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Techniques of Removing Wallpapers

Has your wallpaper started looking like those of the haunted mansions? Does the very sight of it leave you feeling unhygienic and messy? Well, its time to remove the old wallpapers and put on a gorgeous pastel paint color on the walls. Removicng wallpapers are usually a cumbersome and time-consuming work. But if the right techniques are used, things can be easier than expected. Removing the wallpaper will need you to engage a lot of time. Things cant be done in a hurry. You’ll generally need the following things-

  1. Wetting solution

  2. Sponge or rag

  3. Coarse sandpaper

  4. Putty-knife with a wide blade

  5. Wallpaper-scoring tool

  6. Wallpaper steamer (optional)

  7. Gloves

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First take off everything from the wall. This includes the hooks, hangers, paintings, clock, photo frames, posters, stick-ins, receptacle plates, switch and whatever is hoisted against the wall. Get all the furniture out of that room. If possible you can also accumulate them at the center of room and cover the stack with tarps or plastic sheets. Some wallpapers are dry, vinyl-coated and can be strippable whenever required. removing these wallpapers are quite easy. You can simply peel the sheets off from the wall without applying any kinds of loosening solutions.

If your are unable to chip off a section of the sheet, use a knife or something flat that can be used to scrape the papers from the walls. Take off a seam of the sheet and grab it properly. Start peeling at an angle of 45 degree. This will ensure the perfect tension. Try prying off a seam from the corner end of a wallpaper. If the wallpaper is coming off easily you are lucky. Pull carefully so theat the wallpaper comes out in sheets, just like the way it was placed on to the walls. If the wallpaper tends to tear, you will possibly need water or some other kind of solutions.

To protect your floor from dirt and solution lay drop cloths or plastic sheets around the floor; use towels to cover them. Score the wallpaper lightly with the help of a wallpaper-scoring tool or a utility knife. The wallpaper-scoring tool prevents the sheets from getting too deep a cut.

Some wallpaper is not coated with vinyl; to remove these types you require a solution. You can wet certain sections of the wallpaper to loosen the adhesive from the wall. Use a wet paint roller or a water-soaked sponge to perform this task. In fact there are diverse kinds of solutions that can be used to slacken the wallpaper from the wall. Check out a few common and handy solutions for wallpaper removal-

  • Vinegar

  • Warm water

  • Fabric softener

  • A mixture of fabric softener and hot water (½ cap of fabric softener and ½ gallon of water)

  • Ammonia and hot water

  • A solution of liquid dish soap and warm water

Wet the wallpapers estimating how strong the wallpaper glue is and how long the sheets are running. Basically you have to choose different sections to let the glue loosen and even repeat the process whenever required. Some sections are very stubborn; the sheets refuse to peel off. Apply more solution on these areas. The areas that are extremely difficult to remove should be scraped off with a coarse grit paper. Don’t forget to apply a primer after removing the wallpaper.

Sometimes you’ll see that the wallpaper has come out but traces of the glue still remains. The solvent of hot water and dish-washer detergent works wonders. With a sponge you can easily remove the glue from the wall. If the glue is strong use a scrub-brush. The water should be hot all through. If it cools, warm it again. Make sure you use gloves or else you’ll burn your hands. From glue to wallpaper residue, you require cleaning it all.

Check if any wallpaper border is remaining. These can be easily removed with a hot-water-soaked wad of sponge. Vinyl wallpaper sometimes leaves a thin paper layer even after the wallpaper is removed. These can provide a good base for the new wallpaper. Once you are done with all these, throw off the remaining solution and fill the bucket with fresh and clean water. Sponge the wall neatly and get rid of all impurities.