Remove stubborn old wallpaper from the wall - tips

• Material and preparation
• Peel off wallpaper
  • 1. Dish soap and water
  • 2. Steam cleaner or steam wallpaper remover
  • 3. Multitool
• Problem plasterboards
• The right wallpaper
• Tips for quick readers

With a beautiful wallpaper, the feeling of space can be completely changed. The color, as well as the structure and the pattern first create the homely mood that is so important to us. But before the joy of the new room decoration is the work. The old wallpaper has to be removed. Depending on the age and style of the old wallpaper can mean a lot of effort.

Woodchip is a horror for do-it-yourselfers, at the latest when this type of wallpaper is to be removed again. If the woodchip was then painted over a few times, it becomes even more unruly. But even vinyl wallpapers, which have a water-repellent or even scrub-resistant surface, are very persistent in their will to survive. Anyone who once had to free several walls from a stubborn wallpaper swears to use only thin paper wallpapers in the future. But first the old wallpaper has to go down. How to get even a water-repellent wallpaper from the wall, we show here in the tips and instructions. Read our purchase instructions for the next time.

Material and preparation

You need this:

• spatula
• spiked roller
• Tassel / wide paintbrush
• bucket
• Steam Cleaner / Steam Wallpaper Remover
• Multitool / oscillating multi tool with spatula attachment
• ladder
• wallpaper stripper
• dish soap
• soft soap
• water

Mission wallpaper down - get to the spatula

The luck to find a simple paper wallpaper without further paint, do not have home improvement too often. Nevertheless, first check what is on the wall. A paper wallpaper gets dark when it comes into contact with water, because it simply absorbs the water. As a result, it dissolves very easily from the wall when it is completely moistened with water and detergent. Then the wallpaper at the top of the corners can be solved with the spatula and often pulled down in one go. Of course, it is rarely so easy, so we'll show you the solutions to real problem cases right here. But also note the special instructions on walls and slopes made of plasterboard, here are special conditions.

First, you should completely clear the room, because many methods to replace the wallpaper, but can pollute the environment heavily. If the flooring is to be preserved, it must be protected from the moisture that arises when removing the wallpaper. Lay out a film and glue it so that it does not slip constantly. If a slide is too slippery for you, you can use a paint fleece. But then you should not be so generous with the water. In addition, you should protect all light switches and sockets from moisture. To do this, remove the panels and glue the film over the electrical connections with waterproof masking tape.

Peel off wallpaper

1. Dish soap and water

The stronger the wallpaper, the more detergent should be added to the lukewarm water. Of course, that brings nothing more at a certain time. Then it can help to make the water even warmer. Wear rubber gloves so you do not feel the hot water. You have to find the right time when the wallpapers are soaked well, but not yet dry again. Depending on the background and the number of wallpaper layers, this varies slightly.

• warm water with dish soap
• Moisten walls well and leave to work
• Always pull wallpaper slightly diagonally
• slowly peel off the wallpaper from above

Tip: If the wallpaper has already been painted over or if it is water-repellent, then the spiked or nailed roller will help you. You should place the spiked roller on a telescopic pole so you do not always have to go up and down the ladder. Pay attention to sturdy shoes, as the moisture can make both ladder and floor quite slippery.

Wallpaper remover, as it is offered in the hardware store, works in principle just like the detergent. Again, it is important that the solvent is mixed with warm water and can penetrate sufficiently deep into the wallpaper sheets. In the instructions of the manufacturer different exposure times are provided. Between 15 and 45 minutes, the wallpaper remover should usually soak. Depending on the surface, either the detergent mixture or the wallpaper remover will help you better, so you should use the detergent that you already have at home in the first attempt.

2. Steam cleaner or steam wallpaper remover

The steam cleaner, which is commonly used to clean the floor or windows, can work wonders when peeling wallpaper strips. You should break the wallpaper again with the nail roller, so that the steam can penetrate behind the tracks. Then set the steam cleaner to the hottest level, if it is adjustable, and slowly guide the wide floor nozzle in serpentine lines from top to bottom over the tracks. Be careful when working with the hot steam. First turn off the steam cleaner before starting to scrape off the wallpaper. Your fingers will thank you. Again, you should start at the top with the detachment of the webs. If you have steamed the wallpaper well in the upper area, the train could, if you are lucky, be able to meet you by yourself.

Tip: There are, of course, special steam devices, which are intended only for removing the wallpaper strips. These work in principle as well. But if you only need a steamer for this once, the purchase will probably not be worthwhile.

• Break up wallpaper with nail scooter
• Place wide steam nozzle or floor nozzle
• Preheat steam cleaner - highest level
• Move the nozzle of the steam cleaner in wavy lines from top to bottom
• after a moment of exposure from above, peel off the wallpaper with the spatula

3. Multitool

The oscillating multitool, which we have often raved about, is the last resort, so to speak. If a wallpaper can not be removed with moisture or with great force, then you can at least make it much easier to work with a wide spatula attachment in front of the dicer. Look at the hardware store for a multitool with as wide a spatula as possible. Nevertheless, you should dampen the tracks before, then the shaking spatula of the oscillating device can work even more effectively.

Problem plasterboards

On slopes or Rigipsdecken you must not apply so much moisture and the steam cleaner bans itself here also. In addition, the nail roller is the death of the plasterboard. They would pierce the thin cardboard layer of the plasterboard and the moisture could enter the gypsum. As a result, the plates swell or even dissolve completely.

So you hardly have a choice, if you have to replace stubborn wallpaper strips of plasterboard, you moisten the tracks with a detergent-water mixture and wait a little moment. Then you start with the removal of wallpaper strips. Do not moisten for a second time, when the wall is almost dry again.

• Do not use the nail roller
• little moisture
• no steam cleaner
• wide spatula

Tip: The softer and more sensitive the surface is - like plasterboard - the wider your spatula should be. With a narrow spatula, prick lightly into the ground while scratching. The wide spatula has a larger contact surface and does not hack into the wall so quickly. Especially with plasterboard, where it is not possible to thoroughly soak the wallpaper webs, a little more pressure must be exerted, so that the wallpaper dissolves.

The right wallpaper

Never again stubborn wallpaper webs - purchase advice

If you've finally scraped the old stubborn wallpaper, most home improvement do not swear to take that trouble again. But you do not have to, if you pay attention to some tips when shopping and wallpapering. If you have already decided on a specific wallpaper, but not all is lost, because you can coat the wall with a special change ground. This primer allows the wallpaper to be peeled off later. In most cases, the complete web can be pulled down in one go. Especially for plasterboard, this coat of paint is the ideal solution because the wallpaper does not have to be soaked when it is peeled off.

Splittable or completely removable - change wallpaper easily

A fissile peelable wallpaper splits when peeling off. You can peel off the top decorative layer, while the bottom paper layer remains like a waste on the wall and is covered with paper. These types of wallpaper require some skill in wallpapering, as they like to roll up a little at the edges. But with the right glue and an edge roller, the edges can be pressed.

Resilient wallpaper is not often to be found, which brings some restrictions on the decor selection. They also cause a bit more work when gluing, but if you compare this work with the painstaking scratching of the wallpaper, the choice is probably clear quickly.

• change reason
• dry removable wallpaper
• fissile dry peelable wallpaper
• completely removable wallpaper

Tip: Almost always it should be a duty to apply a change base before sticking a wallpaper. For about five liters of change you pay from 20, 00 Euro. With a can of five liters, you can grout in about 20 square meters of wall. As a precaution, read the manufacturer's instructions. This primer is often dilutable with water and therefore easy to wash off the tools. The change base must dry completely before you can start wallpapering.

Tips for quick readers

• Clear the room completely empty
• Cover the floor
• Protect sockets and light switches from moisture
• Soak wallpaper with detergent and water
• Use wallpaper remover as an alternative
• Spiked / nailed scooter for breaking up the webs
• Peel off the wallpaper at an angle from above
• Apply a little moisture to plasterboards
• no nail roller on Rigipsschrägen or ceilings
• use wide spatula
• Avoid problem in the future with change reason
• Stick fissile or completely removable wallpaper