Remove Wallpaper

Removing wallpaper can be a long process, but it can be easy if you make the necessary preparations. How you remove the wallpaper depends on the type of wallpaper you have: strippable and traditional. This article will teach you how to prepare your home for the process and remove the wallpaper itself.

Steps

Preliminary Steps

  1. Lay old sheets over floor and anything else you want to protect. Use small nails to attach to wall edges if necessary, but keep in mind that drop cloths move around a lot even if you nail them. Moving furniture out of the room to be stripped will make your life easier.
  2. Shut off all circuit breakers to any room outlets and lights. If you intend to do this at night, invest in a halogen work lamp and a long extension cord.
  3. Keep the covers in place and tape over the exposed area. This keeps water from getting inside during the removal process. Even outlets without power are dangerous to get wet and can pose a fire hazard. You may remove the paper underneath towards the end of the process.
  4. Figure out your walls are made of. This let you know how gentle you have to be while stripping your wallpaper. Most walls are made either of plaster or drywall. While plaster is hard, durable, and fairly water-resistant, drywall is nothing more than paper-covered gypsum and shouldn’t be allowed to get too wet. The easiest way to tell the difference is to tap the wall in various places; if it sounds hollow, you have drywall. If you use a wallpaper removal method that involves liquid or steam, go easy on your drywall.
  5. Determine what type of wallpaper you have. There are many kinds of wallpaper, but the removal process will go a lot smoother with the strippable type or peelable-top-layer type than the traditional varieties. To test this out, work your putty knife under a corner of the wallpaper, loosen it, and try to peel it back with your hands.
    • If the whole thing peels away in one piece, you have strippable wallpaper. A bottle of champagne is in order.
    • If, much like a cheap label, only the surface layer peels away, leaving a papery bottom layer, your wallpaper has a peelable top layer. This isn’t as easy to remove as strippable wallpaper, but you should still consider yourself lucky that you don’t have the traditional kind.
    • If you cannot peel your wallpaper away from your wall by hand (or can only peel a thin strip away at a time), you have traditional wallpaper. You will have to remove it either with stripping solution or a wallpaper steamer.

Remove Strippable Wallpaper

  1. Find and loosen a corner. Strippable wallpaper is easily removed and can often be pulled off in one piece.
  2. Strip the wallpaper off the wall. If the sheet tears, find a new corner and start over.
  3. Wash away residue. Clean with soap and hot water, rinse, and then dry with a clean towel or rag.

Remove Wallpaper with a Peelable Top Layer

  1. Find and loosen a corner of the top layer. The top layer is often made of vinyl and should pull off easily. Once the top layer is off, the backing paper remains. If the sheet tears, find a new corner and start over.
  2. Soak the backing paper with water for several minutes. Apply warm water with a rag, sponge, or paint roller (for hard-to-reach places).
  3. Scrape and peel the backing paper off the wall. Use a plastic putty knife to scrape the sticker areas.
  4. Wash away residue. Clean with soap and hot water, rinse, and then dry with a clean towel or rag.

Remove Traditional Wallpaper with Stripping Solution

  1. Score the wallpaper per the instructions on your wallpaper scorer. Putting holes in the paper will help your stripping solution to penetrate the adhesive.
    • Some people skip the scoring process because it can create small holes in the paper on the drywall. If you have a real plaster wall, this isn't as much of an issue.
    • If you don't want to score your wallpaper, use 120-grit sandpaper with a vibrating sander. Sand just enough to take some of the color off.
  2. Fill a bucket with hot water. Make sure it's as hot as you can stand. Mix in a wallpaper-stripping solution according to the instructions on the bottle.
    • A vinegar solution would also effective, cheap, and non-toxic. Consider using a 20-percent solution, but if you’d feel more comfortable with a milder concentration, feel free to experiment.
    • Another cheap alternative is fabric softener at about 25- to 50-percent solution. It doesn't have to be fancy fabric softener, but do make sure it’s unscented.
    • Mixing your stripping solution in small batches will keep the water hot.
  3. Soak a paint roller in the hot water/stripping solution. A sponge or large paint brush also works well.
    • A spray bottle can make the solution much easier to apply but will also cool it down faster. Weigh your options.
  4. Saturate one section of the wall at a time. Don’t saturate more than you think you can strip in 10 to 15 minutes.
  5. Let it soak for several minutes. This will give the solution time to do its job.
  6. Strip the wallpaper. With the help of a plastic putty knife, peel pieces of wallpaper away one at a time.
    • Peel upwards. This will make it easier to wedge the putty knife between the uplifted paper and the wall.
  7. Wash away residue. Clean with soap and hot water, rinse, and then dry with a clean towel or rag.

Remove Traditional Wallpaper with Steam

  1. Rent a wallpaper steamer. The steaming method is ideal for wallpaper that proves difficult to remove.
  2. Score the wallpaper per the instructions on your wallpaper scorer. This helps the steam penetrate.
    • Some people skip the scoring process because it can create small holes in the paper on the drywall. If you have a real plaster wall, this isn't as much of an issue.
  3. Steam the wallpaper in sections. Hold the steamer against the wallpaper to soften and loosen the adhesive. The longer you steam the paper, the easier it will peel off.
    • Be careful when using the steamer around drywall. The extra moisture may damage your walls.
    • Since the steamer will probably drip hot water, be sure to wear gloves and long sleeves.
  4. Scrape the wallpaper as you go. Use a plastic putty or drywall knife.
    • Peel upwards. This will make it easier to wedge the putty knife between the uplifted paper and the wall.
  5. Wash away residue. Clean with soap and hot water, rinse, and then dry with a clean towel or rag.

Tips

  • Use a plastic spatula (egg turner) instead of metal scrapers. This will leave fewer gouges in wallboard.
  • Don't fret if you mark up the wall with cuts and dings. You can always sand it, plaster it, repaint, or put up new wallpaper.
  • Keep the scraper you use at a shallow angle. This reduces the likelihood of chipping the plaster.

Warnings

  • The whole process will take three times as long as you anticipate. It's inevitable.
  • No matter how careful you are, the old wallpaper glue will stick to everything.
  • Wallpaper and wallpaper paste can contain toxic fungicides. Dispose of the waste and wash-water accordingly and restrict access to the area while working.
  • Plastic moldings will, in all likelihood, be destroyed in this process.

Things You'll Need

  • Drop-cloths
  • Plastic scraping tool
  • Paint roller or sponges
    • Use a spray bottle as an alternative
  • Bucket
  • Wallpaper stripping solvent
    • Use vinegar or unscented fabric softener as an alternative
  • Steamer
  • Gloves

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