Say, ”We have plaster walls,” and people will look at you with those big eyes, like the emoticon 😳. Probably because they know better than I do. I don’t research scary stories, but rather cling to the videos where an expert shows you just how easy it is to repair, remove wallpaper from, and paint, plaster walls. I watched a video. The guy was super knowledgeable and showed step by step info. How hard can this be?
Well, I have never removed wallpaper, that I can recall. So this should be fun, right?!?
Having watched a few more videos and considering that we have no idea how long this paper has been on the walls, I went first for the Paper Tiger tool that scores the paper and allows a liquid to get behind the paper and (hopefully) dissolve the glue. This was a must as we don’t know what we are dealing with.
The product I am trying for glue dissolving is simply one part fabric softener, one part hot water. Nothing fancy or terribly expensive. Smells lovely! Spray on and let sit for about 20 minutes. Then apply steam with a wallpaper steamer. We bought a used steamer off Amazon and it seems to be working well enough. See video about how to first release water into a bucket when you initially pull the steamer trigger. Avoids some intermittent spurting of very hot water. Hold steamer in place on the wall for about 20 seconds. Then try pulling paper off while using a scraper to get behind the paper.
This paper is old. Some comes off very easily, some separates like it just doesn’t want to leave its cozy home. Still deciding whether to try a heavier chemical for the removal, or just hook up my new sander. More to come.
Supplies:
