How To Strip Wallpaper

You may have loved your wallpaper when you first put it on your walls, but now it has grown old. Besides, your wallpaper may be coming out from the edges, which mars the interior decoration of your house. So, you feel like going for new wallpaper, which will be as per the present fashion trend. At the first instance, stripping wallpaper may seem to be an easy job. You may think that you can remove the wallpaper by wetting the walls and peeling it off. But when you are actually into the task, you will know the exact difficulties. Though some paper scraps will come off in large panels, you will find that there are many small paper strips and a lot of gel that remain on the wall. In order to achieve a perfect stripping, you need to follow certain procedures. We bring you some tips on how to strip wallpaper in a clean manner and in a very short duration of time.

How To Remove Wallpaper

Things Required

Wallpaper Stripper
Spackling Paste
Rubber Gloves
Gel
Sponge
Putty Knife
Sandpaper
Garbage Bag

Procedure

Take out the picture and fixtures, if any, from the wall. Also remove the sockets, switch plates and outlet covers, whichever possible, from the wall.
If you can get an edge of the paper that has come out from the wall, get hold of it. Peel the paper out of the wall. Remove as many papers as you can, in this way. Put them in the garbage bag that is kept on the floor.
You will find that the larger strips of wallpaper have been removed, but there are many small sections of papers that still remain on the wall.
Take the wallpaper stripper gel and spray it on a small square section of the wall, which has the small strips of wallpaper.
Allow the gel to set for a minimum of 20 minutes. Use a putty knife to scrape the paper off the wall.
Before scraping the paper, make sure that you wear rubber gloves. You may need to apply some pressure to scrape off the paper. Still, try to have smooth movements, so as not to gouge the wall.
After the paper has been scraped off, there may be some of the back portion of the paper along with some parts of the gel remaining on the wall.
Take a sponge and wet it. Rub the area with the remains, using the wet sponge. Some of the left-over things will come out. Some paper parts may be too stubborn to be removed even now. In that case, use the putty knife again.
Clean the area using the wet sponge. Once that section is cleaned, move on to the next section.
Once you are done with the stripping of wallpapers, check if there is any damage to the wall.
In case you find any damage, repair it with the help of spackling paste. Apply the paste over the damages, like gouges, holes etc and allow it to dry for 24 hours. Spread the paste into a layer, using the putty knife.
Once the wall is dry, use the medium sandpaper to sand the wall. Now, the wall is ready to be painted or adorned with another wallpaper, to be given a new fascinating look.

Tips

If you are not getting the wallpaper stripper gel, you can make a downy mixture and apply it to the wall. For making the mixture, mix one part of liquid downy with three parts of water.
Stripping wallpapers off the wall is a messy process. Keep the furniture and other items far away from the wall. This is a time-taking affair and thus, you need to be highly patient while doing it.

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