How do you remove old wallpaper? Here are a few handy tips for you

Below we first introduce several methods for removing old wallpaper

Peelable wallpaper 1

Choose an inconspicuous corner at the top of the wall and lift the wallpaper with the tip of a utility knife.

2

Stay as close to the wall as possible, pinch a corner of the wallpaper, and try to peel it off the wall. Pull the wallpaper away from the wall toward yourself; this makes it easier to remove. If it is peelable wallpaper, then as long as you pull steadily and with moderate force, the wallpaper will come off the wall.

Scoring and soaking 1

Use a utility knife, razor blade or wallpaper scraper to cut the old wallpaper in horizontal lines, with each cut spaced about 20 or 25 cm apart.

2

Apply clean water or wallpaper remover and wait a few minutes to let it soak the wallpaper completely.

3

Repeat the same treatment on the next strip of wallpaper, then go back to the first strip and rewet it from top to bottom with the solution.

4

Begin removing the wallpaper with a multi-purpose wall scraper about 8.9 cm wide with a movable blade. Starting from one of the cut horizontal strips of wallpaper, place the blade under its upper edge with the scraper at a 30 degree angle to the horizontal, and slide the blade to scrape off the wetted wallpaper. A strip of wallpaper as wide as the scraper will come away with the blade and roll up on the scraper as you push the blade downward.

5

Keep pushing downward until the wallpaper can no longer be peeled off. If the scraped strip of wallpaper tears, rewet that area and then start scraping another strip.

Steam method

Removing old wallpaper is not easy. You can rent a steam machine, but you will still need to use a wide-blade putty knife to scrape off most of the wallpaper.

1

Once the water is hot, press the steam plate against the wall until the wallpaper at the edge of the steam plate darkens from the moisture, then start from one strip and gradually peel the wallpaper from top to bottom.

2

After steaming half a strip, use your fingernail or a utility knife to lift a corner at the top of this strip of wallpaper and tear the wallpaper off. If the wallpaper cannot be peeled off, use a wall scraper to scrape it off. You may need to steam the same area two or three times to loosen the older adhesive behind the wallpaper.

Alcohol

For waterproof coatings, cleaning wallpaper glue with alcohol will not cause much damage to the wall; instead, the evaporation of the alcohol can minimize the damage cleaning does to the wall. But one thing to note is that the alcohol concentration must not be too high, otherwise it will be too volatile and can easily turn a white wall yellow or black, which is a very undesirable outcome.

Salt

This method makes use of physical friction. But since salt is white crystals, there is no need to worry about friction bringing unusual colors to the wall. During the rubbing process, you can use white gauze or a cloth that can hold the salt to wrap a small packet of salt and rub gently. Slowly you will find that the glue left behind by the wallpaper is gradually disappearing and instead sticking to the cloth. You only need to stop while rubbing to remove the clumps of glue on the gauze, and the rest goes without saying.