Cold water brushed on works well enough for me, but you need to get a narrow strip of paper off along the top of the wall to begin with. That way every new brush full runs behind the next bit down. No point trying to soak the whole wall as it just ends up on the floor. A heavy duty scraper is a must have tool IMO. Yes, I've got an Earlex steamer, but I find it more trouble than it's worth. It may be faster (and actually I'm not convinced of that) but I prefer to work in a more comfortable way.