We have just striped wall paper off some walls in our house which was built in 1962. There are small fibres sticking out in some patches on the odd wall. We have just painted a thick layer of undercoat over the walls and then given them 3 coats of paint. You can still see the odd brustle/hair in the walls but they are for all intents and purposes completely covered. Should we be concerned?

How did you determine it was asbestos? That would be odd on walls. Some heavy wallpaper has a fiberglass backing and this may be what you are seeing. Did you wash the walls down after stripping? If you have plaster walls, you may be looking at horsehair used to strengthen the plaster. Usually want to sand the walls prior to painting and it will be hard to correct at this stage.

Thanks for quick response. Yes we did striped the wallpaper and then did a light sand of the walls and saw some hairs sticking through. These look like hairs used to streangthen the boarding that separates the internal rooms in our house. These fibre looking strands are what concerned us and could very well be horsehair, but we just wanted to make sure that it was not asbestos due to all the concerns about asbestos dust fibres. The strands all look the same thickness, vary in length and are yellowish/white in colour. I have burned some of them and they do burn, but go out very quickly. The hairs are laid criss crossed in the white plaster boards and appear to be used for strength.
Just want to make sure!

Hey Finchie, If the fibres(you must be UK) burned they are not asbestos and are most likely some organic strengthening. I don't know what to tell you about them sticking out of the paint, maybe a light sand with 320 and then another coat. Brian. If my answer was a help, you can TIP me by clicking "YES" is this helpful.

sticking out in some patches on the odd wall

That sounds like patches or repairs made to drywall or plaster using fiberglass mesh drywall tape.