Paper-based wallpapers are periodically changed to new ones. Removing the old coating is a rather difficult process that requires both strength and time. The speed of cleaning the surface of the walls from them depends on several factors, the main ones being the type of material and the glue on which the sheets were glued. The article offers to get acquainted with how to remove old ones from the wall with your own hands paper wallpaper.
the oldest known material for wall decoration are paper wallpapers. If earlier the canvases were overlapped, then with a significant improvement in the quality of wallpaper paper, a decrease in their thickness, more saturated and varied patterns, the method of gluing them also changed - the seams became butt, which is especially difficult to perform and requires more careful preparation of the walls, due to the thinness material.
If modern paper wallpaper is glued onto a wall with old wallpaper without removing it, then after drying:
- All wallpapers are heavily stretched. In this case, any irregularities, roughness become the reasons due to which the material will lag behind the wall.
- There are dust or stains on old coatings. There is no chance that they will not show up on new ones, especially if it is white paper wallpaper, and will not “decorate” the room after repair.
- New canvases may simply not stick well over old ones.
- The adhesive used to apply new wallpaper contains water, which old layer will soften unevenly. This will cause bubbles to form in one place and strong bonding of the material in another.
Tip: In order to prevent such troubles, you should play it safe and thoroughly clean the wall of old finishing material.
There are several types of paper wallpaper:
- Simplex or single layer.
- Duplex or double-layer paper wallpaper.
- Triplex or three-layer. This type of material has a large thickness, which allows them to hide some irregularities on the walls when they are properly glued and, accordingly, they have a higher price.
- Wallpaper paper with acrylic. Otherwise they are called embossed with acrylic coated. Such materials have great strength and durability. They are more moisture resistant when glued, do not get wet much, which distinguishes them from ordinary paper wallpapers.
- Moisture-resistant, washable paper wallpaper with a latex coating.
The type of pasted wallpaper determines the method of their removal from the walls. On old rolls, it is advisable to find a label or a special label with symbols indicating the method of removing material from the walls.
It could be:
- Removal without residue.
- Wet removal.
- Delamination upon removal.
- The embossing is not deformed.
- Wallpaper double with embossed on the top layer.
Classic paper and washable vinyl wallpapers fit into any interior. Finishing material is inexpensive and looks good on walls and ceilings. Fills rooms with comfort and creates a unique atmosphere. But when it comes time to update the renovation, the wallpaper makes the apartment owners nervous. Both paper and vinyl varieties are firmly glued to plaster or concrete surface. How to save time and quickly clean the walls?
Preparatory stage
It is impossible to remove the finishing material without dust and crumbling plaster. Furniture from the premises in which the repair will take place is transferred to free rooms or put on the balcony. Massive cabinets, sofas and other items are shifted to the center and covered with plastic wrap. The floor is covered with old newspapers, and the baseboards are sealed with wide construction tape.
It is advisable to de-energize the apartment. Hiding under the wallpaper electric wires, which are easy to touch with a spatula or wet, provoking a short circuit.
You can’t do without a stable stepladder, comfortable old shoes and clothes that you don’t mind getting dirty. Useful drill with sanding attachment, sandpaper, a bucket of warm water and a package of glue.
Spatula and kitchen knife
With a finishing coating that is more than 6-7 years old, tools with a sharp blade can handle it. Old wallpaper separates from the walls on its own due to dampness and time. You need to find swollen areas, pry off the peeled paper with a kitchen knife or the edge of a spatula, and then slowly pull. Paper varieties become dilapidated, so they cannot be jerked sharply. Pieces that have eaten into the plaster are pryed off with a wide spatula. Islets that could not be separated from the base are treated with water or grinder.
Vinyl and non-woven options are easier to remove. A canvas with a water-repellent coating is cut in the middle and pry off the edges with a spatula. The lower half is pulled by hand, then the upper half is removed, and the remnants of the paper base are brushed off with a stiff-bristled brush.
Attention: Do not rub the plaster or concrete wall too hard, especially in old houses and apartments. The material crumbles and falls off, leaving holes and dents. You have to spend extra time and money on priming and leveling the walls for new wallpaper.
Water procedures
A fresh finishing cloth, which is up to 4–5 years old, is pre-soaked. The liquid dissolves the glue and softens the paper, protects the plaster from destruction. Warm or hot water will do.
Wallpaper with a water-repellent coating is treated with a roller with sharp spikes. If the house does not have such a tool, an ordinary knife will come in handy. With a sharp blade, make wide incisions around the entire perimeter. How more holes, the easier it is for liquids to seep into the paper layer.
With wallpaper that ordinary water could not soften, special solutions will cope. The canvas glued to the wall with PVA is treated with laundry soap. Bar detergent crushed, poured into a saucepan. Pour 3-4 liters of water and, stirring, bring to a boil. In a hot workpiece, a roller or foam rubber sponge is moistened. Impregnate the finishing material with liquid and wait 20 minutes for the soap to work.
Fabrics with water-repellent properties are impregnated with a solution prepared from fabric softener. Add 200–300 ml of the chemical component to a bucket of liquid. The concentration is increased if there are several layers on the wall finishing material.
Construction glue and PVA will dissolve table vinegar. connect bucket hot water and 400 ml of the product. Laundry soap shavings are added to the mixture if the plaster crumbles heavily, and the wallpaper is literally eaten into the base.
The solution is applied to 1.5–2 sq. m. finishing material. It is impossible to process the entire room at once, because part of the room will dry out, and you will have to repeat the impregnation to clean the walls of wallpaper. Water softens the paper base of the rolls in 20 minutes, solutions work twice as fast.
The liquid product is applied with a paint roller, a soft cloth or a large foam sponge. Wallpaper in old houses is sprayed with a spray gun so that less liquid gets on the walls. If too much water is applied, it can soften plaster and putty.
Wetted canvases are pryed with a spatula with a wide blade. The remaining pieces are sprayed with a spray bottle and cleaned with water-repellent sandpaper or a metal brush. Choose varieties with stiff bristles.
The remains of wallpaper and plaster are immediately swept into a pile so as not to trample dirt into the floor. It is advisable to wipe the walls treated with soapy water with a sponge dipped in clean warm water. The liquid will remove the remnants of powder and fabric softener. Household chemicals soaked into concrete base and interacts with the adhesive, worsening its properties. New wallpapers will not hold well, they may swell and fall off on the first day.
Steam cleaning
High-quality glue, which could not be dissolved with water, is steamed with an iron. You will need a sheet or thin towel, a bucket of water and an assistant to hold the fabric:
- A rag is dipped into a container with liquid, twisted and applied to the wall, covering pieces of finishing material.
- The iron is turned on and the maximum temperature is set.
- The sheet is ironed with a hot device several times.
- The rag is removed and the remnants of the wallpaper are quickly removed with a spatula.
The paper web is also softened with a steam generator or steam cleaner. Household varieties useful in the economy. Devices remove dirt from outerwear and upholstered furniture. Construction steam generators have limited functions, so repair professionals buy such equipment.
The wall is ironed with a steam cleaner, placing a clean, dry sheet under the device. If you do not use a rag, dust and dirt get into the equipment, which can cause a breakdown.
Paper wallpapers are easier to work with. Ironed and removed. If you have to steam vinyl varieties or non-woven, it is recommended to first remove the water-repellent film, and then turn on the iron. Paper particles that could not be removed in this way are scraped off with coarse sandpaper or a spatula.
Hot steam penetrates the putty, so the cleaned walls are dried for several days, and then primed and painted or new wallpaper is pasted. If on wet base apply finishing material, mold will appear.
Special formulations
People who do not have time to scrape and steam are advised to buy an instant wallpaper remover. The product is sold in construction stores. Usually it is a powder or thick jelly that needs to be diluted with water. The most popular are Atlas Alpan and Quelyd Dissoucol.
In a solution prepared from a powder, the roller is moistened and the wallpaper is treated. Small incisions are made on canvases with a water-repellent coating. It will take 2-3 hours for the product to dissolve the glue and soften the paper layer. The wallpaper will begin to lag behind the concrete base on its own. Cloths pry off with a spatula or hands and rip off the wall.
Manufacturers claim that solvents are safe and do not emit toxic fumes, but it is better to work with rubber gloves. Make sure that the product does not get on exposed skin and mucous membranes.
Wallpaper, glued in several layers, is treated with a special solution. Not only powder is added to the water, but also glue, so that the mass becomes thick, like jelly. Such a tool is better absorbed and softens all paper bases.
Unusual Options
Liquid wallpaper is one of the best inventions of mankind. Finishing material does not need to be scraped off and torn off. The walls are sprayed hot water and wait 2 hours. Wallpaper gradually absorb moisture and swell. Some areas fall off on their own, others are easily removed with a wide spatula.
Glass fiber cannot be removed without special washes. The finishing material is treated with a solution and left for several hours. When the canvases swell, they are armed with a spatula or a kitchen knife and peel off the wallpaper from the walls. After the procedure, the concrete base is dried, puttied and primed.
Non-woven and vinyl wallpapers do not have to be completely removed. Rip off only upper layer with water repellent properties. The paper bottom is left if the walls are even, without cracks and holes. New canvases are glued on top of the old wallpaper.
Drywall
Concrete walls are not afraid of water and a grinder. Plasterboard partitions covered with paper. You can’t remove it, otherwise you will have to throw away the old plates and buy a new finishing material.
Clean the plasterboard base from the wallpaper will help cheap building glue. Several packs of powder diluted warm water. Stir so that there are no lumps, and apply a thick mass to paper or vinyl sheets. Leave for 3-4 hours. The product dries slowly, soaking into the wallpaper. They swell and soak, so they are easily separated from drywall.
The glue should be thick so that it does not spread over the entire wall. The solution is applied in a thin layer, otherwise it will be absorbed into the drywall. A little primer is sometimes added to the workpiece. The tool will make the liquid for dissolving the wallpaper viscous. The mortar will dry more slowly, plus the primer will prepare the plasterboard walls for further repair work.
If there are old wallpapers from grandmother's times in the closet, the rolls are not thrown away. The canvases are cut off and glued to the walls treated with glue and a primer. Old wallpaper softens and sticks to the top layer. You just need to pull the edge of the canvas, and the walls will become clean. No need to get a spatula and turn on the drill.
In apartments built in the 50s or 60s, it is recommended to remove only the top layer of wallpaper. Let the rest stay. The walls in old apartments are thin and uneven, so light redecorating can turn into large-scale construction works.Thin paper sheets that could not be peeled off with water and special solvents are cleaned with a drill. A brush with iron bristles is put on the tool and the concrete base is ground. Irregularities remaining after removing the wallpaper are recommended to be repaired with acrylic putty. It is inexpensive and of high quality, suitable for leveling walls. Putty is applied with a rigid stainless steel spatula so that it lays evenly on the substrate.
Gypsum boards will have to be replaced if the wallpaper is glued with PVA. In this case, neither a solvent, nor a sharp spatula, nor a drill with a grinding nozzle will help.
Modern washable wallpaper is easy to stick and remove. You will have to tinker with old paper varieties, but solvent and sandpaper will solve the problem. The main thing is not to forget to dry and prime the walls after removing the finishing material, so that the new wallpaper fits well and lasts for more than one year.
Video: how to remove old wallpaper correctly and quickly
New wallpaper can transform the interior and even radically change it. They need to be glued on a previously prepared surface, from which the remnants of old wallpaper have been carefully removed. The previous layer can distort and spoil the new one over time, so it must not only be torn off, but removed in accordance with all the rules. Only in this case, the new wallpaper will lie on the surface well, without flaws and swelling.
If you do not remove the previous layer, then after a while it will be possible to find out how old wallpapers can harm. Spots, bumps and peeling off of fresh wallpaper is inevitable if old ones are not removed. To quickly remove old wallpaper from the walls, you need to remember how they were glued. If a regular glue applied to primed walls, old wallpaper can be easily removed. They have not lost their strength and easily lag behind the surface. If the product itself is thin and torn at hand, you should not count on a quick solution to the problem. But subject to the basic rules, any layer can be removed.
Tools for removing any kind of wallpaper
To figure out how to quickly remove wallpaper from the walls, you need a little time and some equipment. You will need the following tools for removal:
- two sharp spatulas different sizes
- soapy water or effortless wallpaper remover
- Steam Mop or iron with a piece of cotton fabric
- perforation roller
- ladder
- knife, plastic wrap
- insulating or adhesive tape
Removing wallpaper from the walls is more correct and hygienic wet way. This will generate less dust and the removal process itself will take less time. But if the canvas moves away from the wall well, then you can limit yourself to the usual option.
Wallpaper removal options
How to quickly remove old wallpaper from the walls, if there is no experience in doing such work? First of all, you need to turn off the electricity or close up sockets and switches. To quickly remove old pieces of canvas from the walls, it is enough to touch the edge with a spatula and pull it, prying and correcting intractable places. If this is not enough, then you need to soak the old wallpaper. To do this, you need to walk over the entire surface with a sponge moistened with warm water and soap, wait a few minutes and repeat the procedure.
In addition to soap, you can add dishwashing liquid or fabric softener to the water. In this case, it is necessary to use a sufficient amount of water. If it is not enough, then it will dry quickly and will not have time to soak the glue, so it will be problematic to tear off the old wallpaper. If there is a lot of liquid, then it can drain along the surface of the canvas or from the walls, which also will not give the desired effect.
How to quickly remove old wallpaper from the walls if there is a steam generator? This option will be less labor intensive. The steam that the device gives out will quickly soften both the paper base and the glue underneath. Old paper wallpapers that could not be removed the first time are removed with a spatula. The steam generator is only suitable for removing wallpaper, so it is often used exclusively by specialists. An analogue can be a steam or regular iron with a steam function. They will facilitate the removal of wallpaper on large surfaces and significantly save both time and effort.
If you do not know how to remove old wallpaper from the walls, or do this work For the first time, it is better to use special liquids for wallpaper removal. Usually a bottle is enough to tear off the wallpaper on the square up to 100 square meters . The liquid will quickly penetrate under the paper layer and effectively soak the glue. Such products are much more effective than ordinary soapy water, it can be used when working indoors. It is mixed with water and sprayed over the entire area of the old wallpaper. After a few minutes, the old layer can be easily removed with a spatula. Such a tool lends itself to paper, textile, vinyl and other wallpaper canvases.
Removing wallpaper with applied PVA glue
How to remove wallpaper from the walls if water-insoluble PVA glue was used to paste these decorative elements? Such work will have to be done manually and use a sharp spatula. Before quickly removing wallpaper sheets that were glued to a paper surface in the form of a newspaper, it is necessary to check the adhesion strength on a small segment. After that it is better to choose convenient option withdrawals.
You can also use a grinder. It will help to quickly remove old remnants and large pieces of wallpaper from the walls. Such a device can leave furrows and stripes on the wall after work. The plaster is damaged, so in the future, after the old wallpaper has been removed, it will be necessary to level the surface.
If special equipment is used, then it is necessary to take care of the equipment and use protective mask for face. Grinding creates a lot of dust in the work, from which you need to protect yourself. Using such tips, wallpaper removal will be quick and harmless.
Types of wallpaper that are used in modern interiors
Before you tear off the old canvases, you need to understand the types of this wall covering. There are the following types of wallpaper:
- vinyl
- non-woven
- liquid
- glass wall paper
- washable
Removing vinyl wallpaper
Below is information on how to remove vinyl wallpaper from walls. They are easier to remove than others, because the film is the main component in their composition. Vinyl wallpaper is removed after moistening quite simply and leaves in whole strips. The edge of the canvas is touched with a spatula and gently pulled down. Paper component on flat wall may remain in some places, but it is easily removed.
Vinyl wallpaper can often be heavy, so it's best to remove it piecemeal or in layers. Those who are not familiar with how to remove vinyl wallpaper from the walls can remove the canvases with a spatula. This withdrawal option vinyl wallpaper from the walls is possible, but it is more laborious. For the first time, the process may not be so simple, but over time it will be possible to quickly remove vinyl or any other wallpaper from the walls. Since the removal of vinyl wallpaper does not damage the surface and is easy to carry out, everything more people use this option.
Removal of non-woven, washable and liquid wallpaper
Before you remove the wallpaper on a modern non-woven base, they must be perforated. It is desirable to do this in such a way as not to damage the lower non-woven layer, which serves to strengthen the wall. If there is no need to save it, then the removal will occur with minimal effort. This fabric is durable and easy to remove. As in the version with paper sheets, it is enough to use a spatula.
To remove washable old wallpaper, one use of water or special liquid will not be enough. The top layer of the canvas can be removed quite simply, and for the lower tier of wallpaper it is better to take a roller or scraper. good helper in this case there will be a steam generator or a regular steam iron.
How to tear off wallpaper that has a liquid structure is given below. Such canvases consist of a mixture of cellulose, cotton and a water-soluble adhesive. If the old wallpaper has such a basis, then to remove it, it is enough just to wet them with warm water. After swelling, it’s easy enough to figure out how to quickly tear them off. With a spatula, the mass can be removed at once. It is noteworthy that liquid wallpaper can be reused.
Removing wallpaper from drywall
How to tear off old wallpaper if they are stuck on a plasterboard wall? With this work, it is important to leave the top layer, which is made of paper, intact. Special liquids, applied in a metered amount, will dissolve the adhesive and help remove any vinyl or paper wallpaper. In some cases, removal is also difficult with the use of special tools, so abrasive materials or machines are used to remove the wallpaper web.
Before you start removing old wallpaper from the walls, it is important to protect yourself and follow these tips:
- it is better to remove all the furniture from the room or cover it with a special film, remove the curtains and remove everything that can get dirty
- stock up on the necessary tools for removing wallpaper from the walls
- when removing old wallpaper from the walls, it is necessary to take a certain amount of liquid
- old wallpaper near the switches must be removed with care
There is nothing difficult in quickly removing wallpaper from the walls. It is quite possible to cope with such work on your own. Enough to stock up essential tool, equipment and patience. As a result, anyone will know how to quickly shoot wallpapers with different components. Any canvas of wallpaper with a skillful approach will easily move away from the surface.
If you do not want to waste your time and carry out the laborious procedure yourself, you can contact experienced craftsmen. Qualified specialists know how to quickly remove any type of wallpaper.
Wall decoration always requires proper preparation, which includes the removal of old wallpaper. If this stage is performed poorly and the old coating is partially or completely left, then the new wallpaper will not hold well. To easily and quickly remove old wallpaper, you can read the article below.
Necessary materials
Removing old wallpaper requires a minimum amount of materials. If the coating is paper, then it can lag behind even without using additional funds. But there are such sections of the walls on which the paper is held very firmly. Therefore, for this type of battles, it will be required warm water .
Vinyl wallpaper will not be easy to remove with water. After all, this type of coating has protection against moisture, so a more aggressive agent is required - special liquid which readily dissolves wallpaper glue.
According to the instructions, this substance is diluted with water and applied to the wall. Such a liquid is able to penetrate under the base of the wallpaper, and its components react with the adhesive, destroying it. Thus, the old wallpaper will easily fall behind the surface.
In addition to these funds, additional protection premises - masking tape and polyethylene film. Tape will need to seal all the switches and sockets. This will protect them from water and dirt. The film is needed to protect the floor from debris. Due to this, the time for cleaning after completion of work will be significantly reduced.
Tools
Of the tools you need to have:
- Bucket.
- Putty knife.
- Roller with spikes.
- Sponge and clean rag.
- Spray.
- Scissors.
- Stepladder.
Don't Forget the Funds personal protection- glasses, gloves, bandage, headgear and clothing that tightly covers all parts of the body.
How to remove wallpaper from concrete walls
Work begins with the fact that all furniture is taken out of the room so that it does not interfere. After that, masking tape is taken, with which all sockets and switches in the room are isolated. plastic film the floor is covered so that it does not get dirty. After that, the plinths are removed. When everything is ready, you can begin to tear off the first page.
You need to tear off the old wallpaper from the bottom up. Those places that do not move well should be cleaned with a spatula.
Depending on the type of wallpaper, the type of glue and the method of gluing wallpaper, their removal from the walls depends. If the surface was uneven and rough, then the wallpaper will move away quickly. But with perfectly smooth walls, everything will be more difficult - the wallpaper will hold on very tightly.
But if wallpaper is being removed from a concrete wall, then any removal methods can be used, because such a surface is not afraid of moisture and mechanical damage. One of the common methods is to remove wallpaper with water, which will be described below.
With drywall
If you can wet a concrete wall with water as much as you like (the main thing is that water does not flow onto the floor), then it will be more difficult with drywall. This material is afraid of moisture, so you can not overdo it.
When removing paper wallpaper, you need to lightly spray them with a spray gun and wait. After a while, the wallpaper will fall behind.
If more durable ones are removed (vinyl or non-woven), then you must first remove the top layer of the canvas, and then remove the bottom one, while wetting it with water. Do not make strong squeezing movements with a spatula when tearing off the wallpaper, otherwise the drywall may be damaged.
If vinyl wallpaper was glued special glue then they can be easily removed. But if for these purposes non-special adhesive compositions(for example, PVA glue), then the wallpaper will lag behind along with the top layer of drywall.
The ideal option is to remove the wallpaper from the puttied drywall wall. Such surfaces are not threatened with damage to the top layer.
paper wallpaper
Paper wallpapers can be easily removed from the wall using ordinary water. Wallpaper soaked with water can be easily removed with a spatula. You can even pick up a piece by the edge and pull, and then it will easily fall behind the wall.
To perform this method, you need:
- Take warm water in a bucket.
- Dip a sponge or rag into it, wring it out.
- Moisten a small section of the wall with it.
- Wait 15 minutes.
- Remove wet wallpaper.
But before executing this method, you need to try to remove those parts of the wallpaper that can be removed without using additional methods. And already those pieces of old wallpaper that remained on the wall can be moistened with water. If you need to wet small areas surfaces, you can use a spray bottle.
If it is difficult to remove a whole paper sheet from the wall, then it must be completely wetted with water. You just need to wring the rag well so that water does not flow from it to the floor.
Vinyl wallpapers
Paper wallpapers, unlike vinyl, are completely waterproof, so they are easy to soak with liquid and remove. But with vinyl, the task will be more difficult. This type of wallpaper has a top protective layer, which does not soak under the influence of water. Therefore, this layer will need to be broken through.
To destroy the top layer of vinyl wallpaper is used special roller with spikes that need to be drawn along the wallpaper.
Scratches are made on the surface of the canvas. After that, the canvas can be moistened with water. The liquid will penetrate through the holes made, due to which the lower paper base is soaked. After a certain period of time (15-20 minutes), you can try to shoot the first page. To do this, pull the edge of the canvas from the bottom up, while making serifs with a spatula.
If such wallpapers do not swell under the influence of ordinary water, then you can purchase special compound to remove wallpaper. It is diluted according to the instructions and applied to the surface.
If there is no such special means, then you can apply adhesive solution . The glue with which these wallpapers were glued is taken, then it is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10. The liquid with a roller will need to be applied to the old wallpaper and left for 10 minutes. This solution acts on the adhesive under the wallpaper and dissolves it. Due to this, the wallpaper will easily lag behind the wall.
How easy it is to remove the wallpaper with your own hands. Step-by-step instruction
Based on the above methods for removing old wallpaper, general instruction withdrawals consist of their stages:
- Preparing the premises (cleaning the workspace from things and furniture, sealing switches and sockets).
- Removing large pieces that are being removed or removing the top layer of wallpaper.
- Wetting sections of the walls on which small pieces of wallpaper remained with water.
- Cleaning the remaining shreds with a spatula.
It must be remembered that those sections of the walls on which it is difficult to remove even the top layer of wallpaper need to be additionally prepared.
Vinyl wallpapers are processed with a spiked roller that pierces the top layer of the canvas.
Paper wallpapers can also be processed with such a roller. If there is no such tool, then you can take an ordinary knife, which makes longitudinal and transverse stripes on the wall.
Then the area is abundantly wetted with water. Due to previously made incisions, water penetrates faster to the lower layer and contributes to faster soaking.
The final step is to clean the soaked pieces with a spatula. If some areas are still poorly cleaned, then they will need to be moistened again with water and re-cleaned. As a result, you need to get a clean wall without the remaining shreds.
In this video you can see the process of removing old wallpaper from concrete walls. The instruction contains all the steps for removing the coating.
When removing old wallpaper, professionals advise you to follow these rules:
- Work carefully with a spatula. This tool can leave deep scratches on the puttied surface. In addition, a piece of metal may remain in the scratches from the spatula, which, after gluing new wallpaper, may soon appear as a rusty spot.
- If the wallpaper is very poorly removed, then you can use the following method: apply a wet cloth to the wallpaper and iron it with a heated iron. After that, the wallpaper can be easily removed.
- When removing 2-layer wallpaper, first the top layer is removed dry, and then the bottom one (after wetting).
- It is impossible to moisten the wallpaper abundantly with water, otherwise the plaster may be damaged, to which it will be difficult to glue new wallpapers.
- Around the sockets you need to very carefully peel off the wallpaper. It is also impossible to splash water around them, even though they are sealed with tape. The places around the sockets should be moistened with a barely damp sponge, and then with light movements, clean off the remnants of the wallpaper.
In order for the new wallpaper to stay on the walls firmly and for a long time, it is necessary to remove the old coating with high quality. If any piece of old wallpaper remains on the wall, then after gluing a new coating on it, it may peel off. This will lead to the formation of a tubercle and to peeling off new wallpaper. After the walls are completely cleaned of old wallpaper, you can not immediately start pasting new canvases. The surface must dry, otherwise the new wallpaper will not adhere firmly to the wall.
The process of removing old wallpaper is quite laborious, but not difficult. If you do everything right, then the wallpaper will easily lag behind the surface, and you can proceed to next step preparation of walls before pasting. This technology is the key to quality repair.
With any repair, the first point is getting rid of traces of the old, including boring wallpaper. It is extremely important to remove the old coating from the walls, because it is possible only on a completely cleaned and leveled surface, ready for a “new life”. And if it is not so difficult to remove heavy vinyl or voluminous interlining, then how to peel off old paper wallpaper is a more difficult task, and clear instructions are needed to solve it.
Those who have had to peel off a vinyl or non-woven coating from the walls know that it is not so difficult - you just need to wet the canvas using a special technology, and the wallpaper will be removed quickly and easily entirely.
There are many ways to clean the walls of the old coating for a new finish.
With paper coating, the situation is more complicated - it is very thin, easily torn, and it will take a lot of time, effort and nerves to remove the wallpaper from the walls. The main thing is not to succumb to the temptation and not leave pieces of the old coating - this can nullify all further repair efforts.
Why can't you leave old wallpaper on the walls?
If you glue a fresh coating without removing the old one and without cleaning the surface, the wall will be covered with ugly bumps and pits. Especially strongly such a dubious relief will show through under a thin paper canvas, plain non-woven or vinyl "for painting", silk-screen printing.
Important!
When you stick new wallpapers over the old ones, the weight of the coating increases, old glue dissolves under the influence of moisture, and there is a great risk that beautiful wallpaper come off the wall along with everything that was on it, including plaster. The risk is especially great if during the previous repair the logic of the owners was similar, and several layers of paper have already settled on the walls.
When pasting wallpaper over existing ones, under the influence of wet glue, fungi and mold can form under the old paper. Not only are they seriously harmful to health, they are also capable of significantly spoiling appearance walls.
What you need to remove old wallpaper
Before clearing the wall of paper wallpaper, some preparation is needed. For "destructive" work you will need:
- a bucket of warm water or ready-made store-bought liquid to get rid of old wallpaper;
- a rag, sponge or foam roller (from 20 cm wide);
- a pair of spatulas of different sizes, always with sharp edges, or a special scraper;
- construction needle roller or wallpaper tiger - for perforating (piercing) a paper surface;
- steam generator, steam mop or powerful iron with hot steam function;
- masking tape and a large piece of polyethylene.
The process of peeling off the already obsolete paper coating is very dirty, so you need to protect the floor and sockets from pieces of wet paper and plaster. To do this, you need to attach the film with adhesive tape to the skirting boards around the perimeter, seal masking tape sockets¸ and ideally also de-energize the room so that water does not accidentally splash onto bare wires.
After all the preparations, you can proceed directly to peeling the wallpaper. There are several basic techniques, depending on the condition of the walls, your time, and the resources available.
You can remove old wallpaper with a spatula
Method One: Manual
To do this, simply take the corner of the old piece from below with your hand and remove the entire wallpaper. Remove the remaining pieces on the walls with a spatula or scraper. With this technology, there is one danger: the old canvas can be torn off along with the plaster, so cover your head with a cap or scarf and protect your nose and mouth from building dust with a mask.
Method two: plain water
Ordinary warm water is the most popular and effective way to remove the old paper wallpaper in the apartment. To enhance the effect in a bucket of water, you can add vinegar, the cheapest fabric softener, or liquid remedy for dish washing.
Then, with a roller, rag or sponge, we apply the liquid to small sections of the wall, wait 5-10 minutes for everything to be absorbed, and scrape off the paper with a spatula (scraper). Do not immediately pour water over the entire piece of the old roll - while you peel off one section, the thin paper will dry out and you will have to start all over again. If separate (small!) areas do not absorb liquid, you can try ironing them through a damp cloth with a hot iron - this will enhance the effect.
You should not overdo it either - if you flood the wall with water, this can soften the plaster and putty, and then the surface will have to be leveled and cleaned for a long time.
Method three: chemicals
If you want to know how to peel off old paper wallpaper the fastest and easiest way, you can take the advice of repair specialists and purchase a special liquid for removing old paper covering from walls.
Half a liter of such a product, depending on the brand, will cost about 200-300 rubles, and enough for 2-3 rooms, depending on the area. It is very simple to use: dilute in accordance with the instructions (for a greater effect, you can pour wallpaper glue), apply it to the walls and wait until it dries. Wallpaper liquid penetrates the paper and dissolves the glue, while the canvas itself remains intact. After drying, the pieces of the old roll move away from the surface entirely.
The use of such a tool will significantly save time - it will be possible to clean paper wallpaper from the walls with a scraper and a spatula in just a couple of hours. The only drawback is an unpleasant chemical smell, but it quickly disappears, and the “drug” itself is harmless to both people and pets.
On sale there are many chemicals that will facilitate the process of removing old wallpaper from the walls.
Method four: hot steam
If you don’t want to spend money on a cleaning agent, but you have a steam generator or a powerful iron at home, it will be much easier to tear off the wallpaper.
First, provide access to the outlet: if you have de-energized the room and closed the sockets, you can bring an extension cord from the next room. Then we process the wallpaper pieces one by one with hot steam and wait 3-5 minutes. Paper and old glue swell quickly when exposed to hot, moist air, and it is not difficult to remove the old coating.
Method five: special tools
If several layers of paper have accumulated on your walls or a two-layer paper was pasted during the last repair wallpaper coating(duplex), it will be very problematic to remove the wallpaper. Too old wallpaper glue, PVA or bustilat can complicate the process even more. Dissolving such a mixture is quite difficult, and you will probably have to scrape everything by hand.
For these works, you will need a roller with needles or a more gentle tool - wallpaper tiger. The tool must be walked over the entire surface to make holes, moisten the wallpaper with hot water: in this case, the liquid quickly penetrates under the paper. Pieces of the old canvas are torn off with a sharp spatula or scraper, but you have to be careful: the sharp edges of the tool easily leave grooves and dents on the wall, and then you have to further level it.
If liquid and perforating tools are powerless against the wall covering, you can use more serious equipment: a drill with a wallpaper stripping nozzle (round brush) or a grinder with a coarse-grained brush. Such work is very dusty, and the wall can be significantly damaged - leveling the surface with putty is inevitable.
You can clean the walls of the old coating with a drill with a special nozzle
How to get rid of paper wallpaper on drywall
If you need to remove the paper coating not from an ordinary wall, but from drywall, you need to go to business delicately. Drywall is covered with a thin paper layer that cannot be torn or scratched.
Most best option in this case, use chemical agent for removing old wallpaper pieces or hot steam. Experts do not recommend using water here. If the old wallpaper is very thin, smooth and stuck to the drywall tightly, you can prime and glue new ones on top. It is better to use embossed foam vinyl for this, which will hide possible irregularities.
There are a lot of ways to peel off old paper wallpapers from the walls, and choosing the right one will not be difficult. But if you got very troubled apartment, and the old coating simply merged with the wall, you can use the services of professionals. Today, craftsmen have many special tools, and they can easily remove all the former beauty from the walls without damaging the surface.
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