How to quickly and easily remove old wallpaper from walls
The easiest way to clean walls from old wallpaper is with water.But sometimes it is convenient to tear off the coating dry, helping yourself with a spatula or improvised means and removing it in whole sheets.
It is not advisable to glue new wallpaper over old ones.
Common in past years paper wallpaper Today they are almost out of use. Dense ones are mainly used vinyl or non-woven species that have a corrugated, uneven, shiny surface. Other materials do not adhere well to them. A person can spend a lot of time and effort, applying increasingly thick glue, but as a result, fail to achieve the desired result.
In addition, modern materials have a fairly large mass. Glued on top of old paper wallpaper, they will not last long, slipping under the weight of their weight.
There is another reason why you should not carry out such work without clearing the walls of the old coating. The fact is that over the years it begins to move away in the corners, at joints, near the baseboards. Such protruding elements will still have to be torn off, which means the wall will not be completely cleaned.
As a result, the old pieces will shine through the new ones or create unevenness and bulges that are noticeable to the eye. In addition, during the pasting process, undesirable consequences such as bubbles, wrinkles, places where the new layer lags behind and other defects cannot be avoided. A damp old covering, especially if it consists of several layers, can come off the wall, and in the morning a person will see new wallpaper lying on the floor.
How to remove wallpaper simply by hand
The simplest, most inexpensive, but at the same time time-consuming way to clean a wall of old paper wallpaper is to remove it by hand. There is nothing difficult about this if the paper lends itself well and comes off on its own.Often, wallpaper can be removed in whole sheets; just pull it from above or below.
The central parts may not give in, but here it is enough to arm yourself with a knife or spatula for the process to continue further. The main thing is to try not to damage the walls with a sharp object, without deepening it too much, otherwise the surface will have to be puttied later.
You can find out in advance how easy it will be to clean wallpaper from the wall by looking at the special icons on the roll.
Water is a proven method for removing wallpaper
If you need to quickly clean the walls of old wallpaper, water will help. This method is preferable because it creates less dust, dirt and debris, but it has disadvantages.
In particular, it is necessary to additionally protect switches, sockets and other elements that are “afraid” of water from moisture. In addition, you will need tools and devices that can significantly speed up and simplify the process.
The procedure for cleaning the surface of the walls from old material:
- Protect sockets, switches and other electrical elements from water. You can hide them under a layer of tape or cover them with plastic.
- Prepare water to wet the old coating. It should be warm, preferably slightly hot. In addition, it will be easiest to clean the surface with water with the addition of liquid soap or liquid that is used to wash dishes. Fabric softener will also speed up the desired result.
- Prepare a device for wetting. A good solution is to put water in a spray bottle and spray the surface with it. If you can’t find one, you can moisten the old material with an old rag, foam rubber or roller.
- Moisten thoroughly, but do not flood the wall. Leave for time to swell.After about 15-30 minutes, you can easily clean the surface of the walls from old material.
- If the task turns out to be difficult, use special mechanisms for dismantling. These include a perforating or needle roller, as well as a wallpaper tiger. These devices are designed to make holes in old wallpaper so that moisture can easily get inside. If the old material is covered with a moisture-repellent layer, you cannot do without such a tool.
- Clean the wall surface from old decor. If the coating resists somewhere and sits firmly, pry it off with the corner of a spatula or a knife. Moisten the dried again. It is most convenient to start working with seams, areas at the joints, under the ceiling and near the floor.
If in some areas the wallpaper still sits tightly and does not want to give up, you can use a scraper, but work extremely carefully so as not to damage the integrity of the plaster. As a rule, these measures are enough to easily clean the surface of the walls from old material.
If wallpapering was done with PVA glue, experts advise using a soap solution based on laundry soap. Recipe:
- grate a bar of 72% laundry soap;
- pour 4 liters of water;
- put on the stove and boil.
You can refuse heat treatment, but then you need to add 450 ml of an aqueous solution of food grade acetic acid to the water. This dosage is indicated per bucket of liquid. As a rule, this solution can clean even old wallpaper that is difficult to dismantle.
If the material is waterproof, then it is better to use fabric softener - 150 ml per 6 liters of water.
Paper wallpaper needs 5–7 minutes to soak.If the walls are covered in two layers, then this time increases to a quarter of an hour. If necessary, when the coating consists of 2 or more layers, the soaking procedure is repeated.
All these tips will help you quickly clean the surface and prepare it for painting or wallpapering.
How did you clean the walls? Share your tricks in the comments and help those who are just about to start repairing. If you liked the article, bookmark it and repost it on social networks.
We also recommend watching selected videos on our topic.
How to easily remove old wallpaper.
How to quickly remove old wallpaper.
