What's the best way to take down old wallpaper?
Question:I'm gonna be helping my Mom take down the old, out-dated wallpaper in the bathroom. We'll be painting the wall afterward so I don't want to damage the surface. What's a good, not costly way to do it? Please help me get rid of that amazingly bad wallpaper!
Answers:
At the Home Depot or Lowes and buy a device that scores the wallpaper, when I did it they called the device a tigers claw, but it may have other names. You'll run the tigers claw over the wallpaper in a circular motion, the tigers claw will put small holes in the wallpaper. Then spray a mixture of water and fabric softener on the wallpaper, get it very wet, let it soak 10-15 minutes then scrape off with a wide spackle blade.
Do small sections at a time 4-6 feet wide.
if there is no texture on the wall then be carful not to remove drywall paper. you need to score it, then apply warm water or steam or that spray gel.
A heat gun and scraping may do it. If too old, it may not get all of it.
If it is not bubbled in any way, you can paint over the paper.
I use a tool called a paper tiger. It will punch holes into the paper to let the liquid soak in behind the paper to loosen it. We normally use vinegar water to get the paper loose. good luck.
I found the best way was to spray it with DIF (get it at home depot) and let it soak for a long time (more than whats recommended) and then scrape it off. If the DIF cant penetrate the wallpaper then you may have to scrape up some if and try to get the DIF to absorb behind the wallpaper.
Wallpaper paste remover. Perferate the paper first and then apply the remover then let it sit for about an hour, peel off. The remover comes in a spray or paste and can be purchase from Home-Depot, Walmart or a hardware store.
I use a wet towel and I scrape it off.
I hope this helps.
It depends on how old the wallpaper is.
If it is very old (50yrs or older) than it can actually have a clay based adhesive. This stuff is horrible! I use a hydrochloric acid mix and an electric sander. Make sure its well ventilated and your wearing gloves, masks, and eye wear. It's quite a project.
On the other hand, if it is newer wallpaper than it has a glue based adhesive. This adhesive has actually changed over the years, the newer the paper, the easier it is to remove. Your best bet is to get a "paper tiger" and DIF gel at Home Depot. Score the wallpaper in circular motions with the tiger, then spray the DIF heavily on the paper. After about 10 min. start scraping it off with a drywall or putty knife. If you can't get your hands on any DIF, than use very hot water in a spray bottle. The heat will help melt the glue making it easy to peel the paper off, but it leaves a nasty residue.
Hire a steamer this dampens the wall paper and allows it to be removed easily with a scraper
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