Removing wallpaper adhesive

[Wordy]

Hi,

I have recently used a steam wallpaper stripper to remove the wallpaper in my cloakroom. This worked fine to remove the paper, but it has left a adhesive residue on the wall which I cannot see m to get off..

I have tried sanding, but this seemed to just sand off loads of plaster, and I have also tried a B&Q wallpaper spray, but this did not seem to touch it. You can scrape the adhesive off using a scraper, but this could take me days, it is quite a rubbery consistency..

Does anyone have any bright ideas ? some cleaner or chemical I could use to speed up the process..

Thanks,

Paul...

[Stuart Noble]

Hot water, detergent, and a decorators' sponge has always worked for me.

[Lobster]

Me too, but the description "rubbery consistency" suggests strongly that this ain't conventional wallpaper paste.

OP - do you know what it is? What sort of wall covering was it holding up? Cork tiles or something?

David

[Wordy]

It was just holding up standard "flowery" wallpaper. It definitely comes off like a rubbery texture. It is a very thin layer on the plaster, and I don't think I will be able to paint over it effectively..

Paul...

[Mike Clarke]

I had a similar problem a while ago after we moved in here. It looked as if the previous owners had been _very_ generous in applying the paste. There was a fairly thick jelly-like layer of paste left after stripping the paper.

I asked Crown tech. support and got the following reply:

,---- | Thank you for your email enquiry. You can encounter problems when | using an emulsion on walls which have previously been wallpapered, | as you rightly say the residue paste can contaminate the surface. If | you cannot remove all of the paste then I would suggest that you | use and Alkali Resisting Primer on the wall surface as this will act as | a barrier to the paste. You can buy this from a trade outlet or the | International brand also make one which should be available from | B&Q stores. Please ensure that the room is well ventilated during | use and drying time. `----

I tried to remove as much gunge as possible with sugar soap and nylon scouring pads then applied the suggested primer. That was about 2 years ago and there's been no problems since.

The warning about ventilation is well justified, that primer stinks something terrible - and takes it forever to go away.