Wallpaper is the material, which is used for covering and decorating the interior walls of offices, homes and some buildings. It is an important aspect of interior decoration. They are always sold in rolls and are put on the wall by using the wallpaper paste.
Wallpapers are plain or with patterned fabrics. The printing technique used for wallpapers is surface printing, gravure printing, rotary printing and silkscreen printing. The modern wallpapers come in variety of types. There are two most common factory trimmed sizes known as American and European rolled goods. The most common type of wall covering used for the residential use is pre-pasted vinyl coated paper, which is known as strippable. The clothed back vinyl is very common and is durable. The lighter vinyl is comparatively easy to handle and hang.
Over time, wallpapers become old and lose their shine. Removing them can be a little difficult. Here are some steps on how to remove old wallpapers.
Things Required:
- Fabric softener
- Large putty knife
- Clean spray bottle
- Fabric softener
- Heavy towel
- Lined garbage can
- Newspaper or tarp for floors
- Steamer
Steps:
- Check your wallpaper carefully. If it is just hanging on the wall like a second skin, then you will have to do some intensive labor. Old wallpapers, which are adhere closely to the wall can pull the bits out of the wall with it, and sometimes, lead to heavy expenses, which causes a lot of trouble.
- Remove or cover everything that is not nailed very well. Place some newspapers on the floors, as this work can be very messy. Place a large garbage can in the room at arms length from where you are working. Make sure that you cover the top lip of the garbage can because the wet paper can dry quickly on anything. Once it is dry, it will be difficult to take it off.
- Mix equal quantities of fabric softener and lukewarm water. Pour this mixture in a clean spry bottle. Use a bottle which is sturdy. Some people use a mixture of vinegar and lukewarm water, but fabric softener works better.
- Start with the corner of the top wall. Spray a 4×4 section and allow it to stay for at least 20 minutes. Wet it enough so that it does not dry out.
- Now, lift the corner of the paper with the help of a putty knife. Try to lift a section of 2 inch first. Now you can use your hands to gently remove the paper. Take it off in the form of strips.
- Once you have finished with one section, remove some missed pieces from the wall with putty knife. If required you can wet it more. Now spray the mixture at the bottom, and allow it to stay when you are finishing the first one.
- Wipe the wall section properly; use a thick towel for this after you have scrapped off the remaining pieces. This will take out all traces of the old paper. Now, continue this same procedure in rest of the room.
- If you have many layers of paper, you can rent a steamer. Sometimes, they only come off with the help of a steamer.
Tips and Warnings:
- For multiple layers of wall, you must use a steamer.
- Paint over the old paper if it is tightly stuck on the wall. It will save a lot of your time and money.
This is a very messy job. Wear some dirty old clothes while doing this. Even with a lot of caution, bits of paper and paste stains appear everywhere.
Related Tags: old wallpapers, old time wallpaper, plain uncoated wallpaper for silk screen, removing old silk wallpaper
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