Before you start removing the wallpaper, clear the room of all the furniture, and if you don’t have space, collect them in the middle and wrap them nicely with polyethylene so that they don’t get dirty and dusty. Also cover the floor coverings with a protective polythene or cloth to prevent them from getting dirty or wet. The latter applies especially if you have parquet. Also remove all switches, sockets, curtains and objects from the walls.
The most important thing when removing the old wallpapers is to find out how well they are stuck to the wall. Depending on the type of wallpaper itself, the wall below and the glue with which it is glued, there is an option to remove them even dry.
To make sure of this, grab a corner of the wallpaper and try to see if it peels off. If the old wallpaper peels off in large pieces and falls off easily you are lucky. By 1 hour you might be done.
If, when peeling off, the wallpaper breaks into different layers, with only the top layer falling off, and the bottom one remaining glued, you will have to approach it in a different way.
Using a sprayer, sponge or roller, spray the wallpaper with hot water. Wait a while and check if the water has been absorbed and the wallpaper has softened. Five minutes after you wet it, try with a putty knife or other tool. If this method is suitable, continue to wet in the same way and after some time take it off. Try to remove the wallpaper in as large pieces as possible.
Some wallpapers are two- or three-layer, and if they do not soften after the first wetting, repeat.
If the wallpaper has a glossy finish, water will hardly penetrate into and behind it. In this case, use a scratch roller, model knife or other device to scratch the wallpaper. Do not overdo the effort so as not to damage the wall. After the wallpaper is scratched, proceed to its abundant spraying with hot water. If needed, wet it several times.
On the Internet you will read quite interesting ways to remove the old wallpaper.
1. Some people have had good results with adding fabric softener to the hot water. Add 1/3 fabric softener to 2/3 warm water and mix. Mix a smaller amount at first to see if it works for you.
2. Mix equal proportions of wine vinegar and warm water. Wet the wallpaper, wait about 15 minutes and try removing it again.
3. Use a special detergent to remove old wallpaper. Ask in the store and consult.
4. Steam cleaner Steam Mop. As incredible as it sounds, but many people advise using this device. If you own one, give it a try.
5. The old wallpaper downloader. Before buying one, try all the ways described above. The wallpaper removal machine runs on electricity and generates steam. The tank is filled with water, the machine is plugged in and the water is heated and turned into steam. With the attachment /available in the set/, placed on the hose, you spread the steam on the walls. It sounds convenient and fast, but consult beforehand.
6. There are rare cases where the old wallpaper is glued with C200 glue. I don’t wish it on anyone. If your situation is like this and the wallpaper cannot be removed in any way, one of the solutions is internal insulation of the room or plasterboard.
Regardless of how you spray or soak the wallpaper, do not wet a larger area than you can remove in 15 minutes. Always water them from top to bottom and remove them roll by roll.
After you have removed all the old wallpaper, inspect the walls for small pieces of wallpaper that have not been removed. Remove them as well, and finally you can carefully go over the wall with fine sandpaper, which will remove all the small paper residues.
Depending on the new wall covering, it’s a good idea to refinish the wall once you’ve removed the old wallpaper to give it a subtle, finished look. If in some places part of the plaster has fallen together with the old wallpaper or there are irregularities, it is advisable to putty them with plaster putty, plaster satin or other similar material. If joints have opened in the corners or directly in the walls, it is good to fill and refine them again. These efforts will pay off later. The better you prepare the base, the easier it will be to stick the new wallpapers.
It is recommended to treat the walls with a special impregnating primer for walls after they have dried. Depending on the new coating you will apply, there are also different primers. The functions of grudnda are: strengthening the base, suspension
the separation of dust and increasing the adhesion strength between the individual components: concrete-putty-wallpaper or brick-plaster-putty-wallpaper. Look for a suitable primer for your case in any hardware store or specialized store, consulting in advance. The use of a primer is also desirable if you are going to paint with latex or other decorative paint.