Perhaps you need to take some wallpaper off a wall so that you can either paint the wall or replace the wallpaper with some other wall covering. Removing wallpaper can sometimes seem a bit challenging. The following six steps will give you an idea of how to take wallpaper off a wall quickly and with relative ease:
Room Preparation:
Getting the room ready is very important since this can be a fairly messy job and you also need to make sure that the wall is clear of certain kinds of obstructions. It is recommended that you put canvas or plastic drop cloths at the base of the walls so that paper and flakes of paint do not get scattered all over the floor. You will also need to make sure that you take all of the switch and socket plates off the wall. In view of the latter you should probably also go down to the basement breaker box and switch off power to the room, using extension cords and lights from other rooms or work lights if you need extra illumination.
wallpaperremovingScore the Wallpaper:
You will be taking the paper off with a wallpaper adhesive remover solution, so you need to cut small holes in the paper in order to allow this solution to take the underlying adhesive off the wall. This can be done with specialized wallpaper scorers which leave a series of tiny holes in the paper as the user runs it across the wall.
Prepare the Solution:
You can elect to use either a commercial wallpaper stripper or create a solution yourself. Water mixed with fabric softener often works as well as any store bought wallpaper stripper. The mix ratio here is one part water to one part fabric softener. Once you have mixed the solution you may want to put it in a spray bottle so that you can cover the scored wall with it evenly and completely. Use hot water and try not to allow it to cool too much before spraying it on the walls.
Apply Solution to Walls:
You should spray the wallpaper remover solution on the walls in sections that you feel you can strip in no more than 15 minutes. As noted above, the water should stay as hot possible so you might want to prepare relatively small amounts of solution at a time. After spraying, let the solution penetrate into the paper for several minutes before beginning to take the wallpaper off.
Strip off the Wallpaper:
Using a putty knife if necessary to get things started or work difficult spots, peel off the wallpaper in the largest strips possible. Try to begin at the bottom corners of wallpaper sections. Peel the wallpaper upwards if possible. Remove as much wallpaper as you can.
Wall Cleaning:
After you have peeled as much wallpaper as possible off the walls, wash the wall down to get the last bits of wallpaper and adhesive that remain. You can put roughly a teaspoon of dish detergent in some hot water and this will work well as a cleanser. Again it is important that the water be as hot as possible. Wipe and scrub the walls with this solution until the last pieces of wallpaper are off and the wall is free of adhesive. Finally, rinse the walls with fresh water.
If you follow thes steps your wallpaper removal job will be go smoothly and be fairly easy.
