I removed the wallpaper from the kitchen and want to paint. Of course the glue residue has to be removed. I have been that route before using just warm water and scrub pads - not a fun occupation.
I vaguely recall seeing something somewhere about a specific product for this job, or at least a product that works on it. I bought some TSP but the local newspaper help column says it is a bad idea as getting the glue plus tsp residue off cleanly is a problem.
Warm water and time. Get one of those 99 cent sprayers from the store. Spray water on there. LET IT SIT for a minute or two. Wipe gently. Look down the wall at an angle, and you can see if you have left any boogers of glue. Do it again. Work in small areas, like 3 feet by 3 feet.
I have removed all the wallpaper from a 1800 sf house. There isn't an easy way to do it. There ain't no magical chemicals.
I agree. Spraying water lightly to cover, wait, spray again, wait, start scrubbing. Paste is simple to remove, just requires elbow grease. Softens easily with water. When you get down to the wallboard, you want to use gentle pressure so the water and friction don't damage the paper covering the wallboard. It will stop feeling "slimey" when the paste is gone. Shine a flashlight across the surface to try to find areas you missed, as the texture will show when painted sometimes if paste is left on the wall.
Not sure what I have. When I pulled the old paper a film of something white partially pulled off with the paper, other parts stuck. Kept it wet down and scraped with a 4" taping knife. Most came off but it took me three hours to clear a basic 4x8 area. The white stuff almost looks like paint but it softens with water, under that is a coat of paint that isn't being hurt. The wife is getting a divorce if she ever again mentions wall paper.
When I removed all the wallpaper from "The House of Wallpaper", I found that there were about eight different wallpapers in there. In the bathrooms, it was thin, like foil paper. The glue was tenacious, and I was glad that there was only a small area of that particular wallpaper. On the main walls, the paper was thick, and if I waited until the water soaked in, a couple of times I pulled off a full piece from ceiling to floor. But only a couple of times. The rest came off in a zillion pieces. In the kitchen on the ceiling, the paper was about a sixteenth of an inch thick, having three separate layers. I believe that it was put on with different types of glue.
Like you, my wallpaper days are over. The wife knows not to even utter the word. I made it very very clear that I would finish that one job, but that she owed me big time. I told her never to ask or volunteer me again as I had developed an "allergy" to wallpaper, and that the symptoms were aggression, violence, and unmentionable acts.
So, now, I just give out advice on the Internet to men going through similar experiences.
Suck it up and get it done. It will be a memory soon, and then only a frequent nightmare.
Happened to be in the local Ace Hardware. They had both teh DIF gel and a spray bottle of WP CHOMP. Bought a bottle to try out on removing the remaining glue (about 4x8). Instructions on that one are to first pull off the facing of the wallpaper and then soak the paper backing, wait 5 minutes and pull it off. Just what I did originally.
Tried it on just the glue remaining. Worked better than the Windex I was using, took less and worked faster. Scraped off the glue with my tapeing knife. Tomorrow is the test, Paint a section behind the refrigerator and see what happens. I didn't wash the wall after the scraping and figure what glue remains probably won't cause a problem, if it does, a second coat of paint should fix it.
I am also going to use it per the instructions when I move over to the bathroom.
To say that I am tired of scrubbing is an understatement.
I would also like to add use an oil based primer first to seal in the wall. I did this on all my wallpaper removing projects and the paint job came out great. Using a latex based paint on the wall without a base primer will cause the residual glue to bubble over time and peel off the paint.
No. Learn from *MY* mistake and wash off the glue before painting. I have THREE coats of paint over old wallpaper glue, and it still doesn't cover the glue. Mind you, the paint will look great for about
3 months, and then it'll stretch and crack, revealing the glue. Fortunately, my problem is in a bedroom.
HomeOwnersHub website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.