Remove wallpaper??

[chasineyes]

Any tips on removing 5 year old wallpaper?? Seems like a good weekend project before it gets nice!!!!!!!!

[JohnMickish]

Forget the sprays. Go purchase a wallpaper steamer and perforation tool. I have tried them all in our house and found that the steamer is by far the best.

[Seabass77]

mnfishinguy is absolutely right, renting or borrowing a steamer is the ONLY way to do it. I have tried the other ways, it is terrible.

[Walleye Guy]

Before renting a steamer buy a botle of DIF. The stuff is amazing. Spray it on and scrap it off. That being said, the success of removing wallpaper is directly related to the wall prep done before the wallpaper is insatlled. Spend the $5 on the DIF before renting a steamer. Don't get me wrong, steamer and a paper tiger work great, just try Dif first.

[jweitgen]

Fabric softner diluted down with water can work. Tried the DIF. Love the steamer. Usually combining the above and a lot of cursing will get you through.

[echotrail]

Another vote for the steamer along with a wide blade putty knife. It's the fastest way to finish a messy job.

[Ice chaser]

Steamer works nice but I would stay away from any perforation tool it is hard on the dry wall. The perforation tools leave dimples on the wall that are very visable when painted.

[hartner62]

If you don't want to spend money on the steamer you can do with out. First use a putty knife and take off the top layer of the paper and after you have done that put some dish soap and HOT water in an old windex bottle and spray down the area that you want to remove. After spraying it wait a few minutes and you should start to see it releasing from the wall and then you can spray it again about 5 minutes later. Then take your putty knife and start taking it off, it should come off pretty easy then.

[fishinchicks]

I am currently removing 10 layers of wall paper, down to the 100 year old plaster. I use a wide blade putty knife, and a garden sprayer filled with hot water and a little cheap fabric softener. It will take longer than you expect it to, but just be patient.

[Tom7227]

 Originally Posted By: fishinchicks

I am currently removing 10 layers of wall paper, down to the 100 year old plaster. I use a wide blade putty knife, and a garden sprayer filled with hot water and a little cheap fabric softener. It will take longer than you expect it to, but just be patient.

On Mythbusters they rigged up a water heater by plugging the safety valve and taking out all the over heat switches. The ran it until it blew up. It went through the roof and something like 500 feet in the air, but it also took the wallpaper off.

That may be an easier solution for your 10 coat 100 year job.

[IFallsRon]

Is it paper of vinyl? If it's paper, a sponge and hot water goes a long way toward releasing the glue backing. The worst work will come after you get the paper off.

Be careful when using a perfator. You'll get a lot of pin holes that'll require repair.

[fishinchicks]

 Originally Posted By: Tom7227

On Mythbusters they rigged up a water heater by plugging the safety valve and taking out all the over heat switches. The ran it until it blew up. It went through the roof and something like 500 feet in the air, but it also took the wallpaper off.

That may be an easier solution for your 10 coat 100 year job.

That would do it! I have considered a sledge hammer and just demolishing the whole room, but I don't think hubby would appreciate that.

[Neighbor_guy]

Unless you have done it before, or know what you are doing DO NOT USE THE STEAMER!!!! It can and will damage your drywalls and cause you a lot more patching if you get it wrong.

As stated above, Blue Dawn dish soap and HOT water in a spray bottle will remove most wallpapers. If it is a clay bassed paste then the DIF enzymes work best.

I usualy mix a half bottle of Dif with about 5 tablespoons of dawn in a 5 gallon pail with the hottest water I can stand and use that to fill my sprayer. Work 2 sheats at a time, peel the face of the paper, wet every thing down, then work one sheet while the other just sits wet, when you peeled everything that is ready to come off of the fist, re-wet, and work the second sheet and so on.....

good luck