How to quickly and easily remove old wallpaper from the walls?

When carrying out repair work, the main stage is to prepare the surface for applying a new coating. Before you start decorating the walls, you must completely remove the old layer of wallpaper. This procedure has its own characteristics. It often takes some effort. It is worth considering in more detail how to quickly and easily remove old wallpaper from the walls.

Water is often used to remove old wallpaper. This is the simplest home cleaning method.

It is necessary to prepare the room before applying water to the walls of the room:

• It is necessary to turn off the electricity at the apartment electrical panel.
• All sockets and switches in the room must be sealed with masking tape.
• It is advisable to cover furniture, floors, doors and windows with plastic wrap to avoid surface contamination.
• The old coating must be wetted with hot water. For the best effect, you can add dishwashing gel to the water.
• After the initial application of the solution to the surface, it is necessary to wait fifteen minutes, then repeat the procedure.
• After re-treatment with soapy water, the coating should begin to swell. Prying the edges of the swollen wallpaper with a metal spatula from below, you can begin to gently peel off the canvas.

It is far from always possible to remove the old coating with whole canvases. The remaining pieces can be cleaned with sandpaper. If the wallpaper is quite old, already flying off the concrete walls, then it can be easily and quickly removed without the use of water.

Removing old wallpaper can be cumbersome. Before proceeding with the main work, it is necessary to prepare all the necessary documents in advance.

The following tools may be needed to remove old wall covering:

• Metal spatula. With this tool, it is convenient to pry off layers of wallpaper for subsequent removal.
• Painting scraper.
• Needle roller. It is used to break the integrity of the wallpaper covering, which improves the moisture permeability of the material.
• Wallpaper "tiger". It is used for the same purposes as a needle roller.
• Household steam generator
• A spray bottle will make it easier to apply the soapy solution to the surface.
• Foam sponge or soft cloth.

• Bucket.
• Polyethylene film.
• Masking tape.
• Iron. The wallpaper does not need to be moistened with water. Cleaning with steam is an equally effective method: it is enough to lean a damp cloth against an old layer of wallpaper and iron the area with an iron.
• Metal brush.
• Sandpaper.
• Knife.

If it is necessary to peel off the covering from the ceiling, then a ladder should be prepared. Do not forget about your own protection from dirt and dust. Prepare gloves, a hat and safety glasses in advance.

Manufacturers of adhesive mixtures produce special products for removing wallpaper from walls and ceilings. Such mixtures are able to penetrate deeply into the structure of the wallpaper material. They allow you to easily peel off the old layer. The method of making the solution is always indicated by the manufacturer on the package.To make the special product more effective, you can mix it with the wallpaper adhesive. The surface is treated with the resulting composition.

When removing the old coating, it must be borne in mind that dust and putty will fly off the walls along with the pieces of wallpaper. Before starting work, you should take care of protection from dust and dirt. You can protect various surfaces and furniture from dirt using polyethylene. Do not forget about personal protective equipment: a headband, gloves, construction goggles.

The further procedure for carrying out the work depends on the method that you have chosen to remove the old layer of wallpaper.

The following general stages of the old coating removal process can be distinguished:

• The old wallpaper layer must be properly prepared. In the case of double-layer wallpaper, you must first peel off the top layer. Then the coating is wetted with water, a special compound, treated with steam - you need to choose one thing. It is not necessary to soak the entire surface immediately. It is enough to start with a small section of the wall.
• After treatment with special agents or water, you need to wait a while so that the moisture is better absorbed into the coating. When the wallpaper is swollen, you can start ripping it off the wall.
• Using a metal spatula or knife, it is necessary to pry off the edge of the wallpaper that is behind the wall and pull it. It is better to do this from below, starting from the floor.
• With good surface pretreatment, the wallpaper should be removed in one piece, but often small fragments of the wallpaper cover remain on the wall. They can be re-moistened or cleaned with sandpaper.

In the modern market of finishing materials, there is a wide range of wallpaper coverings. Wallpaper is made from a wide variety of materials. Some of the subtleties of the process of removing canvases from walls and ceilings will depend on the specific type of wallpaper covering.

Non-woven wallpaper is made from cellulose fiber and special additives. Non-woven fabric has a strong structure similar to fabric. This material is resistant to moisture and tearing. The top coat is easy to remove. It is enough to grab the edge of the wallpaper, and then tear off the canvas from the bottom layer. On the remaining base, you can glue new wallpaper.

Peeling off waterproof non-woven wallpaper is not easy at all. First, the top layer is removed, after which the base must be removed. The easiest method is to soak the surface with warm soapy water, then remove the bottom layer with a spatula. Washable non-woven models can be removed with a steam generator. The high temperature steam softens the glue, after which you can easily remove the covering from the wall with whole canvases.

It is not so easy to remove old paper wallpaper from the wall. Such material tears very easily, so it will not be possible to remove the wallpaper with whole canvases. Cuts can be made on the paper cover. Moisten the surface with water. It is also possible to prepare a special solution. To prepare a soaking solution, it is enough to dilute vinegar or dishwashing gel in warm water. Within twenty minutes, the wallpaper should begin to swell. After that, you can start removing the paper pieces from the wall.

If the wallpaper was glued with a PVA mixture, you will have to resort to a more radical method of cleaning the surface. The coating must be removed using a drill with a metal brush attachment. Specialty mixes are the most effective way to remove paper wallpaper, and steam can also be used.Colored paper wallpaper can be cleaned with a steam generator. First, you must try to at least partially remove the top layer of paint.

Vinyl wallpaper is a two-layer material. The bottom layer is made of paper or non-woven fabric. The upper vinyl layer is made of PVC. It has a high level of moisture resistance. It takes a lot of effort to remove this coating using the standard wetting method. To make it easier for moisture to access the bottom layer of the wallpaper, it is necessary to break the integrity of the vinyl covering with a tiger wallpaper. Then you need to moisten the wallpaper material well with warm water, remove the coating with a metal spatula.

PVC wallpaper can be removed well after surface treatment with steam. This method requires a steam generator or iron. The steam will soften the adhesive layer, allowing you to effortlessly remove the wallpaper from the wall. In more difficult cases, when the vinyl covering is difficult to remove, it is worth using a special store-bought wallpaper remover. Such a tool must be mixed with wallpaper adhesive, applied to the walls, and kept for three hours. The wallpaper will be easily removed with solid canvases.

Liquid wallpaper can be easily removed from the surface. It is necessary to clean the coating gradually, breaking the entire surface into small areas. A small area is well wetted with water or a special agent. The liquid should be well absorbed into the structure of liquid wallpaper. To do this, it is enough to wait about ten minutes.

After the layer of liquid wallpaper is soaked, it can be easily cleaned off with a metal spatula, paint scraper. You can also use a hair dryer to remove this type of coating.

Self-adhesive wallpaper is a PVC film with a layer of dry glue applied to the back. Most types of self-adhesive coatings are easily removed from the surface without the use of any special methods and means. If the film cannot be simply peeled off the surface, then you can moisten the coating with hot water. The adhesive under the wallpaper should soften in a few minutes, after which you can clean off the film with a spatula. The most effective tool for removing self-adhesive wallpaper is a hair dryer. Under the influence of hot air, the coating will soften and begin to lag behind the wall.

The difficulty in removing the old layer of wallpaper from drywall is that such material absorbs moisture well. This leads to surface deformation. The outer layer of drywall is made up of sheets of paper glued to each other. This layer must be left intact when removing the wallpaper. A simple method of soaking wallpaper with soapy water will not work in this case. It is necessary to use special products that affect the wallpaper glue.

You can clean the wallpaper from the plasterboard surface using an iron with a steaming function. This procedure takes a long time, but it allows you to clean off the old coating without damaging the drywall. If you are faced with the task of removing non-woven wallpaper from drywall, then this procedure will not be difficult. The upper non-woven layer can be easily peeled off the wall.

Before pasting the walls with new wallpaper, not everyone is of the opinion that the old wallpaper should be removed.

However, gluing the material onto the old layer can turn into serious problems:

• Wallpaper glued to the old layer can move away from the walls over time.
• When the glue mixture is applied to the old and new coatings, both layers are soaked. Subsequently, the drawing of the old layer may appear through the new wallpaper.
• There may be fungal growths on the wall under the old wallpaper. It is necessary to completely clean the walls, if possible, prime them before applying a new finishing layer.

The process of removing old wallpaper covering must be approached with all responsibility so as not to spoil the walls.

When removing old wallpaper, the following nuances must be taken into account:

• If a reinforcing mesh was used to strengthen the concrete wall, then the process of removing wallpaper must be approached with all care. The mounting mesh must not be damaged during surface cleaning work.
• Often, serpyanka tape is used to seal cracks on the surface. In the process of removing the wallpaper, such reinforcement does not need to be removed.
• Internal and external corners can be reinforced with angled non-woven tape and metal corners. You need to take care of the safety of such fasteners.
• Do not treat the entire surface with soapy water at once. Having cleaned one area, you can proceed to the next.

How to quickly and easily remove old wallpaper from the walls, see the video below.