What is the best way to remove old wallpaper from a wall, without leaving traces of the old paper behind?

Question

I will be painting the wall that I'm removing the old wallpaper from, and I want the surface as smooth as possible. Thanks.

Answer 1

ok it depends what people put under it because we removed 23 year old wallpaper from my grandmas house and the people who put it in didnt put anything under it so it was impossible for the wall to be smooth but if there was the thing that your supposed to put under wallpaper is there you can try using vineager and water

Answer 2

I also used hot water and a mix of vinegar..worked very well, we scraped the loose glue right off.

Answer 3

Steam and a scrapper.

Get a steamer and slowly steam off the wallpaper while scrapping off the glue left under it as it is still warm.

Answer 4

I've used both the vinegar/hot water method AND the fabric softner/hot water method.. .Both work but, are very, very time consuming!  Depending on the age of your home you may have to sand the area/patch since most plaster walls are not smooth....

Good luck

Answer 5

use a steamer and a scrapper... No gaurentees about the wall being smooth when finished,,,, you may need to sand a bit to remove the old glue!!!!!!!!

Answer 6

hot water and brush

Answer 7

Ok i've done this a fair bit. Normally there is a covering on the wallpaper you get a scraper and peel this off. Then you get this stuff from the hardware in the paint section thats specially designed to remove wallpaper and you get a spray bottle (i have one of those garden sprayers you pump up) and you spray the brown paper until it is damp wait 5-10mins then get a plastic scraper (also available at hardware) and simply scrape off. The steam method only works in certain applications, and certainly worth a shot if this doesn't nail it . make sure you thoroughly wash the walls with sugar soap before painting though because the residue from this product will tend to lift the paint if you don't .Good luck i truly know what you are about to go through.