Wallpapers are a great way of enhancing the overall appearance of the room from inside. Bare walls appear rather boring and dull. These wall papers give you an ample opportunity to decorate your rooms in such a way that goes best with your personality. For this purpose, wallpapers with different styles and themes are available in the market. However, with passage of time, wallpapers become dull and often get torn into pieces. It may also happen that there is nothing wrong with the wallpaper but still you want to replace it with a new one in order to give a fresh look to your room. In such cases, removing the old wallpaper is a wiser option than applying the new one over it as new wallpaper. This happens because the moisture from the glue can make the older layer peel off thus removing even the new one. But removing a wallpaper is messy, tedious and time consuming. Without knowing the right techniques, you can even damage the wall or stop before work is done. The tips provided in this article are not going to make this task fun, but it can definitely help you in removing the wallpapers effectively.
Complexity level: Basic
Time required: 5-6 hours
Resources required:
- Drop cloth
- Scoring tool
- Stripper
- Safety glasses
- Gloves
- Plastic paint tray
- Wallpaper scraper
- Sponge
- Garbage bags
- Bucket full of water
Instructions:
1. Protecting other articles and prepping the wall:
- The first thing that you need to do is to remove the furniture out of the room. This is the best way of protecting them from getting damaged.
- As far as the flooring and the carpets are concerned, spread drop cloths over them. This will protect them from coming in contact with the things that can damage them.
- Once you are sure that all the articles have been protected then with the help of a scoring tool, make small holes on the wallpaper by moving the tool in circular motion.
2. Apply the stripper over the wallpaper:
- Now pour the stripper on the plastic paint tray and then with the help of a paint roller, apply it on the wallpaper. Apply a sufficient amount of the stripper so that the wallpaper becomes saturated with it.
- You’ll have to leave the stripper for certain period of time so that it could seep into the glue making it loose. The time is different for different strippers. The best way is to note the time from the container of the stripper or consult from the dealer.
- Make sure that you are wearing your safety glasses and gloves during the entire process.
3. Remove the wallpaper from the wall:
- Once you are satisfied with the level of saturation, peel away the wallpaper from the wall.
- You can use a wallpaper scraper, specially designed for this purpose. Simply peel off the wallpaper and throw it away. You can also use a dry wall knife in place of wallpaper scraper.
- If there are more than one layer of wallpaper then you’ll have to remove them, one at a time.
- But make sure that you do not damage the wall while you are peeling the wallpaper with the scraper.
4. Clean the leftover traces of glue:
- Once you have removed the wallpaper, then with the help of a wet sponge clean away any remaining traces of glue on the wall.
- Allow the wall to dry completely. Now your wall is ready and you can lay a new layer of wallpaper over it.
Frequently asked questions:
What is the best way to deal with the dried wallpaper paste?
Dealing with old and dried wallpaper paste is one if the tedious and tiresome part of this entire task, and if not done effectively then it can even damage your wall. The best way to deal with dried wallpaper paste is to place a paper towel over the dried paste and then spray Windex over the towel. Make sure that you have applied Windex carefully and it is not dripping from the towel, down the wall. Let it remain there for around 10 minutes so that it may soak into the dried glue. Once the glue has softened, carefully dab the spot. Thus, the dried wallpaper glue can be removed.
Quick tips:
- If you have marked up the wall with cuts and dings, you can take care of them by plastering and painting the spot.
- You have to give sufficient amount of time to the stripper to steep into the wallpaper, otherwise you will not be able to remove the wallpaper effectively.
Things to watch out for:
- Dispose off the old wallpaper carefully, otherwise the bits of it will stuck at every place where you have been.
- Never forget to wear safety glasses and gloves while applying stripper on the wall. Keep the stripper out of the reach of children.
