Our Chiang Mai Dragon wallpaper was installed in the powder room last weekend!
Here's a sneak peak, and stay tuned... I promise to have FINISHED pictures of the powder room in my next post! Yes! Our powder room is thisclose to being completed!
While the wallpaper hanger was around, I asked him for some wallpaper removal tips because we have a TON of it to remove in the rest of our house.
I learned that there is a different technique for removing fabric backed vinyl wallpaper than for removing paper based wallpaper.
Fabric Backed Vinyl Wallpaper - He said that wallpaper made with fabric backed vinyl isn't that common these days, but we seem to have a lot of it in our house. To remove it, he said to start at the ceiling, take a wallpaper scraper, and pick open a seam. Rip the corner away from the wall and pull. The paper will come off in huge sheets. No steaming, no chemicals, no scoring necessary. Who knew?
After the paper is down, there will be a bumpy glue residue left on the walls which can be removed with a wall sander.
Paper based - He actually laughed at me when I told him it took me 3 days to remove the paper based wallpaper in my bedroom using a steamer. He suggested using a commercial product like DIF, and apply it (mixed with water) using a low pressure sprayer over the entire room. Wait 10 minutes for it to be absorbed by the paper and repeat. In fact, he said to repeat this process until the paper stops soaking in the water. He said that the walls need to be soaking wet (his italics, not mine). Then starting from the ceiling, use the wallpaper scraper to get underneath the paper and scrape downward. Again, he said it should come off in huge sheets. (he also said it should take hours, not days, but I'll believe it once I try it).
Do you have any tried and true wallpaper removal methods?
20 comments:
Your paper is beautiful!
I took papering classes years ago and what your guy said is pretty much what we were told as well. Although the woman who taught my class said plain old very hot water is just as good, that's what I use. Autumn from Design Dump recommends putting a little fabric softener in the water to make the paper slide better-and it smells nice too!
Good luck with the bathroom update, looking forward to the reveal.
Holy WOW the Chiang Mai looks awesome! These are good tips, I've used the DIF and Paper Tiger. It works, but still tedious for an amateur!
LOVE IT!! Oh, it's gorgeous - I would never want to leave your powder room! I actually was talking to a friend this past w/e about removing wallpaper and I think I'm going to just paint over it!! My husband thinks I'm crazy.....
what??? LOVE the chiang mai! i've always loved that color way for wallpaper. can't wait to see the finished space.
found you from kristine at a graceful home. love your blog!
I love that wallpaper!
Loving your wallpaper! You're almost finished, so exciting!! Thanks for the wallpaper removal tips. We had a little wallpaper in our house (that had been painted over), it was fairly easy to remove and in a small room fortunately.
The wallpaper looks great! As far as removal, I always had fantastic luck scoring with a paper tiger then soaking with a fabric softener/water mix. That works better than Dif for me.
Wow- I love the wallpaper! Gorgeous choice! I'm so excited for you that you are so close to the reveal. It will be beautiful!! And in the past, I have used a scorer and DIF to remove wallpaper. I don't know about huge sheets, but large sections do come off at once. I recommend it! :)
Oh that wallpaper is beautiful! Love the design and the colors!
alexa
www.theshortandthesweetofit.com
Oh, can't wait to see...this glimpse already looks great!! Take care, Caroline
wow, looks great! You are getting some blue in your house now...We scored our wallpaper and then soaked it, worked just fine.
It's GORGEOUS!!! I'm so jealous!!! What a classic! This is gonna stand the test of time!
Kelle
xx
It's looking sooooo beautiful! You must be so excited!!! Can't wait to see the finished room.
I am loving that you did the blue chaing mai. I can't wait to see the full reveal. It is stunning!!!
Ohmygoodness That wallpaper is gorgeous. I've been so lucky that I've never had to remove wallpaper (knocking on wood). It seems like a horrible task.
ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh!!! I'm so excited and it's not even my powder room!!! I can only imagine how stoked you have to be at this point(c: Needless to say, I'm looking forward to seeing the end result...the teaser pic is killing me! (c:
noone mentioned your blue ceiling! a lovely finishing touch!
I was told to use a cup of vinegar in a gallon of hot water with a squirt of dish soap as a spray to remove wallpaper by someone who experienced many renovations. It works pretty good, just like your guy told you. Just remember to empty out your sprayer as soon as you're done though -- the vinegar solution isn't kind to the gaskets on the sprayer.
Your paper is gorgeous!
That is -- the vinegar isn't kind if it's left to sit in the sprayer, doing the job with it is fine. (above comment)
Me again -- you can also use the same solution to wash the remaining paste from the walls when you're done pulling the paper down. I never found it necessary to sand it off.
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