I am looking for a good procedure (or reference) for removing wallpaper. I also want to replace the wallpaper with paint… what surface preparation is required of the wall, where the wallpaper is/was, in order to apply paint? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I’ve had good experience removing wallpaper with a steamer. When it gets particularly “stuck”, I’ve used Dif (I think that is what the wallpaper adhesive remover is called) – the gel kind. Using a perforator helps but be careful and don’t apply a lot of pressure or you’ll damage the wall.

I have done many wall paper removals and I find that the easiest way to do it is to remove the outer strip..should be easy then take a spray bottle with hot water and spray from the top down, let soak for about 10 minutes and take a scraper and remove, repeat until all removed, wash the wall down..and prime it with a good quality primer, I like to use Zinssel Bullseye 1, 2, 3, it primes over a lot of surfaces, takes only 20 minutes to dry and then its ready for the finish coat, good luck, and hope it helps.

I’ve always used fabric softener ,the stuff you use in the washing machine. Sprits, brush ,or wipe it on .Thin it as needed ,this stuff comes too thick nowadays.

I’m stuck. Have strippable paper and have tried all the home solutions…vinegar, fabric softener, hot water, scoring etc. I cannot get to loosen a corner or end to even begin tearing away. The paper seems like it is fused onto the wallboard. It’s been up many years, so if anyone has any advice, I really could use it.

I have an idea. if it is so stuck on the wall, why not just paint over it?

Remove the vinyl film on the wall paper then wet it and it will come off easy.

Even if you scored it, you might have to actually cut it gently with a razor to get a start on it. Then you will have to wet it possibly piece by piece as you soak it and pull it. Once you have it started leave the solution on for about 5 minutes nice and wet, then pull. It can be tedious, mine was.

I have the same problem with some wall paper. The homeowner before me did not prime the walls first and the wall paper is not coming off no matter what I do. It’s a small area that I will re-drywall instead of continuing trying to remove the paper.

The paper is fused to the wallboard. The fact that the paper has been up for years, does not make it harder to remove. It probably makes it easier. Adhesives age and let go, but that is another point. It sounds like you might have wallpaper that was pasted directly to the drywall without the drywall being painted or sized. This makes it impossible to remove without damaging the drywall. There is no product that will make it release. (I am so hoping that someone will prove me wrong). You are in for a real mess. In cases like this, people remove the wallpaper, damaging the drywall, and then skim coat the surface with drywall mud. After that, they sand the surface prior to painting. Some people will put up 1/4 inch thick drywall to hide the damage. In my experience, wallpaper that is pasted directly to drywall does not come off easily with chemicals or steamers (I own one). I have had some “success” by using a random orbital disc sander with rough (60 grit) sandpaper to “score” the paper. Then I experimented with combinations of cleaners to help the paper come off the drywall. I think steaming worked the best at this point. I still applied the skim coat of mud to hide the damage. I would avoid cutting into the wallpaper with a utility knife. More often than not, this cuts into the paper surface of the drywall and those cuts are tough to hide, even with mud.

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