Best way to remove old wallpaper?

[WDWorld2003]

We're redoing our kitchen and I need to remove 20 year old wallpaper. I have used DIF in the past.... lots of work and a mess but it does the job.

Any other hints out there.....?

 

[tarmand]

We're redoing our kitchen and I need to remove 20 year old wallpaper. I have used DIF in the past.... lots of work and a mess but it does the job.

Any other hints out there.....?

For about $30, I think, you can rent one of those wallpaper steamers to help with removal. I have heard that it works well. I have also seen them score the paper with a wallpaper scorer and use a mixture of fabric softener and water to remove it on HGTV.

 

[RickinNYC]

Definitely buy a wallpaper scorer to penetrate the paper and create holes. And rent a wallpaper steamer. Because the paper is so old, the glue is too, so be sure to hold that steamer up the paper for longer than you think necessary. Gently pull the paper down, trying not to rip it.

You should also get flat edged scrapers to get the rest of the glue and excess paper off.

Plus, you can buy a chemical that will help dissolve the rest of the glue.

Finally, you'll want some sandpaper and sanding blocks (or rent a sander) to get all the rest of the old glue and lumps off that didn't come off from the above.

It can be a pain to take it all off without the proper equipment. Been there and done that.

 

[WDWorld2003]

I'm not sure I understand how the steamer works..... do you wet the wallpaper and then steam it off?

 

[Disney Doll]

Whenw e bought our house, we had wallpapaer in the bathroom that looked like it had been up about 20 years, and it was stuck, but good.

We got one of those Black and Decker wallpaper steamers...kind of looks like a flatiron...and it worked great. You have to be patient with it, let it sit on the paper for a couple of minutes, but if you do it right, the paper literally peels right off the wall.

 

[CarolG]

A related question... We've discovered that the prior owner of our house painted over the wallpaper in at least two rooms - maybe more. The weight of the paint is apparently making the underlying wallpaper start to peel in a corner or two.

Any tips for correcting this when we get ready to repaint/repaper?

 

[ChristmasElf]

You can also run a fork over the wall paper and then using a spray bottle with half warm water and half fabric softener spray the paper until it is saturated. Then it should just scrape right off.
The fabric softener makes the room smell really nice too.

 

[ChristmasElf]

A related question... We've discovered that the prior owner of our house painted over the wallpaper in at least two rooms - maybe more. The weight of the paint is apparently making the underlying wallpaper start to peel in a corner or two.

Any tips for correcting this when we get ready to repaint/repaper?

I would remove the painted wallpaper and start fresh. Good Luck to you it sounds like you have a lot of painting ahead of you!

 

[missypie]

Are you re-papering, or painting? We redecorated a powder room. It dawned on me after spending an entire Saturday morning at Lowes looking at hundreds of books of wallpaper that I really don't like wallpaper. Our contractors just put "mud" over the paper, then textured and painted over that. Looks great!

 

[RickinNYC]

I'm not sure I understand how the steamer works..... do you wet the wallpaper and then steam it off?

It does help if you get a large sponge saturated in a mixture of water and fabric softener and press it against the paper in stages. But the steamer is a floor unit on wheels. You put the water in that and press the hand held unit against the paper itself. Takes some time (pressing and holding and pressing and holding) but it is actually a time saver. Without it, you'd spend quite a bit spraying, sponging, peeling, scraping and repeat.

 

[WDWorld2003]

Thanks everyone for your help.... looks like it's going to be a mess no matter what I do Remind me to never wallpaper!

 

[Buckalew11]

You can also run a fork over the wall paper and then using a spray bottle with half warm water and half fabric softener spray the paper until it is saturated. Then it should just scrape right off.
The fabric softener makes the room smell really nice too.

I used a scorer and Downy fabric softener mixed with HOT water in a spray bottle. This worked great for me but I agree with you--I'll never wallpaper again.

 

[Kycha]

I have a lot of experience removing old wallpaper. 30+ year old wallpaper to be exact. I spent last summer removing the old wallpaper in my parents house. 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom and the kitchen. Very time consuming. I tried all the above suggestions. But the best thing I found was a steamer shark. http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/601-6292471-9865714?_encoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B00008J4C8 I used the regular nozzle tip and the wallpaper would literally fly off the wall. Now I use it in my own house to do general house hold cleaning. The best hundred bucks I ever spent. Hope this helps!!

 

[WDWorld2003]

I had to update this post. I purchased a Scunci Steam Cleaner from Target and the wallpaper is coming off easily. I've done half a wall already. Thanks Kycha - it's not the one you have but it works great!!! I was going to rent a steamer for $35.00 for the day and I saw this at Target for $59.99 and I can keep it!

This thing could have saved me hours as I've stripped 3 bathrooms in the last few years and used several bottles of DIF. Thanks goodness I got it for the largest room - the kitchen!

I may even wallpaper some day again and that's saying a lot. Thanks again!!!!!!!! I'm off to strip some more.

 

[binny]

subscribing to this thread! Im going to have A LOT to do my new master bedroom is wallpapered and its 22X17

anyone want to have a Wallpaper stripping party with me?

 

[Kycha]

I had to update this post. I purchased a Scunci Steam Cleaner from Target and the wallpaper is coming off easily. I've done half a wall already. Thanks Kycha - it's not the one you have but it works great!!! I was going to rent a steamer for $35.00 for the day and I saw this at Target for $59.99 and I can keep it!

This thing could have saved me hours as I've stripped 3 bathrooms in the last few years and used several bottles of DIF. Thanks goodness I got it for the largest room - the kitchen!

I may even wallpaper some day again and that's saying a lot. Thanks again!!!!!!!! I'm off to strip some more.

I am so glad someone else could benefit from my experience. That steam cleaner really does a fantastic job of removing old wallpaper. The wallpaper in my parents kitchen was 30 years old and had survived a family of 6. In fact my mom told me that she would use Comet(you remember that. the powdered abrasive) to clean the walls. So, that wallpaper was some pretty tough stuff. But, that steam cleaner was able to remove that paper and all the adhesive with very little fuss.

 

[golfgal]

There was wallpaper on every wall of this house and some ceilings too. What a PAIN! We used hot water and spray bottles and that worked fine. We used a steamer for some of it but frankly that took more time.

What we did was score the wallpaper and then spray it down with hot water, about 1/2 wall at a time. We let it sit for a couple minutes then sprayed down a sheet of wallpaper and the paper came off fairly easily. The glue layer we sprayed again and that pealed right off. We were lucky that the paper had been professionally installed so they prepped the walls well.

The wallpaper person at our home store told me that once we got all the paper off and most of the glue to let the walls dry and then sand down the rough spots with a sanding block. Once the walls were smooth, put a layer of primer on the walls and paint. You don't need to wash the walls, which takes FOREVER, if you do this. It works GREAT!

The newer paper if you just score it, spray it and let it sit, should peal off in almost full sheets and not leave much behind. Some friends were removing wallpaper in their basement, we went over to help. The paper was off in about 15 minutes. We just helped them drink some beer instead .

 

[WDWorld2003]

I've done the soaking, scoring route too many times and will do this little steamer every time from now on! No chemicals or spray bottles and it went so much faster for me.

I'm just about down except some areas behind a speaker and some shelves and I only spent few evening hours. Plus this steamer is good for many other cleaning uses so I feel like it was a bargain! I steamed the bathroom counters last night and it does a great job! I really like this little Scunci and can't wait to use it for other things.

 

[poohluvrs]

We used a scorer (tiger claw or something?) & vinegar - I would rent a steamer if a lot or really cheap quality - the cheaper the paper, the harder to remove.

 

[goofy4tink]

I had this issue last fall....many not so nice words came out of my mouth!! I tried the Downey method...found that I'm allergic to Downey in that quantity. Not a pretty sight..sneezing, dripping nose. So, I tried the spray gel from DIF. That worked good, except I had a huge area to do. And the worst part was that there had been a layer of wallpaper backing left behind when the current wallpaper was put up...nasty to get off. So...I got one of those scoring thingies....a round handle with three scoring wheelies on the bottom of it. Think it might have been Tiger Claw. Did that first, then sponed on a solution of DIF in water with a big ole sponge. I did use gloves also. Helped my hands not get too chafed. I left the solution on to work while I did the next section...score and sponge. Then, I went back and scraped the soaked paper off. I used a scraper made for wallpaper removal. It worked wonderfully. Yes, it took awhile to do. And the part of the wall that had multiple layers was harder to do. But, when I got to the main living room area, where it was just one layer of paper over painted wall, it was easy. Then I washed the walls down with that TSP stuff. Then painted. And, it looks terrific, if I don't say so myself. I'll be starting the kitchen next week!!!