Remove Old Vinyl Wallpaper

Pull off the facing.

Remove old vinyl wallpaper.

It may come away in small strips or the vinyl may become soft making it harder to strip off of the wall. If you are removing vinyl coated wallpaper with a steamer you still have to use a scoring tool to punch holes in the paper so the steam can reach the glue. Pour two gallons of warm water into a bucket and add about 2 ounces of wallpaper stripper solution. Washable vinyl wallpaper is a durable and easy to clean wall covering found in many homes.

Do this step without using any water to begin the old wallpaper removal process. We assume the little holes in the wall are. Hgtv expert steve watson shows how to remove vinyl wallpaper. Some types of wallpaper are more soluble than others.

Once the paper is soaked you can scrape it away from the wall. Wallpaper of this vintage is probably vinyl on a paper backing the vinyl prevents the spray you bought from penetrating the wallpaper to the glue. Typically this vinyl layer will come off in strips rather than as an entire sheet. Start by peeling off the vinyl from the paper backing.

Next spray liquid wallpaper remover onto the remaining paper then use a trowel to spread the liquid over the paper so it soaks in thoroughly. That way the backing will easily soak up water making the rest of the wallpaper removal faster and easier. Don rubber gloves then soak wallpaper removing fabric in the bucket of stripper solution. It s not hard but be prepared for a mess.

Older wallpaper that has been up for a decade or more will be hardest to remove but scoring it with a putty knife can help you lift off a new section. Only when all of the vinyl is removed can you begin to tackle the rest of the wallpaper layers. Vinyl papers like the ones used in bathrooms and kitchens may even repel water. Removing vinyl wallpaper can be a very difficult job if you don t take it off in the correct way.

Removing washable vinyl wallpaper. A steamer uses boiling water to soften the glue between the wallpaper and the wall. Remove old wallpaper in 9 steps. Vinyl wallpaper will often create a big mess when you try and remove it from the wall using conventional methods.

Removing it to paint or repaper however is not so easy. Run a scoring tool in overlapping circles over the entire wallpapered surface.