Stripping Wallpaper – Just Add Water

Digital Image

Digital Image

I hung this accent wall in a home office in Montrose four years ago, and was asked to remove the paper because the clients are moving and want a blank slate for the new residents.

Not all paper comes off this easily, but I was sure tickled when it did. All I did was soak the wall with warm water applied with a sponge, three times. The water soaked through the paper surface (this won’t work with vinyl wallpaper), and softened / reactivated the paste just enough to allow the paper to pull away from the wall in full strips. (Usually, you remove the top, inked layer of paper, often in small pieces, then soak the backing, wait, resoak, and then remove the backing, also in small pieces.)

There was virtually no damage to the wall, either. The primer I used four years ago was oil-based KILZ Original. It is a super product for this purpose.

If you are interested in stripping wallpaper yourself, there are step-by-step instructions on a page listed to the right side of my blog page.

Tags: KILZ, montrose, stripping wallpaper, vinyl wallpaper, wallpaper