Paste on walls

[The Medway Handyman]

Stripped the paper off the bathroom walls prior to painting.

Washed down with warm soapy water & microfibre cloth - twice.

Put a coat of emulsion on one wall & it looks like crap - sort of orange peel finish.

I conclude that I didn't wash down well enough & the paste residue is reacting with the paint?

Two questions then - whats the best way of washing down to get rid of paste residue - before I carry on? And what do I do withe the wall I've painted? Rather not sand it down, but that's how its looking.

[polygonum]

You could put up lining paper and paint over that.

[Ericp]

Probably sealed with PVA and your emulsion does not stand a chance.

[Tim Watts]

Having dealt with an entire house-worth like this, it can be done, but is quite hard work.

I used a steamer to remove the paper, then steamer again and a wide scraper to take of most of the bulk of the paste.

Then a bucket of Flash+hot water and a really heavy rough floor cloth - the type with the holes in. The paste never really dissolves - it just turns to slime. You need to mechanicaly remove that rather than spread it around, hence perforated cloth.

I probably went over each m2 about 4 times until I could feel the slidiness of the slimed paster disappear into a rough dragging feeling. At that point I deemed it clean enough. It painted fine after that.

As for your existing wall - as the first coat will have stabilised the wall, could you not roller one or two coats of paint on thickly? I find rollering generously helps. If not, perhaps roller on a very heavy paint - like some crack-covering ceiling paint, then reapply the final colour? How bad is it?