What is the best way to peel off wallpaper. How to remove wallpaper from walls - ways to quickly remove old wallpaper

Started a renovation and don't know how to remove the old wallpaper? At first glance, there is nothing complicated about this, however, each type of wallpaper material requires its own, special approach.

In this article, we will look at several quick and effective ways to get rid of the old coating, depending on the type of wallpaper.

We remove wallpaper in the traditional way

The easiest and most proven way to get rid of old wallpaper is to use water. First of all, turn off the power in the apartment, and then cover the sockets and switches with masking tape. To make it easier to clean up after the renovation, cover the floor with plastic wrap and secure it with tape so that all dust and debris falls on it.

It is necessary to soak the wallpaper with hot water with the addition of dishwashing detergent. Wait 10-20 minutes and wet again. When the wallpaper swells, they are removed with a spatula, starting from the bottom, prying off the edge of the canvas and removing it. Please note that it is not worth treating the entire wall as a whole, it is better to wet only part of the wall, during which time the old coating will not have time to dry. The remains of the wallpaper can be rubbed with coarse sandpaper, but in such a way as not to damage the putty.

How to remove non-woven wallpaper

This type of wallpaper consists of two layers: the lower one is made of cellulose and the upper one is made of synthetic fibers. Usually the top layer is well separated from the paper base, it is enough to pick up a piece of interlining from below.

First, try to remove this material with moisture. If in this way it was not possible to remove the wall decoration, then try using the “wallpaper tiger”. This is a special device that can perforate wallpaper without damaging the putty layer. Even easier, you can use the sharp tip of a spatula or a spiked roller to make notches on the surface. This is done so that moisture penetrates inside and reaches the paper layer, since non-woven fabric repels water. The wallpaper is wetted with water or a solution of vinegar and can be easily removed as described above.

How to remove vinyl wallpaper

Vinyl wallpaper is a combination of two layers: the top, covered with polyvinyl chloride, and the bottom woven or paper. PVC makes the surface water-repellent. More often these wallpapers are glued on PVA, which is very difficult to remove. Water and special liquids will not help here.

In this case, a mechanical cleaning method is used - a grinding machine. To begin with, the wallpaper is removed with a spatula, and then, strongly pressing the grinder against the wall surface, the remaining fragments are removed. Please note that this method generates a lot of dust, so you need to use a respirator and goggles. In the absence of a grinder, you can use a piece of coarse sandpaper.

The subtleties of removing washable wallpaper

Washable wallpapers do not let water through, so it is impossible to remove them in the traditional way (soaking). But there is another way - to use a steam generator. Under the influence of hot steam, cellulose and glue swell and simply move away from the wall. In the event that you do not have a steam generator or an iron with a steamer in your house, you can use a damp cloth. To do this, attach it to the wall and iron it with a hot iron. Thus, you process the entire wall. After that, pry off the edge of the wallpaper with a spatula and remove it. They should easily move away from the wall, entirely.

Liquid Wallpaper Removal Secrets

Liquid wallpaper is removed very simply - just wet the surface with water, let the material swell and you can remove the coating with a scraper or a wide spatula. If a thick layer of coating has been applied, then the surface must be wetted several times. Liquid wallpaper is convenient because it can be repeatedly applied to the wall. To do this, it is enough to dry the removed coating, and when reusing it, simply wet it with water and reapply to the surface.

If the liquid wallpaper contained a lot of gypsum and adhesive, then they can be removed with a building hair dryer. To do this, they heat the surface of the wall, and after the material begins to crack from exposure to hot air, they are removed with a spatula.

How to clean drywall from old wallpaper

If before sticking the old wallpaper, the drywall was initially puttied, then special chemicals can be used to remove the wallpaper, which dissolve the wallpaper paste well. But keep in mind that such a solution is diluted with water, so it should not be used in large quantities. The fact is that drywall itself easily absorbs moisture, while losing its strength and deforming.

Another way is to use the cheapest wallpaper paste. Dilute it and apply to the surface, in an even layer. It dries for a long time and at the same time pulls the material, because of which the wallpaper easily moves away from the wall.

If none of the methods fit, then you can remove the wallpaper with the top layer of drywall. Since it consists of sheets of paper glued together, it is enough just to pick up the top one and carefully separate it using a molar knife.

Cleaning a wall of old wallpaper is a painstaking process, but it won't take long. Be sure to remove any remaining glue and paper so that the new wallpaper will last long and look beautiful.

Before you stick new wallpaper, you need to prepare the walls. To tear off old wallpaper is not easy and dirty. But this must be done, even if there is confidence that they are very firmly glued to the wall. Anything can be hidden under them, for example, bacteria and mold, which will damage not only the new wallpaper, but also the health of the people who will be in the room. Another reason to tear off the old coating may be that when new ones are glued on them, the old ones will swell and begin to wrinkle and create unpleasant folds on the new canvas. All the flaws and violations of the lower layer will appear - irregularities, parted joints, stains and dirt.

After the old wallpaper is torn off, the walls must be primed for putty, leveled with putty, primed with a composition suitable for new wallpaper.

Preliminary preparation

You will need the following tools to tear off old wallpaper:

  • needle roller on a long handle or wallpaper tiger;
  • water or a special solution for removing wallpaper;
  • bucket for water;
  • sponge for wetting walls;
  • polyethylene film or cardboard.

Important! Before work, be sure to turn off the electricity in the room. Isolate sockets and switches.

They cover the floor with plastic wrap or cardboard so as not to spoil the floor covering.

Preferably - cardboard, as it is not slippery and less traumatic.

The remaining furniture in the room is carefully closed from the possible penetration of dust, dirt and water. You can take a plastic construction film for this.

At the exit from the room, it is better to lay a damp cloth so as not to spread the dirt further.

First step

The walls are carefully rolled with a spiked roller or scratched with a special tool called a wallpaper tiger. This is done to break the integrity of the surface layer of the wallpaper for better moisture penetration. This stage is especially important if the wall covering was moisture resistant. Wallpaper tiger looks like this:

Second phase

The wallpaper is thoroughly soaked with water or a special solution for removing wallpaper. To do this, you need a bucket and a sponge. Instead of a sponge, you can use a rag, foam roller or spray bottle.

Note! The wallpaper and the glue underneath should be saturated with moisture, but make sure that water does not drip onto the floor. You need to start peeling off the old canvas in about ten minutes, until the wall is dry.

Dismantling solution

The special composition consists of surface-active substances (surfactants), foam extinguishers and preservatives. Since wallpaper paste is most often made on the basis of organic polymers or starch, therefore, a substance that destroys organic matter is used to dissolve it.

The defoamer in the composition is needed so that when applying the surfactant, a lot of foam and dirt do not form.

Such a solution quickly reaches the bottom layer of wallpaper, acting on the adhesive as a solvent. After that, some types of wallpaper do not even have to be torn off, they move away on their own.

Important! Do not confuse wallpaper remover with other paint strippers that are toxic.

The advantage of the finished mixture is that it:

  • quickly diluted with tap water;
  • does not contain substances hazardous to health;
  • fireproof;
  • does not irritate the skin and does not cause allergic reactions;
  • has good affordability;
  • does not damage building structures;
  • contains substances that destroy mold and fungus;
  • has a pleasant smell.

Do-it-yourself solution

With your own hands, you can also prepare a special wetting solution to quickly tear off the canvas from the wall:

  1. In a ratio of 1:50, mix water and dishwashing liquid.
  2. Water and washing powder - in proportion, as for soaking laundry.
  3. In addition, you can simply lather the sponge for wetting with simple laundry soap.
  4. Another option is to prepare a saline solution: 4 tablespoons of salt are diluted in 10 liters of water.
  5. Also added to the water - vinegar, ammonia, soda, fabric softener.

How to tear off wallpaper

Tools to peel wallpaper off the wall:


To quickly tear off the coating from the wall, you need to know which one was glued. Let's take a look at some of the main types.

Non-woven wallpaper

Non-woven wallpaper is very quickly and easily torn off the wall, due to the fact that they have a non-woven backing - a material based on cellulose fiber bonded with polymers.

You can tear off the non-woven coating of the walls in different ways:

  1. If you use the dry method, it is easy to tear off the top layer. The lower one, unpainted, remains on the wall. First you need to pick up the top layer of wallpaper at the very bottom of the baseboard with the sharp edge of the spatula. Then take it with your hands and, if possible, evenly pull the canvas up. It is easy to tear off entirely, and the bottom layer will remain on the wall. After carefully examining and making sure that this layer is not damaged and firmly glued to the wall, you can leave it as the basis for a new canvas. If the base is damaged, then it must be removed, go to the second method.
  2. wet way. First, they pass over the wallpaper with a needle roller or a wallpaper tiger, moisten it with a solution with a sponge, then begin to carefully, picking up the wallpaper with a spatula, tear off the wallpaper.

Note! If, when sticking wallpaper, not a special glue, but PVA was used, the process of peeling off the wallpaper from the wall can take a long time. PVA is a very strong glue and you will have to use a drill with a special nozzle or a grinder.

Vinyl wallpapers

Before tearing off vinyl wallpaper, you need to determine on what basis they were made and whether the walls under them are plasterboard or plaster.

Depending on this, there are several ways to tear them off the wall:

  1. With a spatula, it is easy to remove vinyl wallpaper pasted on several layers of wallpaper. They easily move away from the walls. You cannot use a spatula if the resulting multilayer cake was originally glued to a plastered surface - it is very easy to damage it.
  2. The upper polyvinyl layer does not absorb moisture well, so it is torn with a spiked roller or wallpaper tiger, a solution is applied and removed from the wall after 10 minutes. The remaining pieces are removed with a spatula or sandpaper.
  3. Using a steam mop makes the job much easier. Under its influence, the glue quickly swells, dissolves and everything is quickly removed.
  4. If the wallpaper was pasted on drywall, it must be remembered that it does not tolerate moisture and the option of wetting the wallpaper can not be used. In this case, they are moistened with special industrial solutions and then removed.

To save money, you can use cheap wallpaper glue with a long drying period or a primer for these purposes (it evaporates for a long time). If the plasterboard construction was pasted over with PVA glue, you can safely proceed with dismantling. The resulting coating cannot be removed from the plasterboard wall in any way.

How to peel off silkscreen

Silk-screen printing looks very good on the wall, but it will be more difficult to tear it off, since special glue is used for gluing.

The principle of removal is the same as for vinyl:

  • remove the first layer;
  • moisten the second;
  • let the solution soak in;
  • tear off the second layer.

Removing paper wallpaper

In order to quickly tear off paper wallpaper pasted on flour or starch paste, you must:


Remember! For wetting do not take very hot water - you can damage the rough finish or the wall.

Video on how to tear off the wallpaper from the walls:

To qualitatively tear off wallpaper of any kind from the walls, you need to show patience and maximum accuracy. There is no need to rush, because the quality of this work depends on what the room will be like in the future.

Everyone who likes to change the design of the rooms in the house from time to time on their own knows that before starting repairs in the room, it is imperative to completely remove the old finish from the walls. Most often, the old wallpaper coating has to be scraped off, and it is not always possible to remove it completely. But in order for the new decorative finish to lay flat and last for a long time, it is very important to prepare the wall with high quality. We will tell you how to remove the wallpaper from the walls quickly and completely so that you do not linger at this stage of the repair work for too long.

Preparatory work

In order to quickly remove wallpaper from the walls at home, it is very important to carefully prepare the surface first:

  • Before starting work, be sure to free the room from furniture. If you do not have such an opportunity, then cover it with a film or rags.
  • In order to save time and make the cleaning process easier, pre-lay the floors with sheets of cardboard.
  • If you plan to remove the old wallpaper with a wet method, be sure to turn off the electricity first.

Important! If you do not have the opportunity to turn off the electricity, you must carefully close all the switches and sockets with foil and fix it with adhesive tape.

  • Place a damp cloth on the threshold. This is necessary so that dust and debris do not spread to other rooms.
  • Gather all the necessary tools so that nothing distracts you while you work.

What You May Need

Regardless of the type and texture of wallpaper, you may need the following tools to remove them:

  • Ladder;
  • Garbage bags or bags;
  • Gloves;
  • Bucket with warm water;
  • Stationery knife;
  • Sharp spatulas of different sizes and shapes;
  • Sponges;
  • Rags;
  • roller.

Important! If you need to remove vinyl wallpaper, then in this case you will also need a steam generator, a roller with needles and a special tool for removing such canvases.

The main ways to remove old wallpaper

In order to remove old, firmly glued wallpaper from the walls, we bring to your attention several proven methods that will help you do this quickly and without much physical effort.

traditional method

The easiest and most proven way is to use water. For this:

  1. Soak the wallpaper with a hot solution of water and dish soap.
  2. Apply it to the surface with a sponge and wait 10-30 minutes, then repeat the procedure again.
  3. As soon as the wallpaper swells, you can safely proceed to remove it. To do this, using a spatula, pry off the edge of the canvas and remove it.
  4. Scraps that still could not be removed, rub with sandpaper.

Important! It is best not to process the entire wall, but it should be done in parts. This is necessary so that while you work on one side, the second does not have time to dry.

Cleaning with steam

High-quality glue that you could not dissolve with water can be steamed with an iron. For this you will need:

  • Sheet or thin terry towel;
  • Water container;
  • An assistant who will hold the fabric.

The sequence of actions is as follows:

  1. Soak a cloth in water and twist well. Attach it to the wall surface.
  2. Turn on the iron and set it to the highest temperature.
  3. Iron the sheets with a hot iron several times.
  4. Remove the rag, quickly remove the rest of the wallpaper from the wall with a spatula.

Wallpaper fabric can also be softened with a steam generator or steam cleaner. To do this, before starting work, you need to attach a dry sheet. This is necessary in order not to provoke a breakdown of this equipment.

Important! Pay attention to the fact that steam penetrates the surface of the wall, including putty. Therefore, before gluing new canvases, leave the walls alone and let them dry for about 3-4 days. Otherwise, mold may appear.

Special formulations

In order to quickly remove the wallpaper and not spend too much time on this procedure, you can use a special tool for instantly removing paintings from the wall. It can be purchased at hardware stores. As for the release form, the most common is powder or jelly, which are diluted in water before starting work.

To remove wallpaper:

  • Lower the roller into the prepared solution and treat the walls with it.

Important! On water-repellent fabrics, several cuts must first be made before processing.

  • Leave the walls for 2-3 hours so that the paper layer softens and the glue dissolves.

The wallpaper will begin to fall behind on its own, and you will just need to remove it without making any special physical effort.

Important! Despite the fact that manufacturers claim the safety of such compounds, it is better to work with gloves. If the solution comes into contact with the exposed surface of the skin, it must be washed with plenty of clean water.

How to remove old paper wallpaper?

Before starting work, you should pay attention to the fact that there are several types of paper wallpaper, respectively - the methods for removing them are also different:

  • Single layer fabrics. This is the simplest coating that can be removed without much difficulty with ordinary warm water. It is enough to moisten it and leave it to swell for 5-7 minutes. After that, you can safely shoot.
  • Two-layer paper wallpaper, or duplex. They get wet a little longer than single-layer ones. Therefore, after you have moistened the surface, you should wait about 10-20 minutes - it depends on the quality of the material.

Important! Such wallpaper cloths, when removed, may begin to exfoliate. This is not scary if your walls are even and do not require repair, otherwise the procedure will need to be repeated in order to remove the second layer.

  • Washable. Due to the fact that the surface is moisture resistant, it does not let water through, so it is necessary to destroy the top layer in order to remove the canvas. This can be done using a special roller with needles, or as it is also called “wallpaper tiger”. If you do not have one, you can use a metal brush or other sharp object.

Important! Washable paper wallpapers should be moistened several times, with an interval of 15-20 minutes. So they swell well and can be easily removed.

How to remove vinyl wallpaper?

Basically, vinyl wallpaper consists of a paper base and a polymer layer. Due to this combination, they are durable, protected from moisture and do not create difficulties when gluing. In addition, the range of such paintings is simply limitless. They can be washable, foamed, with silk thread, resistant to various solvents and alcohol. Accordingly, it is not so easy to remove vinyl sheets.

Therefore, in this case, you cannot do without a special wallpaper roller with needles. And in order for the process of removing old wallpaper from concrete walls and other surfaces to be faster, you must adhere to the following sequence of actions:

  1. Walk the roller over the entire surface of the walls.
  2. Using a roller or other rag, moisten one sheet, and after 5 minutes - another. Keeping this period of time, treat the entire surface of the wall in this way.
  3. Using a sharp spatula, pry off the top of the strip that you moistened at the very beginning, then gently pull down with smooth movements.
  4. If small pieces remain, then moisten them again and move on to the next canvas. Do the same with the rest of the wallpaper strips.
  5. After you have removed the 3rd canvas, go back to the first one and use a spatula to clean the wall of scraps.
  6. Further work continues with the same interval.

How to remove non-woven wallpaper?

Such canvases consist of fairly durable synthetic fibers that have a waterproof layer. Therefore, in order to remove this decorative coating from the wall:

  1. It is necessary to make cuts using a clerical knife or walk with a special roller with needles.
  2. After this, the canvas can be moistened with water and left for 15-20 minutes.

After the specified time, the glue will swell, and the wallpaper will begin to lag behind the wall surface on its own.

How to remove liquid wallpaper?

Liquid wallpaper is a decorative coating designed for both walls and ceilings. They are made from cotton or cellulose flakes and a water-soluble adhesive. Therefore, you can remove such a coating simply by wetting it with water. For this:

  1. Wet the wallpaper several times with a spray bottle or sponge.
  2. As soon as they swell, easily remove them with a metal spatula or scraper.

Important! Liquid wallpaper is a fairly durable and versatile coating that can be reused even after being removed from the wall.

Removing wallpaper from drywall

Drywall is very often used for interior decoration. It perfectly helps to hide and even out all the defects and irregularities of the walls. Unfortunately, removing wallpaper from a drywall surface is quite difficult. This is due to the fact that this material is covered with a paper layer on top, respectively - by wetting the canvases with water, you can damage the drywall itself. In order to remove old paper wallpaper, it is best to use special chemicals that can be used to dissolve the glue.

Important! The use of chemicals to remove wallpaper from plasterboard walls should be done if the surface has been puttied before gluing.

Another option is to use regular glue. For this:

  1. Apply it to the wall surface and let dry.
  2. After the material swells, remove the old canvases with a spatula.

Important! Sometimes a primer is used instead of glue. The advantage of this method is that you will not only remove the old wallpaper, but also additionally protect the surface.

We bring to your attention a few tips that will help you quickly and easily remove the old wallpaper, even in the most unusual situations:

  • In old buildings, only the top layer of wallpaper should be removed. This is due to the fact that the walls in such rooms are thin and uneven. Therefore, if you do not want a small repair to turn into a major one, then it is better not to touch the second layer.

As you know, to stick new wallpaper on the walls, a lot of time is not required. The only thing, so that this process does not drag out too much, you need to quickly get rid of the old coating.

Why tear off the old coating

Often, home craftsmen have doubts about whether it is necessary to rip off the old finishing material if it adheres well to the walls. However, there are several reasons why this should be done.

Here are the main ones:

  • The old coating does not hold well everywhere. Therefore, the load created, in the form of another wallpaper layer, will quickly reveal these shortcomings.
  • If the old canvases are paper, then the glue will soften them, as a result of which its drying time will increase. But, most importantly, this can cause the old coating to lag behind the wall. Even if the material does not fall off completely, bubbles or wrinkles may appear on the walls.
  • If the wallpaper is vinyl, then it is impossible to ensure good adhesion to them, moreover, as a rule, they are embossed, which also excludes the possibility of gluing them over the wallpaper.

So, cleaning the walls from old material is a mandatory operation. However, it will not take much time and effort, since every home master can quickly tear off the wallpaper from the wall, as you will see for yourself.

Ways to remove wallpaper

hands

Often, a dilapidated coating is held, as they say, on parole. In this case, you can remove it with your own hands. To do this, you just need to pry off the edge of the canvas with a spatula or other sharp object and pull it to the side.

Perhaps, with one jerk, it will be possible to remove the entire canvas. In those places where the material holds well, you should use a sharp tool.

With the help of water

If you can’t tear the canvas with your hands, then water will help in this case.

The instruction looks like this:

  • First of all, you need to soak the canvases. To do this, they can be treated with a foam roller dipped in water for painting, a sponge, or sprayed with water with a spray gun. It is best to use warm water, which will speed up the process.
  • Before tearing off washable wallpaper, you should tear off the protective layer from them or make cuts in certain places. You can also use a special tool - a roller with needles, which, after rolling over the surface, leaves small holes. After that, the canvas must be wetted in the manner described above.
  • Then you need to wait about five minutes until the material is saturated with water..
  • Wet cloths will easily lag behind the surface.
  • If in some places the coating does not lag behind, then the wet residues should be scraped off with a spatula..

Note!
Before wetting the walls with water, it is necessary to turn off the electricity so that the water does not close the contacts of the wires that are energized.

In the photo - a needle roller

Use of chemicals

Progress, of course, does not stand still. Therefore, special chemicals for removing old wallpaper have appeared on the construction market. I must say that their price is quite affordable, so this option should also be considered.

The product is applied with a sponge or a regular roller. The liquid is non-toxic, but at the same time it is absorbed into the coating structure much faster than water. After the canvases are saturated with the composition, they are easy to tear off with your hands.

With steam

Another effective way to easily peel off old wallpaper is to use steam. Of course, the steam generator will do the job best. However, not everyone has such a setup.

Therefore, you can create steam with improvised means. The easiest way is to attach a damp cloth to the wall and iron it with an iron. Even better if the iron has a vertical steam function. In this case, the process will be faster.

mechanically

Sometimes there are situations when the coating cannot be removed from the walls by any of the methods described above. In this case, more drastic measures must be taken, for example, using a grinder with a coarse-grained nozzle.

Of course, this method is quite dirty and dusty, and there is a high probability of spoiling the surface of the wall. However, in this case there is no other effective way to quickly remove the old finish. The only thing is that the grinder can not be used for all walls, but only for those areas that cannot be cleaned off in another way.

Note!
When working with a grinding machine, it is necessary to protect the respiratory tract with a respirator.

Here, perhaps, are all the main ways to tear off the wallpaper from the wall.

Surface preparation for wallpapering

I must say that the preparation of the surface for gluing the new material is not over.

In addition to removing the wallpaper, you still need to perform some other actions:

  • First of all, the walls should be washed from old glue, dust and other contaminants.
  • Then the surface must be covered with a primer layer.
  • If the rough finish was damaged during the removal of the old material, it is necessary to perform puttying.
  • When the putty dries, the walls must be treated again with a primer.

After that, you can proceed directly to wallpapering.

In order for the new finish to hold well, it is important to properly prepare the surface: remove old wallpaper, putty cracks, prime the walls. In this article, we will consider how to remove wallpaper from the walls without special material costs and nervous shocks.

If you have to clean a wall plastered with cement mortar, puttied, and the wallpaper, although it has lost its appearance, has not lost its strength (they do not tear under your hands), consider yourself lucky, because you can do it in a few minutes. But if the coatings are thin, easily torn, and even glued to PVA glue, it will seem to you that it is easier to sheathe the wall with drywall than to get rid of the hated wallpaper sheets. Of all the species, the hardest to remove are the old paper ones from the Soviet era. This is due to the characteristics of the material, with the quality characteristics of the glue used in those days, at best - CMC, at worst - Bustilat, carpentry glue, PVA. Such coatings are almost impossible to tear off the whole canvas. They have to be scraped off with effort, centimeter by centimeter. This is a rather tedious task.

Before pasting the walls, the old material must be completely removed.

Previously, before pasting, the walls were prepared by pasting newspapers. If there was already a paper coating on the walls, then they did not remove it, but simply applied a new one on top of the old one. Over the years, many layers could accumulate on the walls, firmly glued to each other. Leaving such a disgrace on the wall is not hygienic: mold and various insects often start up. This causes an unpleasant smell in the apartment.

The situation is especially dangerous when there are small children in the house, because fungal damage to the walls is the main cause of allergic diseases. To free yourself from all these remnants of the past, there are several ways described below.

Tools and materials

  • a bucket of warm water, in which it is better to add dishwashing detergent;
  • paint roller, foam sponge or sprayer.
  • metal spatula or scraper;
  • ladder;
  • masking tape;
  • polyethylene film;
  • chemical washes for wallpaper;
  • metal brush;
  • iron and a flap of cotton fabric.

It is more convenient to shoot from top to bottom. You should pry off the upper edge with a spatula, then pull it down, prying off poorly lagging places. This may be sufficient. But if the wallpaper does not come off well, additional moisture will be needed to soften the old glue.

It is convenient to work from top to bottom, "picking up" firmly attached areas with a spatula

Work order

  1. Before starting work, it is necessary to observe elementary technical safety rules, because there are electrical switches and sockets on the walls. And in the work, you may have to use water or other conductive liquids. Therefore, for the duration of the work, it is necessary to turn off the electricity, seal the sockets, wires and switches with masking tape
  2. A plastic film with a width of at least 50 cm must be glued to the baseboard with adhesive tape. The other end of the film is glued to the floor. This will make the cleaning process easier.
  3. We soak the old coatings with warm water and dish detergent or liquid soap. You do not need to immediately take on a large area, because while you are scraping in one place, it will already have time to dry in another. For better penetration of water, the surface of the wallpaper must be scratched with a knife or scraper. After swelling, clean the wall with a spatula. You can apply special chemical washes. According to the instructions, the solution is prepared and applied with a sponge or spray. Such washing solutions have high permeability and well destroy the adhesive layer, after which removal will not be difficult.

If you cannot remove the wallpaper in the usual way

If soaking doesn't work, try steaming with a piece of damp cotton and an iron. It is necessary to scrape while the walls are hot.

If there are still residues of glue that cannot be removed in any way, remove it with a large emery cloth, preferably with a grinder. Irregularities remaining on the walls will need to be puttied.

Modern wallpapers are much easier to clean than old ones.

  • Most of them are two-layer, which provides for the possibility of delamination. In this case, you can only remove the outer decorative layer, which has lost its appearance, and the "substrate" will remain on the wall and will serve as the basis for new ones.
  • Modern wallpaper glue has good adhesive properties and at the same time dissolves easily with special washes or warm water, which greatly simplifies the process.

The method of removal is determined by the type of wallpaper and the nature of the surface on which they were pasted. Walls can be with a durable moisture-resistant surface or plasterboard. But the question inevitably arises: how to remove washable wallpaper coverings.

How to remove vinyl wallpaper

They have two layers. The first is the base, which is glued to the surface of the wall, it can be paper or non-woven. The second is vinyl (polyvinyl chloride), which gives moisture-resistant and decorative properties. It is not necessary to remove them from the walls completely; they provide for the possibility of removing only the outer PVC layer. The base remains on the wall, provided that it is securely glued. Depending on the base material, vinyl wallpapers are paper and non-woven. If it is necessary to completely remove the paper ones, you can first tear off the outer layer, and soak the base with water and clean it off with a metal spatula.

Parting with the old interlining

It is advisable to remove only the outer layer, since the remaining interlining, strengthening the wall, will serve as a good base. If you decide to remove it completely, then the non-woven base is stronger than paper, and therefore it is easier to remove it. It is enough to pry off the edge with a spatula and gently tear it off the wall from top to bottom, helping with a spatula to tear off hard-to-lagging places. If necessary, during tearing off the inner layer can be moistened.

Wallpaper puncher (tiger)

How to "free" drywall from wallpaper

It is undesirable to moisten the surface abundantly - you can damage the drywall by removing the place with cardboard. If the drywall was not primed before pasting, then it will be almost impossible to remove wallpaper from it without damaging the cardboard layer. In order to do this, it is better to use special washes. To increase the effectiveness of the wash, the surface must be scratched or notched; you can make perforation with a knife, spatula, notched roller or a special wallpaper tiger.

In especially severe cases, when not wallpaper glue was used, but for example PVA, you can try to remove it along with a thin layer of cardboard. Since it consists of thin glued sheets of paper, you only need to peel off the outer sheet. This should be done carefully, carefully peeling it off with a paint knife. If you decide to do this, do not forget to putty and prime the surface before pasting new ones.

After perforation and moistening, the wallpaper is easier to remove.

How to remove liquid wallpaper

This is a decorative and finishing coating of walls and ceilings, consisting of cellulose or cotton flakes with dyes and other components. The composition contains a water-soluble adhesive, with which they are kept on the surface. The glue dissolves with water even after drying. In order to remove liquid wallpaper, you must first soak it well. A spray bottle, foam rubber sponge or rag will come in handy here. It is advisable to wet the surface several times. After they swell well, they are scraped off with a scraper or a metal spatula. The mass removed from the wall can be reused if desired.

Work will progress faster if a steam stripper is used to moisten the pasted wall.

If the repair is dragging on and you are running out of time, it will be useful information on how to get rid of the old wallpaper, using professional tools, such as a steam stripper. This device is good because it simultaneously heats and moisturizes the surface. With the help of superheated steam, old dried adhesive can also be effectively removed. The impact on the wall surface is minimal.

Video: another effective way

Old wallpaper can be removed with a film. Watch the video, it is possible that you will like this particular option.

Removing unnecessary wallpaper is not so difficult, it is important to take into account some features of the materials used.