What You Should Know Before You Remove Wallpaper

When it is time to remove the old wallpaper from your walls, whether you are redecorating or eliminating old memories, there are a number of ways to go about taking the paper off and preparing the walls for their new finish. There are a number of commercial products available for your ease and to simplify the procedure. There are also a number of tried and true home remedies for wallpaper removal that you might want to try out as you redecorate.

Here are some simple tips on how to remove wallpaper:

1. First, ascertain what type of wall covering you are working with. If this is not wallpaper that you put up yourself, figure out what it is made of and that may indicate what substance was used to put it up and make it stay in place.

2. If there are several layers and the structure is older, you may want to consult a paint store to get some insights about what may be behind the paper. If there are multiple layers, don’t try to remove them all at once unless that is the only way they will come off!

3. Be sure to have gloves for your hands and a mask to protect your face, eyes and lungs from anything toxic flying through the air.

4. Be careful if you need to scrape the walls so that you won’t mar the flat surface of the walls.

5. If there is old paint between layers of paper, or you would like to paint over the wallpape, again check with a paint store to see the most effective and safest way to remove the paper/paint combination.

6. If some of the surface of the wall comes off unexpectedly, remember that the repair is a simple one, using a mudding compound to smooth over the surface. If this condition happens more than once, check with an expert familiar with your technique to figure out what is going wrong.

Wallpaper removal is the first successful step toward changing the look of an outdated, wallpapered room. It can be done quickly and easily, and will set the stage for a beautiful new look in the room!