How to Peel Wallpaper

Spread old fabric on the floor and everything you want to protect. Use small nails to attach the fabric to the edge of the wall if necessary, but be aware that the cover fabric will move a lot as you work, even if nailed. You should move furniture out of the room to make things easier.

Turn off the circuit breaker of electrical outlets and lights in the house. If you plan to work at night, buy a halogen lamp with a long cord.

Secure the electrical outlet covers and tape over the openings. This way water will not get in during the process of removing the wallpaper. Even an unpowered outlet can be dangerous when wet and pose a fire hazard. You can peel off the paper underneath when you’re almost done with the job.

Learn about wall materials. This will help you know how gentle you need to be when peeling the paper. The majority of wall types are plaster or plaster walls. Plastered walls are hard, durable, and relatively water-resistant, but drywall is just plasterboard with paper on the outside, and you shouldn’t let the wall soak up a lot of water. The easiest way to tell the difference is to knock on the wall in various places. Drywall when tapped on will make a hollow sound. If using a method that uses liquid or steam, you should be more limited and careful with drywall.

Determine the type of wallpaper to remove. There are many types of wallpaper, but peeling is much smoother with peelable paper or have a peelable outer layer than with traditional school stickers. To check, you can use a mastic knife to slip under a corner of the wallpaper, pry up a bit and try to peel it off with your hands.

• If the whole piece is peeled off, your wallpaper is peelable . That way you can open celebratory champagne!
• If only the top layer is peelable and the bottom layer is still stuck to the wall (usually a cheap one), your wallpaper is a peelable top layer . This type of paper is not as easy to peel as the above, but you are still in luck because it is not a traditional wallpaper.
• If you can’t peel off the wallpaper by hand (or only cover a thin strip at a time), your wallpaper is traditional . You will have to peel with a specialized solution or a steam wallpaper remover.