Repair is an everyday matter. In order for the result of this process to be the most high-quality and aesthetically attractive, the first thing to do is get rid of old decorative coatings. Therefore, in this article we will consider how to quickly remove old wallpapers and at the same time not leave a single piece of paper or glue on the walls. This will allow a new layer of paint or other coating to lie more evenly, which will positively affect not only the aesthetic data of the room, but also the life of the coating. Now we will consider the main methods of dismantling the old decorative coating, which are recommended by specialists in the field of repair.
Is it really necessary to remove the old layer?
Before we talk about how easy it is to remove old wallpapers, we’ll take a closer look at why you even need to do this. So, with the aesthetic side of the issue, we figured out. And how are things from a purely technical point of view? Firstly, this is an additional and unnecessary layer. Gluing new ones on top of old paper wallpaper (it doesn’t matter if you have paper ones, fabric or bamboo in general), you weight the walls. Sooner or later, from this weighting, the paper will begin to crack, move away from the wall, and the appearance of the coating will be completely damaged. The second aspect is that when you glue the new wallpaper and, accordingly, the old ones, you overlap different patterns. Just imagine how ugly the result will be. Well, do not lose sight of the issue of hygiene. It is important not only to know how to remove old wallpapers, but also to be able to disinfect walls. Using a primer and antiseptics, the walls need to be cleaned of fungi (they love to accumulate under paper coatings) and mold, as well as other unnecessary “additives”.
Cooking tool kit
Before you remove the old paper wallpaper from all the walls that will undergo a new repair, you need to prepare everything you need. First of all, we prepare two spatulas - wide and narrow. Both should be sharp, so sharpen them in advance and test. The next thing that is required is a tool for removing paper wallpaper (it is called that). If there is no opportunity to buy one, then just heat the water or use a steam generator. Do not forget to prepare buckets - for waste, for water and other materials, as well as a sponge, which will be needed at the beginning and at the end. Additional tools are a roller with needles, a plastic film, an ordinary knife and masking tape.
Preparatory work
It’s not enough just to know how to quickly remove old wallpaper from the walls, it’s important to be able to pre-prepare the room for this time-consuming process. Even at school, children are taught safety rules when carrying out various activities, and in this case it is this part of school knowledge that is useful to us. Therefore, initially we cover the entire floor with plastic wrap. Using the masking tape we fix it on the skirting boards. With the same masking tape, we will have to glue all the switches and sockets in the room, after which we completely turn off the electricity so that there is no short circuit, because we will work with water. Probably, we will not mention that there should not be furniture in the room, therefore we will immediately proceed to the next item.
Search for the Achilles heel, or Recognize the structure of the wallpaper
To understand how to quickly remove old wallpapers, first you need to study what their structure is, on what glue they were planted. So, decorative coatings of this type can be divided into three categories: vinyl, non-woven and paper. Each of them has its own individual approach, it will be written below. As for the glue that was previously used in the previous repair, it will be great if you have it again at hand. In water, which we will soak the walls, it is necessary to add it in very small quantities. So any coating and all bonding layers will come off the walls quickly, with minimal damage to the plaster or putty.
The simplest task - dismantling vinyl wallpaper
It so happens that even the most modern and beautiful repairs have to be updated. Wallpaper, which began to be released recently - vinyl, is the easiest to dismantle from the walls, because now we will tell you step-by-step instructions. They consist of two layers - vinyl and paper, so we need to cut the top one first. Now we spray the walls with water (or a solution that you prepared in advance on the basis of glue) and wait literally 5-10 minutes. After that, slowly, with effort, we begin to pull the wallpaper by the top layer, in places of cuts. They easily move away from the walls and will not leave a single trace.
How to work with non-woven fabric
Another new type of wallpaper, non-woven, is characterized by the fact that it contains synthetic fibers. Thanks to this, such a coating adheres to the walls solely because of the binding component, that is, glue, and if it is soaked, the coating will no longer hold. Therefore, if you still do not understand how to quickly remove the old wallpaper of this type, we will explain everything very briefly: as in the previous case, make cuts and moisten them with plenty of water. After the coating swells, we pull it off the wall. At the end, there will be no glue or pieces of old wallpaper on the surface, and it will be completely ready for further new design.
Will have to suffer a little
If you want to remove paper wallpapers that were pasted, perhaps decades ago, you will have to spend much more time and effort. First, prepare a solution, the composition of which it is desirable to include, as mentioned above, the glue on which the wallpaper was planted. We leave cuts on them, undermine them in some places so that they are easier to remove. To wet such a coating is best in areas. For example, we pour water over a few square meters, let it swell for 5 minutes, cut it off in pieces. Undoubtedly, pieces of paper will remain on the walls, so they will have to be removed with a narrow spatula or knife. At the end of this entire operation, it is recommended that you walk along the walls with a wide spatula to completely remove all the remains of the old decorative coating.
Work at heights
A similar question in structure is how to remove wallpaper from the ceiling. Most often, this surface is glued with paper coatings, therefore, the dismantling process will be lengthy and painstaking (keep in mind that you will constantly have to stand on the “goats” and keep your head upright, that is, in an unnatural position). We also note that in this case, a roller with needles can come to the rescue. It will perfectly cling to all the sticking ends and in a mechanical manner will allow you to quickly cope with such work. Then you just have to cut off the leftovers and walk along the surface of the ceiling with a wide spatula so that there is nothing left - no paper, no glue.
Custom way to remove wallpaper
It is even easier and faster to remove any type of wallpaper from the walls using a steam generator. There is a whole mass of methods here, so you can choose at your discretion, which one you prefer. The first method is to first soak the old wallpaper with water (or a solution), and then heat it with steam vaporized by this generator. Most of them under such influence will fall off by itself, and you will only have to clean the walls. The second way is the other way around. First, we warm up the wallpaper with a steam generator, then wet it in separate sections. In this case, tearing them off will be very easy. It is only worth noting that some types of wall-mounted decorative coatings can exude unpleasant odors during heating. In particular, this applies to non-woven and all similar coatings. Such wallpapers do not have toxicity, but putting on a regular bandage on your face will not hurt.
Conclusion
It would seem easier to break than to build, but this science also has its own nuances and difficulties. To completely clean the walls of old wallpaper, you need to identify them, understand how best to tear off so that there are no traces. After all, the slightest defects that remain on the surface of the walls or ceiling will become an obstacle to applying a new layer of decorative coating. Do not forget also that after removing the old wallpaper, the walls must be treated with antiseptics, means from fungus and mold. Because such parasites love to get divorced under the wallpaper that has been serving indoors for many years. In the future, they will not only affect the environmental atmosphere in the room, but will also cause an unaesthetic appearance of the new finish. High-quality work, of course, will be an excellent foundation for further decoration of the room. Inexpensive apartment renovation can be done with only a little effort.