removing wallpaper in rehab - Posted by Jack

Real Estate Investing
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Posted by Marcia on December 10, 2004 at 08:53:57:

Jack:

Sorry I went into all the detail, when that wasn’t what you were looking for. I don’t know of anyone that has used fabric softener. If you do, come back and tell us the results. Have a great day! Marsha

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removing wallpaper in rehab - Posted by Jack

Posted by Jack on December 09, 2004 at 11:07:57:

Someone mentioned to me that they have used fabric softener to take off wallpaper. Anyone done this? If so, do you use it straight from the bottle, add hot water, or what? I have used Lowe’s products before, just curious about this.

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Re: removing wallpaper in rehab - Posted by rm

Posted by rm on December 12, 2004 at 07:43:44:

If you’re using fabric softener, you MUST use a bandit sign to scrape it off.

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Re: yes I have - Posted by chris

Posted by chris on December 10, 2004 at 10:59:39:

yes I have used fabric softner. First I scored it with the little tool you can buy at home depot, then I used warm water and fabric softner and a wash cloth. Results: smelled great but came off in little tiny pieces and took forever. I used DIF on the next room and the paper came off in big sheets.

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Re: removing wallpaper in rehab - Posted by JoeS

Posted by JoeS on December 10, 2004 at 07:45:23:

How wallpaper comes off depends on how it was put on. This is what I have done…if the paper is vinyl, just peel it off first then use warm water in a spray bottle to wet down the backing still on the wall.

If there are more than 1 layer of wallpaper you have to do each layer. Use DIF also, available at finer stores everywhere. If the wall was prepped right, that is, Wall-Grip or Shieldz was used first, then the backing will come right off. If the wallpaper was put on over bare drywall then you WILL have a problem with a layer of paper coming off the drywall also!!!

The bottom line is this…try these measures in an inconspicuous spot, behind a sofa etc first. My 2 cents.

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Let me clarify - Posted by Jack

Posted by Jack on December 10, 2004 at 07:03:14:

I have done as the posters below suggested numerous times. I am curious only if someone has tried to use fabric softener to remove it and the results. Thank you!

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Re: removing wallpaper in rehab - Posted by Joe C. (AR)

Posted by Joe C. (AR) on December 09, 2004 at 16:56:25:

I just went through this. as the other poster mentioned, a wall paper remover product is sold at Home Depot, pretty inexpensive. I did several small rooms with just a gallon.
Lessons learned:

  1. If the the wall was not painted or treated before the wall paper went up, You’ll end up tearing off a layer of the sheetrock paper (not good). the layer underneath is very absorbant and will bubble and peal when you try to recoat it with anything. I wound up having to “float” the walls with thin layers of light weight joint compound, sanding in between. Very time consuming.
  2. The directions on the wp remover say to spray on the product (or sponge) two or three times before trying to take the paper down. Toward the end of my project I found that using a common face wash cloth instead, and really soaking the paper well minimized the sheetrock damage. One room I did was painted underneath. Paper came off with no problem.
    Just my .02
    Joe C. (AR)
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Re: removing wallpaper in rehab - Posted by Marcia

Posted by Marcia on December 09, 2004 at 11:56:20:

Jack:

I can’t think of the name of the product, however it works very well and you can get it at home depot. I think you could probably get it at Lowes as well. First of all you use roll this hand held device all over the wall paper which puctures little holes in it. It does not hurt the walls. Secondly you get a bucket of warm water with the wall paper stripper stuff (can’t remember the name) and pretty much soak the walls with a big sponge or a good size rag. Then you can use a paint scraper and it comes off very easy. Depending on the size of your room I would think not much more than $20.00 for both the tool, that can be used over and over and the wallpaper stripper. Good Luck!

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smelled great…ROFLMAO…nt - Posted by Joe C (AR)

Posted by Joe C (AR) on December 10, 2004 at 23:45:03:

.

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Why do it? - Posted by Jamie (AL)

Posted by Jamie (AL) on December 10, 2004 at 17:38:49:

There is no shortcut, here. Fabric softner works OK, but not better than DIF.

Why strip it? If it’s not textured, I prime it, mud over the seams and bad parts, prime again and paint. I’ve never had anyone notice the loss of square footage, yet.