The wallpaper in our dining room is finally gone. What a relief!
Fresh, ready-to-paint walls are such a joy to see (the endless blue trim, however, is still making my eyes twitch).
You might remember that each time I remove wallpaper I try a different method so I can report back on which approach works best. In the past I’ve experimented with boiling water in a spray bottle, a steamer (which has been the easiest so far), and warm water mixed with Dr. Bronner’s soap combined with a wet rag to tackle the underlayer.
This time I followed a suggestion from a former professional painter named Sarah: a “dry stripping” method followed by a round of “wet stripping.” In other words, I peeled the paper by hand first without spraying or scoring the surface, then used a large damp sponge to soften and remove the underlying layer. I decided to give it a try.
Much of the paper came off in large sheets, though there were still a fair number of thin strips and leftover corners that required extra attention. It wasn’t lightning-fast, but it wasn’t painfully slow either. I’d rank the dry stripping method as about as fast as spraying the walls, waiting for the solution to soak in, and then peeling—possibly a little quicker since you skip the wet-wait step. This approach will not work in every situation, but when your walls are drywall and the wallpaper was properly prepped, you may get similar results. This particular wallpaper was about 30 years old, and at many seams it was already loose and primed for removal.
The dry approach mainly removed the top patterned layer of the wallpaper. Some other methods—especially steaming—sometimes remove both the decorative top layer and the white glued underlayer at once. With dry stripping I focused on peeling off the glossy patterned portion first, moving slowly around the room over the course of several days.
Once the top layer was off, the paper underlayer remained. To remove that, I used a large sponge dunked in warm water and wiped down the walls. The sponge deposited enough moisture to soak through the underlayer and loosen the adhesive, causing the paper to bubble and separate from the wall.
After soaking, I peeled the softened underlayer away. This was the slowest part: the material often came off in tiny slivers, and each wall took about an hour and a half to free from the clingy glue-riddled film. Patience was helpful—working methodically made the job much easier than trying to rush it.
One tricky area was the seams next to built-in corner shelves. It looked like the built-ins were installed after the wallpaper, so the paper had been tucked behind their edges. To achieve a clean finish, I carefully scored the seam with an X-Acto knife, running the blade right against the trim to cut as close as possible. Then I used tweezers to grab the strips and slowly worked them free along each side of the built-ins for a neat edge.
The real nemesis was the wallpaper inside two built-in bookcases. Unlike the primed drywall, the plywood backing of the bookcases had not been sealed or primed, and the wallpaper had been glued with a very strong adhesive. After spending about two hours on a single cubby and ending up with a lumpy, rough surface, we made the practical call to stop trying to remove it completely.
We decided to leave that stubborn paper in place and plan to either paint, re-wallpaper, or apply fabric over it. In this case, leaving the existing paper is actually an advantage: it provides a smoother, more even foundation than the damaged plywood would if we tried to strip it down to bare wood. So while there’s still a little wallpaper mocking me from inside those built-ins, the main walls of the dining room are now wallpaper-free and ready for paint—even that blue trim.
Before painting, I prep the walls by spraying a mixture of vinegar and warm water and scrubbing with the nubby side of a sponge to remove any residual glue. Some primers are designed to block leftover adhesive, but I haven’t needed them yet after using the vinegar wash. That simple pantry solution has saved us the extra step and cost of a specialized primer in other rooms.
And because I like crossing things off lists, here’s how our pre-baby goals are shaping up:
- de-blue-trim-ify the dining room
de-wallpaper the dining roomfinish Project No More Graph Paper in the kitchen- strip the bold blue master bathroom wallpaper
rip up the old carpet runner on the stairs- paint the blue trim in the office
Progress is steady. We still have another room upstairs with wallpaper to tackle, so suggestions are welcome—fabric softener is one method we’ve heard about and might try. So far, the steamer has been the fastest and easiest option, but other methods have the advantage of using only common household items. Removing wallpaper that’s been glued to unprimed plywood is enough to make you mutter and roll your eyes, but in the end I’m relieved the dining room walls are clean and ready for their next chapter.
P.S. John is writing over on Young House Life about the half marathon he ran this weekend for anyone who asked about it.