wallpaper removal?

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what is the best,safest,fastest,cleanest,(etc.) way to remove really old wallpaper,from these really old plaster walls?

thanks again!

-- fred in wi (sixuvusmeyers@aol.com), December 03, 2000

Answers

There are 2 different ways. Go to your local wallpaper store and ask them for wallpaper remover. It is this stuff you paint on and it makes it much easier to remove. I've also heard of people using steam.....the people at your local wallpaper store can probably help you with that too.

-- Amanda in Mo (aseley@townsqr.com), December 03, 2000.

I love to wallpaper! I HATE taking down other peoples wallpaper though. I have always just gotten a spray bottle, filled it with warm water and spray until the paper is wet. Let it sit for a short time and it soaks through, and it usually comes off easily. Some of the newer wallpaper will be too thick for this to work well, and some of it now has a plastic or vinyl type covering so it is washable, so this would not work.

-- Amber in WA (mikeandamberq@hotmail.com), December 03, 2000.

Steaming works well but I can't rent one of them here. I too have sprayed on water but also mixed it strongly with vinegar before spraying. This seemed to help too.

-- Marci (ajourend@libby.org), December 03, 2000.

Be carefull of metal scraper and outlets .And no I will never admit to anything like hitting a wire with the scraper.

-- Patty (fodfarms@slic.com), December 03, 2000.

I've redone a couple of old houses and have sometimes not removed the old wallpaper. If it's really on there and a test spot doesn't come off clean, and the color/texture won't show through, I've had pretty good luck with just papering over the old. I know all the professionals will tell you not to do this, but I know there's a house in Milwaukee that I did this to about 8 years ago and it still looks really good there!

-- Rose Marie Wild (wintersongfarm@yahoo.com), December 03, 2000.


This past Spring I watched enthralled as a lady easily removed wallpaper. When she went to answer the telephone I gave it a try myself and found how easily it came off. I'm talking about layer upon layer. The magic potion you ask? Very warm water with vinegar in it.

-- Notforprint (Not@thekeyboard.com), December 03, 2000.

Yea I like just warm water and vinegar. I just finished a beatup old wall with that real heavy wall paper that you paint. Looks great so if your wall is funky try that. Wonder if Patty has curly hair?...Kirk

-- Kirk Davis (kirkay@yahoo.com), December 03, 2000.

If the wallpaper is too thick or coated, you could score it first. I would rather pull it off in large pieces with the water/vinager wetting. (be careful that the paste is wet or you could pull off part of the wallboard) My husband had a steamer for getting wrinkles out of his clothes. That helped to start getting the paper away from the wall to get the sprayer to it. I like using a medium size spackle knife for the scraping while the paste is still wet. Wash the places clean while they are still wet so you do not have to wait for the paste to get rewet.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), December 04, 2000.

I'll add my voice to the vinegar/warm water users. One wall here had 5 layers of the tackiest wallpaper you could ever imagine. The top layer with brown background and these huge orange/yellow sunflower motifs. (Lord knows where they found curtains to match!!) I think it was about 10 or 20 percent vinegar in the water. I sponge it on and let it soak for a couple minutes, then peeled/scraped it off. This was a solid plaster wall, though,like someone said earlier be careful if they used gyprock board, if the wallboard hadn't been properly coated with sealer, chunks of wallboard will come off with the paper.

-- Chelsea (rmbehr@istar.ca), December 04, 2000.

Fred,

We are currently restoring a house built in 1870, that most certainly still had original wallpaper under 3 other layers, 2 coats of paint, and the worlds cheapest paneling. (sigh) After removing the paneling and lead paint, I used my bissel carpet steam cleaner to humidify the old paper, then ran by 3 prong hand gardening rake over the stuff to loosen it. We had to take it off in 2 foot sections by peeling small pieces, becasue chemicals help allready old lathe and plaster walls to fall apart sooner. Keep in mind the material and age of material behind your wallpaper. Older wallpaper, while think, does seem to tear easily from the age, and other adverse conditons.

-- Marty (Mrs.Puck@excite.com), December 08, 2000.



I had to do lots of this here, and I actually used my big garden sprayer with water and just sprayed away and soaked one whole wall at a time. Then I scraped it off of the wains-coating little by little with a scraper. This old wallpaper was like cardboard underneath. Well, Patty, do lightbulbs come on when you walk into a room?

-- Cindy in Ky (solidrockranch@msn.com), December 08, 2000.

My vote, tho' it's not necessari;y neat and tidy, is the spray bottle with warm water and vinegar. I've removed, very nicely, wall paper from 3 rooms in our house that way.Dont go for that chemical stuff.

-- Clare Baldwin (clare_baldwin@hotmail.com), December 09, 2000.

I've used and liked the vinegar water spray too. Recently a friend tried warm water with a little dish soap and said that it worked even better than the vinegar. Something about the soap softened the adhesive better. If its a washable surfaced paper she would make a few score lines and let it sit for a few minutes and it would come right off! Think I'll try it next time. Barb

-- BARB (WILDETMR@YAHOO.COM), December 10, 2000.

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