How to Remove Wallpaper: A Step-by-Step Guide
How to strip wallpaper properly, working out what you have, soaking or steaming it off, getting the old glue away, and leaving a wall ready to paper again
To remove wallpaper, first find out what kind you are dealing with. Modern non-woven and peelable papers usually pull away dry in whole lengths. Anything else needs the surface scored, then soaked with warm water and wallpaper stripper or softened with a steamer, and scraped off with a broad knife. Wash the old adhesive off afterwards, or the next paper will not stick.
It is a slow, wet job rather than a difficult one. The part that goes wrong is almost always damage to the wall underneath, caused by too much water, too much steam or too sharp a scraper.
Step 1: Find out what you're stripping
Lift a corner at the skirting with a filling knife and pull gently upwards.
- It peels away dry, in a whole sheet. A non-woven or peelable paper. This is the easy case, and it is how ours are designed to behave.
- The printed layer comes away and leaves a backing paper behind. A two-layer vinyl. Peel off the top layer dry, then soak and scrape the backing.
- It tears into small pieces and resists. A traditional paper-backed wallpaper. It will need scoring and soaking.
- Nothing moves and the surface feels plastic. A coated or painted-over paper. The surface must be scored before water can get behind it.
Do this test on two or three walls. Rooms are often papered at different times.
What you'll need
- Dust sheets, a bin bag or two, and masking tape
- Broad stripping knife or scraper, 100mm or wider, with a rounded edge
- Scoring tool, for coated or painted papers
- Bucket, sponge or a garden sprayer, and warm water
- Wallpaper stripper concentrate, or a squeeze of washing-up liquid
- Wallpaper steamer, if you are hiring or borrowing one
- Rubber gloves and safety glasses
- Sugar soap and cloths for the glue stage
- Filler and abrasive paper for the repairs
Step 2: Protect the room and the electrics
- Clear the room and lift or cover the flooring.
- Tape a plastic sheet along the skirting, angled to catch the wet paper. It saves an hour of picking scraps off the floor.
- Turn the power off at the consumer unit before you start. You are about to put water and steam on a wall full of sockets and switches.
- Tape over socket and switch faceplates.
Step 3: Score the surface, if you need to
Water cannot reach the adhesive through a coated or painted surface. Run a scoring tool over the paper in overlapping circles, enough to break the surface, not enough to cut into the wall behind it.
Press lightly on plasterboard. A scoring tool used with force will punch through the paper face of the board, and every one of those marks is a fill and sand job later.
Paper that already tears easily does not need scoring at all.
Step 4: Soak and scrape
- Mix warm water with wallpaper stripper, following the instructions on the bottle. Warm, not boiling.
- Work on an area of about a square metre at a time. Wet it thoroughly with a sponge, roller or garden sprayer.
- Leave it for ten to fifteen minutes, then wet it again. Two soakings do far more than one heavy one.
- Slide the stripping knife under an edge and push at a shallow angle, keeping the blade almost flat to the wall.
- If the paper resists, wet it again rather than forcing it. Every gouge is a repair.
Work from the bottom of the wall upwards. Water runs down, so the area below what you are working on gets a second soaking for free.
Step 5: Or use a steamer
A steamer is faster on stubborn or multi-layered paper, and it is worth hiring for a whole room.
- Fill it, let it come up to temperature, and wear gloves and safety glasses.
- Hold the plate flat against the paper for twenty to thirty seconds, then move it to the next patch and scrape the one you have just done. Steam rises, so the area above the plate softens as you go.
- Keep moving. Holding the plate in one place saturates the plaster behind the paper, and on plasterboard it can blow the surface off entirely.
- Empty and refill with hot water to keep the pace up.
Two warnings worth taking seriously. Steam causes scalds, particularly when it escapes around the edge of the plate onto your forearm. And on lath and plaster in an older house, prolonged steaming softens the plaster itself, so work in shorter bursts and check as you go.
Step 6: Remove the old glue
Stripping the paper is only half the job. Old adhesive left on the wall goes glassy as it dries, and fresh paste will not bond to it, so the new paper lifts within a fortnight.
- Wash the wall down with warm water and sugar soap, or a weak solution of wallpaper stripper.
- Work in sections with a sponge or cloth, and change the water as soon as it turns cloudy.
- Rinse with clean water.
- Check by running a dry hand over the wall once it has dried. Anywhere still slightly tacky or shiny needs another wash.
Step 7: Make good and let it dry
- Fill any gouges, torn plasterboard and old fixing holes, then sand flush.
- Let the wall dry completely. A wall that has been soaked or steamed holds more moisture than it looks like it does, so give it several days.
- Seal patchy, chalky or repaired areas with a mist coat of watered-down emulsion before you paper again.
Woodchip
Score it, soak it heavily, and expect it to come off in chips rather than sheets. It is the messiest paper there is, and the wall underneath is frequently poor, because woodchip was often hung to hide a bad surface in the first place. Budget for filling, or for a skim.
Painted-over wallpaper
Paint seals the paper against water, so scoring is essential and progress is slow. If the paper is firmly stuck and the paint is in good order, some people paper straight over it, but only if the surface is flat, smooth and completely secure, and only knowing the risk that the old layer lets go and takes the new one with it.
Plasterboard
Use as little water as you can, do not linger with a steamer, and keep the scraper flat. The paper face of the board is what holds everything up, and once it is torn it needs filling and sealing before you can paper again. Work in short bursts of ten to fifteen seconds if you are using a steamer at all, and consider stripping with water and stripper instead.
Several layers
Take them off one at a time rather than trying to soak through the lot. The bottom layer is usually the most stubborn and the closest to the plaster, so slow down as you reach it.
Removing peel and stick wallpaper
Removable paper comes off dry. Lift a top corner with a fingernail or a filling knife, then pull slowly downwards at a shallow angle, keeping the paper close to the wall rather than pulling it outwards. A hairdryer on a low setting warms the adhesive if a section resists. What the wall looks like afterwards depends on the paint underneath, its age and quality and how well it was bonded in the first place.
How do you remove wallpaper without a steamer?
Score the surface, soak it twice with warm water and wallpaper stripper leaving ten to fifteen minutes between soakings, then scrape with a broad knife held almost flat. It takes longer than steaming but it is gentler on the wall.
What is the fastest way to strip wallpaper?
A steamer on a two-person rotation, one steaming, one scraping. Speed comes from keeping both moving, not from holding the plate longer in one place.
How long does it take to strip a room?
A day for a straightforward room, a weekend if it is painted over, multi-layered or woodchip. The washing-down stage always takes longer than people expect.
Do I have to remove wallpaper before painting?
In almost every case, yes. Paint soaks into paper, swells it and lifts the seams, and any texture or pattern edge will still be visible through the paint.
Does fabric softener or vinegar work?
Both work to a degree, because what softens the paste is warm water and time, and the additive is mostly a wetting agent. A proper wallpaper stripper does the same job faster and rinses off more cleanly.
How do I know all the glue is off?
Let the wall dry, then run a dry hand across it. Tacky, shiny or slippery patches are glue. Wash again until the whole wall feels the same.
Can I hang new wallpaper straight over the old?
Only when the old paper is flat, smooth, non-vinyl and firmly stuck everywhere. Otherwise the moisture in fresh paste reactivates the old adhesive and both layers lift together.
