Dust is the only routine care a paper mâché bowl needs.
- Tip out the contents.
- Wipe the inside and outside with a dry microfibre cloth, working with the surface rather than scrubbing at it.
- For a textured or uneven finish where a cloth skips over the dips, use a clean, soft, dry paintbrush. A wide, soft make-up brush works just as well.
- For dust in the bottom, tip and brush rather than rinse.
Do not use furniture polish, kitchen spray, wipes, or anything described as antibacterial. They are all wet, and several are solvent-based, which can mark a painted finish before the water even reaches the paper.
Can paper mâché get wet?
Only by accident, and then the job is to get it dry quickly. If something spills in it:
- Empty the bowl.
- Blot, do not rub, with a dry paper towel. Rubbing a wet painted surface is what lifts the finish.
- Leave it to dry completely, right way up, in a dry, airy room at normal room temperature, not on or beside a radiator.
- Do not use a hairdryer. Fast, direct heat can warp the shape as it dries.
A small spill blotted straight away often leaves nothing behind. A spill left to sit will usually mark, and that mark is generally permanent.
Is paper mâché flammable?
Yes. It is made from paper, and paper burns. Whatever the finish, treat it as neither fire resistant nor heat resistant.
- Candles and tea lights. Never in a paper bowl, never resting on it and never beside it. Tea lights get very hot, and London Fire Brigade's candle safety advice lists papers, along with curtains, furniture and clothes, among the things to keep any candle away from.
- Open fires and wood burners. Keep it off the hearth, and off a mantelpiece directly above an open fire or a stove, where sparks and rising heat can reach it.
- Radiators and heaters. Not on a radiator shelf and not beside a portable heater. Hot, dry heat can make paper brittle as well as being a fire risk.
- Fairy lights. If you want lights near a paper piece at Christmas, use battery-powered LED fairy lights that stay cool to the touch, do not let them rest on the paper, and switch them off when you leave the room. Otherwise, leave them out.
For Christmas ideas that keep flames and water out of a paper bowl, see what to put in a decorative bowl for Christmas.
Where to put it, and where not to
Good: coffee tables, sideboards, shelves, hall consoles, dressing tables, bedside tables: anywhere dry and reasonably stable. By the front door, a bowl for keys works well, as long as nothing wet goes in with them: no damp gloves or wet dog leads.
Avoid:
- Bathrooms and en suites. Steam is water that gets everywhere, slowly.
- Next to a sink or a kettle. Splashes and steam, repeatedly.
- Conservatories and windowsills in full sun. Long, direct sunlight can fade paint over time, and hot glass makes it worse.
- Radiator shelves, hearths and the mantelpiece over a fire. Heat and flame, as above.
Can paper mâché go outside?
No. Keep it indoors. Rain is the obvious problem, but damp air does the same damage more slowly, so a covered porch, a shed or a greenhouse is no better. That goes for paper mâché Easter eggs too: hang them on an Easter tree or branches indoors, not on a tree in the garden.
Can paper mâché go mouldy?
It can if it is kept damp. Mould needs moisture and still air, so the answer is the same as everywhere else in this guide: keep it dry and keep air moving around it. Do not store it against a damp outside wall or shut in a plastic bag, which can trap condensation. The National Archives' leaflet on caring for books (PDF) gives the same advice for books: good air circulation, nothing kept against damp outside walls, and no wrapping in household plastic.
If a piece has been somewhere damp, bring it into a dry, airy room and let it dry out completely before you put it away.
Does paper mâché attract bugs?
Paper kept damp can. The same leaflet notes that damp conditions encourage insects as well as mould, so the care is the same again: keep it dry, dust it now and then, and store it somewhere dry. When a stored piece comes out again, look it over and dust it before it goes back on display.
Handling and moving
Lift the bowl by cupping the body, not by gripping the rim, particularly on a wide, flared shape where the rim stands out from the body. Paper mâché is light to lift, so one hand under the base and one at the side is plenty.
If you are stacking a set, put a sheet of tissue or a soft cloth between each one. Painted surfaces that rub together can leave a shiny or scuffed patch where they touched.
Storing paper mâché between seasons
Somewhere dry and at room temperature, loosely covered. Not a loft, which swings between damp and baking, and not a garage or a cellar. A wardrobe shelf or the top of a cupboard in a room you use every day is ideal. Wrap each piece in tissue rather than plastic, and keep anything heavy off the top of the box.
Looking after paper mâché Easter eggs
Our paper mâché Easter eggs are made by hand, and the care above applies to them too: keep them dry, keep them indoors, and keep them well away from candles and heat. A few things are specific to eggs.
- Hanging. Each egg hangs from its tip, by a ribbon bow, a cord loop or a small metal eye, depending on the set. Lift an egg off by the egg itself rather than pulling on the ribbon or loop.
- Dusting. A soft, dry brush gets into a ribbon bow and around a loop better than a cloth.
- Children and pets. They are a decoration, not a toy. Hang them where small children and pets cannot reach them.
- Storing. Wrap each egg in tissue and pack them in a box with a little space around them, so nothing heavy sits on them. Kept dry and uncrushed, they can come out again next Easter. For the rest of the Easter box, see how to store Easter decorations.
Small repairs
Some things you can live with, and some you can fix.
A scuff on the paint. Usually leave it. Our bowls are painted by hand and the finish is not uniform to begin with, so a small mark disappears into the surface far better than a touch-up will.
A dent. A shallow dent is usually best left alone. Take any weight off it, and do not try to steam it out: steam is water.
A chip at the rim. A small dab of PVA on the exposed edge, smoothed flat with a clean finger and left to dry, can stop it lifting further. It will be visible. That is the trade for the piece staying usable.
Anything structural, such as a crack through the wall or a foot coming away, is worth a message to us rather than a home repair. If a piece arrives damaged or develops a fault it should not have, tell us: our refund policy covers it. You also have 30 days from delivery to change your mind without giving a reason, though a bowl that has been in contact with water cannot be refunded in full.
What normal wear looks like
These are objects made by hand, and they will not stay exactly as they were the day they arrived. The surface will pick up the faint character of being handled, and a bowl kept in strong daylight may change tone slightly over time.
That is paper and paint behaving as they do in a lived-in room. If you want pieces that match one another exactly, ceramic or glass will suit you better. If you want one that shows the hand that made it, this is the material, and looking after it is mostly a matter of keeping it dry, keeping it away from flame and heat, and leaving it alone.
More reading
If you are choosing a bowl to look after, browse our paper mâché bowls, made by hand in Jaipur. To see who you are buying from, read about Aala India.
