What takes Smoke Stains/Damage off of walls with wall paper?

Question

I am going to be moving into a house soon and it has really bad smoke damage on the walls and it is wall papered, I don't think we can take the wall paper down but we can cover it up, or wash the walls to get them clean. I know that w Mr. Clean Magic Eraser will take some of it off but I don't know how much.

And I'm wondering if there is anything else that is safe for a pregnant woman to use to get the smoke damage off the walls.I've been told Kilz pain will do the trick, how much does that stuff run? Thanks to everyone.

Answer 1

You need to use a product wich has low VOCs to avoid possibly harming your baby.  KILZ makes such a primer and it should do the job well for you.  It runs about  $22 to $25 per gallon.  But this is a primer - not a paint.  You will still need to apply a painted surface over it which will run another $18 -$20 per gallon.

Answer 2

If you cannot remove the wall paper, than make sure it is glued very securely because once you paint it ,its going to be nearly impossible to remove it.You would have to strip the paint off first and go about removing it normally.As far as cleaning you could use a simple green or better yet TSP or dirtex.These are great wall cleaning products but killz original (oil) or any oil based primer would be best as to covering up stains and smoke damage and sealing in oders.Killz original runs about 10-12 dollars a gallon but has a very strong oder due to it being a oil based , so if possible see if you can have someone do this for you.Once you have your primer on you can top coat with any paint you choose doesn't matter what base(oil/latex).Also I'm not sure on the name but they do make paint which is safer if you are pregnant .GL

Answer 3

I would try dish-washing liquid. Dawn is the one brands I see advertised to clean grease and oil, so maybe that will work. I don't think it would hurt to try Mr. Clean or something like that if the liquid doesn't work well. Good luck.