How to Remove Wallpaper Without a Steamer
Scoring, two soakings rather than one, scraping at the right angle, and why the slower method is the one that leaves the wall intact
Score the surface, soak it twice with warm water and wallpaper stripper leaving ten to fifteen minutes between soakings, then scrape with a broad knife held almost flat to the wall. It takes longer than steaming and it is considerably gentler on plaster and plasterboard.
For most rooms this is the method to use. A steamer is faster, but speed is what damages walls.
What you'll need
- Wallpaper stripper concentrate, or a squeeze of washing-up liquid, which does much the same job more slowly
- Bucket of warm water, and a sponge, a paint roller or a garden sprayer
- Scoring tool
- Broad stripping knife, 100mm or wider, with a rounded edge
- Dust sheets, plastic sheeting and masking tape
- Rubber gloves
A garden sprayer is the single best thing you can borrow for this job. It wets a wall evenly in seconds and it saves your arm.
Step by step
- Clear the room and tape plastic sheeting along the skirting, angled to catch the wet paper.
- Turn the power off at the consumer unit and tape over socket and switch faceplates. You are about to put water on a wall full of electrics.
- Test a corner. If the paper peels away dry in whole sheets, you may not need water at all.
- Score the surface if the paper is coated, painted or resistant. Overlapping circles with a scoring tool, pressing lightly, enough to break the surface, not to cut the wall.
- Wet a square metre thoroughly with warm water and stripper. Warm, not boiling.
- Wait ten to fifteen minutes, then wet it again. Two soakings do far more than one heavy one.
- Scrape. Slide the knife under an edge and push at a shallow angle, keeping the blade almost flat. Work upwards, so water runs down onto paper you have not reached yet.
- Wet again rather than force. If the paper resists, it needs more water, not more pressure.
Working in the right order
Wet one area while you scrape the last one. Two people can run a proper rotation, one wetting and one scraping, and a room that takes one person a day takes two people an afternoon.
Start at the bottom of a wall and work up. It feels wrong and it is right: the water you apply runs down and gives everything below a free second soaking.
Why this is better for the wall
Steam drives heat and moisture into the plaster very quickly. On old lath and plaster it can soften the plaster itself, and on plasterboard it can blow the paper face off the board.
Water and stripper act on the adhesive without heating the wall, and because you are working in small areas the wall never gets saturated. It is slower, and considerably less likely to turn a decorating job into a plastering one.
If it is not working
- The water is not getting through. Score more thoroughly, because coated and painted papers need it.
- You are not waiting long enough. Ten to fifteen minutes between soakings, and a third soaking on stubborn areas.
- The paper is coming off but the backing is staying. That is normal on a two-layer vinyl. Peel the top layer dry, then soak the backing.
- It is woodchip. Expect chips rather than sheets, and heavier soaking throughout.
- Nothing is moving at all after three soakings. This is where a steamer earns its place.
Afterwards
Stripping the paper is only half the job. Wash the old adhesive off the wall or nothing you hang next will stick.
How do you remove wallpaper without a steamer?
Score, soak twice with warm water and wallpaper stripper, and scrape with a broad knife held almost flat.
Does washing-up liquid work?
Reasonably. What softens the paste is warm water and time. The additive is mostly there to help the water wet the surface. A proper stripper works faster and rinses off more cleanly.
Does fabric softener or vinegar work?
Both work to a degree, for the same reason. Neither is better than wallpaper stripper.
Should the water be hot?
Warm. Boiling water is a scalding risk and no more effective.
How long should I leave it to soak?
Ten to fifteen minutes, then wet it again before scraping.
Is this method slower than a steamer?
Yes, and gentler on the wall. On plasterboard and old lath and plaster, that trade is worth making.
