If you follow me on Instagram, you know I’ve been peeling wallpaper for weeks on end…. while electronics babysit my kids…
So my tips – – I don’t have too many. I’ve peeling plenty of wallpaper in my day – this is our 4th house, and every one had a pretty large amount of wallpapered walls. What I’ve learned with all of that is that every situation is different. So you just have to play it by ear each time. I’ve used that wheel thing with the spikes, then you saturate the wall and peel. That works for some – not for others. I’ve used scrappers – that works for some – not for others.
My favorite trick is the remover concoction of just vinegar and water. I used it for this go around and usually incorporate it into any peeling process. With this particular room, I could get the top paper to peel off, but it would leave the paper backing on the wall. I would just saturate it with my vinegar water, and then the backer paper would peel right off. So it wasn’t hard – just tedious.
The one thing I have never tried is renting a steamer. This time around I thought I’d try using my floor mop on the wall – but the steam couldn’t get through that top thick layer of paper. I could peel off the top paper and then steam off the backer paper, but I could do the same thing with my spray and the spray bottle is easier to carry around than a floor mop. But it was fun to try.
And you never know – you could get lucky. When I peel the wallpaper in my eat-in kitchen, it came down in floor-to-ceiling giant strips. It was a dream come true – peeled the whole room in like 20 minutes. That was awesome.
So – let’s hear it – I know you have tips or tricks that might have worked for you. We can compile a list and then people can read through the comments and try several methods to see which works best for their situation…
Erin says
My last house, I peeled my dining room in about an hour. Once I got an edge started, just a wash cloth with very hot water along the edges would lift up a few inches, then I would peel and repeat the process.
Macs says
Nice tip! I would love to see how it looks before and after. How long did it take you to finish all this?