Best wallpaper remover.DIF, Water/Vinager, Water/fabric softner?
Question:Please help me figure out what will be the best method to remove the wallpaper at the house i just purchased..also, has anyone had trouble with using the 'scorers'? I've heard they can damage the wall and then you need to repair that too...
Thanks!
Answers:
Here is the absolute best way to remove wallpaper.
Use a scoring tool. Run it every which way all over the wallpaper. The only way you'll ruin or damage your wall with it is if you push hard. You don't need to push hard on a scorer. All you need it to do is put tiny holes in the paper, not huge deep holes. So don't press hard.
Use a spray bottle. Fill it with blue windshield washer fluid. Yep. The stuff you wash your windshield with when you're driving down the road! Spray this all over the paper. Let it sit for 10 minutes then spray again.
Peel and lightly scrape (often not necessary to scrape) the paper off.
You can use vinegar but you may attract ants.
You can use fabric softener, but it will be slimy and you will have a hard time rinsing it off. Not only that, but you will have an even harder time getting the paint to stick to the wall after.
Blue windshield washer fluid is quick, clean, easy. You won't have to rinse off the wall. Just let it dry and your paint will stick easily after.
Oh. don't believe me about the fabric softener? Go put some all over you hands... then have fun getting it off :)
Steam!
When using a scorer (Paper Tiger is the best one), score the paper applying light pressure. If you bare down too hard, you can damage the wall underneath. It takes trial and error until you apply just enough pressure to scor the paper, but don't tear up your wall too much. A light layer of spackle can cover up any damages.
I've used a 70/30 mixture of warm water and fabric softener. You can buy the cheap fabric softener, like a store brand or some third-party brand. Mix the solution in a spray bottle, and spray the wall from top to bottom. Spray heavily. If you'd rather, buy a one-gallon or two-gallon sprayer from the garden section of Wal-Mart or Home Depot. Those have a bit more pressure, and may help soak the paper better. Let the solution soak into the paper for a few minutes, and you should be able to pull entire sheets off after scraping up a corner. Be sure to wear safety glasses, as bits of dried wallpaper paste are likely to fall off and hit you in the eye.
Taken alot of paper off through the years and this is my method, Remove the vinyl facing with your finger nails, take your time and pull it off easy to get a good piece at a time, once the vinyl is off get yourself a spray bottle (empty Windex bottle) and fill it with "HOT" water and saturate the paper backing (it will turn a pee color) use a saturated rag too for any run off so it doesn't end up on the floor. Take a putty knife and scrape off, take your time and you'll be surprised how easy it will come off. Make sure you put down an old sheet along the base board. If the paper was put onto a unprimed sheetrock wall then you've got a problem, paper tigers do more harm than good because 9 out of 10 times you'll preferate the facing of your sheetrock resulting in having to do a skim coat. Good luck Les the painter and Dif never worked for me. Make sure you remove all paste residue before painting.
If you can find a place in your area that sells the Walwik brand removal system you should look them up. The corporate site is www.wallwikcompany.com. I have been in this business for 40+ years and most people above have given good advice but this is a whole new idea in wallpaper removal. We have sold this system for about 3 years now to pros and amateurs and I have NEVER had one returned even though they have a refund if it doesn't work policy. It uses a perforator, which as said above you use GENTLY, and a wetting solution, but it uses a fabric to hold the solution on the wall a lot longer than without the fabric and that make a HUGE difference in how ot works. Good Luck!
p.s. Think about re-wallpapering NOT painting. In the long run it is cheaper and a heck of a lot easier to wallpaper. You will wallpaper once every 12 years on average. To most people that means not painting 3 or 4 times.
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