Removing Wall Paper Glue
I have removed the vinyl layer of the wall paper which apparently has been on for 20 years but the paper part and glue is only coming off in tiny pieces. I have tried vinegar in hot water and bought a wall paper remover product from Canadian Tire but can not get the paper and glue off. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Enza from Toronto Canada
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
We are removing wallpaper right now that we first put on twenty years ago. We use hot water and sponges. If the paper has a solid vinyl face then it needs to be stripped off first. Very simple to get this face off, each panel usually comes off in one piece. The stuff we are doing now is just a paper but must have some coating cause water wont penetrate it. Its coming off in little hunks and is very time consuming. just keep the water hot and the paper backing should peel off with a metal scraper. some people say to use vinegar or fabric softener with the water, I don't use anything but maybe if I did it would be easier. (05/21/2006)
By Fordluv
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
On an HGTV show, they used a bleach water solution to remove wall paper glue. I hope this works. Good luck! (05/21/2006)
By shopping_addiction_woman
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
Greetings:
Recently, I removed the wallpaper boarder in my living room and kitchen. I found the trick to doing this rather easily was to wash over the paper first with hot water. Do this on several swipes. Take edge of paper and slowly pull it off. Wipe over remaining paper/glue with hot water again and gently scrape off with a small metal spatula blade. (The kind you use for spackling walls). It worked for me.
Good luck and God bless.
Mary McLuckie (05/21/2006)
By Mary M.
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
I used a mix of liquid fabric softener & water, half/half Score paper and spray mix.
Let soak for several minutes. Pull paper off, spray again
if all did not come off. Easy & cheap. Just wash walls to get softener off. Thanks Donna (05/21/2006)
By Donna
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
I found using a scoring tool from a home improvement store worked best. First I scored the wallpaper and then sprayed it with warm water. After the paper soaked for a few minutes it scraped off easily. The scoring tool allowed the water to penetrate the paper. I found the tool in the wallpaper section of the store. Good luck. (05/21/2006)
By thriftychristy
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
I once saw on Trading Spaces they used a mixture of hot water and Dawn dish soap. It cane off very easily for them. (05/23/2006)
By jillian357
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
I have also used a liquid fabric softener and water blend to remove some very stubborn wallpaper in my bathroom that the previous owners had applied directly to unpainted drywall. It worked great, and smelled pretty good too! Fill about 1/3 of a standard spray bottle with cheap liquid fabric softener and then fill up with water. Spray all over the wallpaper and let sit for about 15 minutes and then check it. It should be buckling away from the wall and easily peel away - respray the sections that are still stuck while you peel away the others. Some fabric softeners are more diluted than others so add more to your bottle if it's not working. (05/23/2006)
By mef1957
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
THANK YOU ALL for your great advise. I will try the fabric softener and water and then if that doesn't work we'll move to the Dawn and water and if that doesn't work WE'LL PANEL THE WALLS as I would have tried every possible suggestion.
Your responses are greatly appreciated.
TAKE CARE ALL (05/24/2006)
By Enza
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
I tried the water and fabric softener (but I used fabric conditioner) and it seemed to work pretty well. It was better than scrubbing it off with hot water! I recommend you try it, if you are having trouble removing the glue. (05/29/2006)
By kate
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
I have tried hot water and vinegar, water & fabric softener, and hot water and Dawn dish washing liquid. The hot water and vinegar solution was best for the wallpaper removal. The hot water and Dawn was best to remove the glue. I prefer sponging on the solution waiting 5 minutes and then sponging on more hot water solution and waiting 10 minutes before starting removal. I found the process to be hard work and nothing came off easy. Be sure to see how smooth the wall is after paper and glue are removed. Then either spackle small imperfections or use joint compound for larger imperfections and then lightly sand. I prefer to prime the area in case of any residual glue. The best primer I have used is Kilz Interior "Oderless" Oil Based primer. Yes, oil based is more work but it covers any small amounts of adhesive and prevents latex paint runs. (02/08/2007)
By sigma6
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
Yes, a fifty fifty percent solution of Snuggle softener with warm water in a sprayer dissolved the glue nicely.
This was the tip from an older painter working at Lowes. I was a skeptic. It worked! (10/12/2007)
By Rich M.
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
I am going through some major wall paper problems myself. The wallpaper that had been put on our walls has got to be at least 25+ years old. We used scouring tools, we used warm water and a sponge with a scraper, we used wall paper remover (some blue solution in a spray bottle),etc. and our walls are so trashed because we can NOT get all of the glue off. It is starting to take the paint off and work its way to the drywall. we have so much patching that I don't even know if it is worth trying to fix. we really should just rip the wall out and start over with a fresh new wall. If you have any ideas as to what to do for STUBBORN WALLPAPER GLUE it would be very helpful. I am at the end of my rope and it is so frustrating and sad to see what has been done! (01/26/2008)
By Carmen Ryan
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
I had a heck of a time removing 20+ year wallpaper from a room (although the first room I did was very easy to remove). I used a warm-air humidifier (the ones that steams water to humidify a room), turned it on high, and let it sit in the room with the door closed for 2 hours. All the wallpaper peeled off in large and long strips. I then used soap/water solution to get the rest of the glue off. (02/24/2008)
By dean
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
I tried both vinegar and Dawn. Dawn worked so much better. Dawn actually worked very well. (03/29/2008)
By Roger
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
I just did my bedroom that had 30-40 year old wallpaper on it and all I used was STEAM. Worked great and was done in 1/2 an hour. I highly recommend this. I used the STEAM BULLET. (05/06/2008)
By Bobbi
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
Steam! (05/06/2008)
Removing Wall Paper Glue
I have removed the wall paper border, but the adhesive remained. Any idea's of how to remove, or can you just paint over it? Thank You
Dorothy from Madison, WI
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
Try vinegar like 1/2 a cup in some hot water. Use an old cloth and wipe it on, let it set. Don't let it drip down the walls. This should remove the glue. Also a plastic scraper once the glue has been softened might help. When you paint over a "messy" area it will show beneath your nice new paint job. Also, the walls should be washed well with a solution of TSP, found in hardware stores. Wash from the bottom up. Rinsing your cloth in a bucket of clean water between washings helps to keep the walls streak free. Painting is the easy part, the prep is the work. (06/17/2008)
By Amanda
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
There is a product by Zisser called DIF. I'd be cautious about using vinegar on sheet rock because it is what is added to tape/bedding "mud" to soften it so it will dry slower. The vinegar might affect dry sheet rock through tiny holes or cracks? God bless and help you.
(06/18/2008)
By Lynda
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
We had 4 layers of wallpaper over plaster walls dating back at least 60 years. We used DIF to remove the paper, but were left with a lot of sticky glue. I sprayed the wall with Green Works Natual All-Purpose cleaner. I let it sit for about 2 minutes and then using a Dobie Pad and very hot water wiped the glue off with little effort. I was left with very smooth walls. (07/26/2008)
By Sandy65
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
I had the most success with the heavy duty Dawn and vinegar. (08/03/2008)
By njn343
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
A mixture of hot water and laundry softener and some detergent, and a wet sanding sponge. Wet, sand it off (keep rinsing the sponge), then wipe of with a hot, wet rag. Works like a charm. You can also use Dawn soap, the sanding sponge is the key to getting the left over glue off. (10/03/2008)
By Crystal
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
I read the comments and tried the Dawn solution, very hot water, and a Chore Boy pad/sponge. After working the wall and rinsing frequently, I followed with a wipe down of very hot clear water and 1 cup vinegar as a final step to clean and neutralize. If none of this works for you as was the case with a friend and you are ready to throw in the towel, because the wall is damaged and requires too much repair, do what my friend did. She had a light knockdown texture applied to her walls and then painted them. Actually, they look awesome. (10/21/2008)
By Julie
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
(submitted via email)
I had the same problem. I used the product Wallwik. Go to wallwik.com. It really works.
By jess
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
I have a Conair Stand Up Stream Pressing Wand which works wonders. Then wipe with vinegar and hot water not letting it run down your wall. Good luck. (02/23/2009)
Removing Wallpaper Glue
Does anyone know how to get old wallpaper glue off of walls? Most of it came off with wallpaper stripper, but there are still little bits left here and there.
By Shirlgirl from Phoenix, AZ
RE: Removing Wall Paper Glue
Use one of those sponges with the scrubby thing on one side with some Lestoil in water. After scrubbing, go over the wall with a wash cloth type rag. If it seems that you are not getting it all off, wait until the wall is dry and you will see that you probably did. (07/17/2009)
By Beth
Removing Wallpaper Glue
How do you remove glue from the walls after removing wallpaper?
By Magaha
RE: Removing Wallpaper Glue
Usually you keep using whatever wallpaper stripper you used to remove the wallpaper to also remove the paste. I always use Dif concentrate from Zinsser. You mix it with warm or hot water and it works pretty well. (01/29/2010)
By Hawker19
RE: Removing Wallpaper Glue
We just had a weekend project removing wallpaper border from sheet-rock and it left a very thin layer of residue that was sticky to the touch. We tried almost everything in this forum to remove it: soap and hot water, sponges, scrubbing, fabric softener, GooGone, masking tape, Dif, vinegar, Dobies, Green Works....you name it, we tried it.
In the end what we wound up doing was going to Home Depot and buying 100 grit sandpaper and a gallon (way too much, by the way, for our little room and problem area where the wallpaper border was) of "Gardz Problem Surface Sealer" by Zinsser. We then sanded down as much as we could to make the walls smooth (but not digging into the sheet-rock) and then applied the Gardz. It is very runny/milky and doesn't seem at first glance like it would do anything, but after applying that to the residue and waiting 3 hours (per can directions), we were then able to paint over the residue with no problem at all! (03/29/2010)
By dodger9876543
Removing Wallpaper Glue
There's a solution that I've seen sprayed on the glue after the wallpaper has been ripped off, but I can't remember what it was. It was not something bought, but simple liquids found in most homes.
By Retta from Miami, FL
RE: Removing Wallpaper Glue
I have the same project partially done in a room with plaster walls. The paper is off completely, but I need to clean the walls before I prime and paint again. After reading all the posts below, it seems to me that the objective should be to rehydrate the remaining glue, whether the paper is on the wall still or not. Dawn is notorious for cutting through things that contain oils or greases (which adhesives tend to). Vinegar is a good second option, may also try just a touch of ammonia in water as a test.
Am also wondering if maybe making a thin paste of whatever takes the glue off so that it doesn't run down the wall and stays where you put it. I have a ceiling border to deal with in another room; cornstarch, maybe? I am hesitant to try the fabric softener, as it tends to coat fabrics, so why wouldn't it coat the wall, which in turn might interfere with getting paint to adhere later? I don't know, just thinking out loud. (09/03/2010)
By ladybanksia99
Removing Wallpaper Glue
I removed wallpaper from my wall, but I am unable to remove the glue on the wall. I have tried vinegar, softener, dish washing solution, and other solutions, but I have failed. Please guide me on how to remove the glue more easily.
By
Removing Wallpaper Glue from Wallpaper