grynche Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Friend of mine has asked the best way to get wallpaper glue off a wall? Her service dog spends a lot of time goofing off in that room, so she doesn't want to use anything toxic. I've never done wallpaper, so I'm clueless. Many thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gayle Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 The last time I stripped wallpaper, I used a paper tiger to punch little holes in the paper. It sort of perforates it and allows water to seep behind the paper. After the paper was stripped, I just used a very wet sponge to wet the paper again and wiped it down. For stubborn places, after using the sponge, I used a putty knife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 If it is a vinyl wallpaper with a paper backing, don't use the punchy thing. It only complicates the process. Lift the edges of the vinyl with the edge of a flexible putty knife or use a utility knife to score a line, then peel off the top vinyl layer like peeling sunburned skin off your arm. The paper backing will remain on the wall. Put some warm water and a little bit of fabric softener in an old squirt bottle and spray a secion of the paper. Let it stand 5 minutes or so. Then do the lift and peel thing with the paper. If you're lucky, it will come off in some pretty big pieces. If it sticks in places, use the putty knife. I just did our bedroom this way, and it worked like a charm. I'm ready to tackle the kitchen now. Someone who does a lot of wallpapering suggested using vinegar instead of fabric softener in the warm water. I like the fragrance of the fabric softener better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minis On The Edge Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 water and liquid fabric softer sprayed on the wallpaper works very well Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grynche Posted April 21, 2009 Author Share Posted April 21, 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justmesue Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 Wet and scrape. It's the only way!! I hate this job!! Done it too often! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherry Posted April 21, 2009 Share Posted April 21, 2009 I'll have to try this technique. We still have 2 rooms of paper to strip! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
havanaholly Posted April 22, 2009 Share Posted April 22, 2009 I wish I'd known about the fabric softener/ vinegar when we were stripping off old wallpaper that went back 70 years in the last house I repapered! I use RL wallpaper paste in dhs, and the water & vinegar works a charm when I need to change wallpaper. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bree1978 Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 well, I used a product called DIF The bottle says safe, but I suppose it's not because it contains sodium hydroxide.So I'm not sure what their definition of 'safe' is......Well, I'll post because someone may stumble upon this thread in the future. I also used the scoring tool to perforate the paper for the DIF to soak in. I don't know what kind of wallpaper I had, one had a fabric like feel and the other was definitely paper. S Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KathieB Posted April 23, 2009 Share Posted April 23, 2009 DIF is a commercial (read more expensive) product that doesn't do much more than the vinegar/fabric softener mixture. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grynche Posted April 24, 2009 Author Share Posted April 24, 2009 My friend has had great success with the fabric softener/water method and asked me to say thanks for the help. She found lots of toddler-height artwork unerneath the paper, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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