My Journey into the Land of Wallpaper Removal

 

 

 

Being a first time home buyer and a newbie when it comes to wallpaper removal, I need all the help I can get when it comes to the rehab on the walls in my home. Five out of six rooms are wallpapered. Three out of three bathrooms are wallpapered. And I haven’t mentioned the wallpaper in the hallways yet. Luckily, we have many friends who have been on this long journey into the land of wallpaper removal before and offered us their advice and supplies. I’m only on day two of the wallpaper project but here’s the progress so far.

Wall 1: Kitchen

 

Our friend let us borrow his scoring tool for wallpaper removal. You rub it against the wall in a circular motion and it makes tiny tears in the paper.

 

This is supposed to aide in taking down the wallpaper.

 

 

 

After the wall was prepped, I used my first method: 1:1 ratio of fabric softener to water. I gave each panel a good spray and went to peeling. I used a scrapper with a beveled edge to help remove stubborn portions of wallpaper, but overall just used my hands to pull away the paper. The section pictured took about an hour to complete.

Pros:

·         Easy to peel

Cons

·         Messy (you will get messy, the walls will get messy, and your floors will get messy)

 

 

Wall 2: Living Room

 

Looks like nothing's there, right? Wrong. The wallpaper looks like a faded fake marble.

 

Left side is scored, right side is not.

 

I tried scoring one side of the wall and then skipped the other side to see if the prep made any difference. To me, the scoring didn’t make the paper removal process any better or worse than the non-scored side. This time however, I used a steamer.
 

 

The directions indicated that it would take 10-12 minutes for the steamer to start producing steam (which seemed accurate). I would hold the steaming plate over a section of the wall for about ten seconds and move on to another spot. I mostly had to use my scrapper to get the wallpaper off since my other hand was busy using the steamer. This section was smaller and took about an hour and a half.

Pros:

·         Clean

Cons

·         Hot! The steaming plate and the piping to the steamer were both very hot. Don’t wear open toed shoes when doing this as water drips from the plate and onto your feet, hands, and legs. If you’re taking down wallpaper in the summer like I am WITHOUT air conditioning, it will get very steamy very quickly.

·         Takes longer. I felt like I had to sit and wait for the steamer to penetrate one section and then scrape, scrape, scrape. Then hold the steaming plate over the next section of wallpaper, wait, scrape, scrape, scrape. I couldn’t pull off big chunks with both of my hands because you can’t really set the steamer down or water will collect inside the plate.

 

So pretty, so clean!

 

Summary:

Overall both methods were effective. I will use both again. The fabric softener method because it was quick. The steamer method because it was clean. I don’t think I will score the walls for prepping anymore just because it takes up a good chunk of time and I didn’t see a huge difference it terms of how easy it was to peel wallpaper when I didn’t score.

Check back for updates on the kitchen and living room!
 

Wish me luck on the next projects: guest bedrooms and the office!