Do’s and Don’ts of Removing Wallpaper

Although wallpaper might not be as popular today as it was 20 years ago, decorative wallpaper is slowly making a comeback. If you find yourself in the situation of moving into a house with wallpaper or wanting to take down your own wallpaper project, these helpful tips should assist you in this process to ensure an easier project.

1. The first step is to prepare your space. You’ll want to clean up the area thoroughly before beginning any wallpaper removal. This means taking down ceiling fans (if applicable), removing outlet covers, moving rugs and/or furniture, and laying down drop cloths. Preparing your area beforehand will make sure you have a smoother overall project with minimal mess.
2. The next step is to peel a small section of the wallpaper to test how strongly glued the wallpaper is. This will help you gage how hard the removal will be without trying to tear off a large section to begin with. If you’re finding the paper is fixed with strong adhesives, you’ll want to mix up a solution that will make removal easier. This solution should be 1:1 parts of hot water and fabric softener in a spray bottle.
3. Finally, it’s time to remove the wallpaper. Either peel by hand if it’s easy or use your solution to aid in the removal. Either way, get that paper off the wall.

If you are going to continue the project into repainting the wall(s), you’ll want to first clean up your wallpaper mess. Remove all residual wallpaper and be sure your area is prepped again for the next job.

Then, sand down the walls. Sanding the walls before you paint will make sure your walls return to a clean, even state with no adhesives. This is an important step you won’t want to miss. Following the sanding, patch up any holes in the wall caused by either nails or drywall removal.

Lastly, you’re ready to prime and paint your walls! Make sure you prime the walls before diving into painting to make sure you’ll get the best, most even coverage out of your paint.

If you follow these steps, you should have a smooth wallpaper removal and repainting process! If the job seems too difficult, don’t feel too shy to call in the professionals.

Photo courtesy of Pixabay by Jtpatriot.