Four Ways to Remove Old Wallpaper

Homeowners view their wall as a large canvas that invites all kinds of art work. Even in homes with a minimalist theme, homeowners never fail to add something to accentuate the walls, be it a single sculpture, painting, picture, or even a display of projected lights.

In more traditional homes, wallpaper is used. Wallpaper, an traditional aspect of modern interior design, is a paper material utilized to cover and adorn the interior walls of rooms, offices, and houses. When initially purchased, wallpapers come in rolls. It is adhered to the wall through the application of wallpaper paste.

Wallpapers can be plain, which can be used to simply alter the original color of the wall. Plain wallpaper can also be the base for custom-painted wall designs. It can come in a lot of printed designs. Printed wallpaper is based on seventeen basic patterns, which can be used to tile an infinite plane.

Wallpaper can definitely add character to a home, making lively an otherwise dull wall. However, just like any other paper, wallpaper can fade and yellow in time. It can sustain damage from rips, tears, liquids spilled over it, or vandalism. Or one may just want to have a change of looks. Sooner or later, the wallpaper has to be changed. The first thing to do, of course, is to remove the old wallpaper, which is a very tough thing to do.

Let's say you want old dirty wallpaper with a nautical wall art motif to be changed into a summery, flowery design. Here are several ways of removing the old one.

1. Perforation

Wallpaper can be removed through perforating and scoring it mechanically. This can be done by using a tool called a paper tiger, a tool that looks like a puck with wheels full of sharp teeth. The wheels are rolled onto the old wallpaper in a counterclockwise or clockwise action, causing tiny holes on the wallpaper's surface but leaving the substrate surface undamaged.

Then using a drywall knife, the wallpaper is then scraped, using the perforated holes as a guide.

2. Water

Another simple solution is to use water. Water is brushed through the paper, soaking through the material and loosening the glue. Once the glue is soaked, the old wallpaper can be peeled off.

However, this does not work on vinyl lined papers as vinyl is not porous, meaning, water can't penetrate through the material.

3. Wallpaper stripper

A commercial wallpaper stripper can be obtained at home improvement stores or paint stores. The stripper can be mixed with warm water or a solution of warm water and vinegar. Sprayed onto the wallpaper, it chemically reacts to the adhesive's molecular bond. Multiple applications are often needed to completely remove the old nautical wall art wallpaper. The old paper can then be removed easily with the aid of a drywall knife.

4. Steam

Steam can be used to dissolve the wallpaper adhesive. However, the high temperature of steam may damage the drywall underneath, leaving an uneven surface that must be repaired before new wallpaper can be placed.