How To Remove

If you have old wallpaper that's outdated, peeling, or downright disturbing, Detroit Wallpaper has modern luxury wallpaper to transform your space. So if you want to prep your walls for a Detroit Wallpaper design, then it's time to talk wallpaper removal. You can hire a professional outfit to peel off your old wallpaper, or if you'd prefer, you can do it yourself. Here's how:

What You’ll Need for DIY Wallpaper Removal

  • A ladder

  • A wallpaper perforator

  • A wallpaper steamer

  • A wallpaper scraper

  • Waterproof & heat-resistant gloves

  • Safety glasses

  • Painter's tape

  • Waterproof drop cloths

  • A fan

  • A bucket

  • A sponge

  • Tri-sodium phosphate cleaner

  • Towels

DIY Wallpaper Removal Instructions

1) Prepare the Room
Before you start steaming, you'll have to perform some preparation. Ready the room by removing light-switch and outlet covers. Be sure that the power is off for these outlets. Cover your outlets and light switches with painter's tape to keep any moisture and adhesive from falling on them. Remove any nails and screws from the wall. Move furniture out of the room, or out of the way (the center of the room ought to do). Finally, throw waterproof drop cloths on the ground where you're going to work, and set up your ladder. 

2) Prepare & Score Your Walls
Use your wallpaper perforating tool to poke your wall with tiny holes. These holes allow moisture to seep through the surface of your wallpaper to the adhesive on the back side. Run the wallpaper perforator across the walls thoroughly to ensure that moisture can reach every bit of adhesion. Be cautious, however, since wallpaper perforators can damage the surface behind your wallpaper as well, especially if it's drywall. 

3) Steam
Turn your wallpaper steamer on, and get your ladder in position to start. It's easiest to start from the top of the wallpaper and work down. Be sure that you're wearing your gloves and eye protection because steam can burn your skin, and there's a chance that it could injure your eyes too. Keep your scraper within reach as you climb your ladder with the steamer operating. Once the steam is pumping, hold it over swaths of your wallpaper. Use just enough steam to make the wallpaper easy to peel. Excess steam can damage drywall. Next, it's time to start scraping and peeling your wallpaper. 

4) Scrape & Peel
If you can peel away segments of wallpaper, go for it. For more difficult scraps, pull out the scraper. When scraping, be extra cautious. Scrapers can dig into drywall (especially wet drywall) rather easily. You shouldn't have to use much force to remove the wallpaper. If your wallpaper isn't coming up easily, try a bit more steam. Again, it's best to work from the top of your wall downward. 

5) Cleaning Your Walls
Once all of your walls have been scraped of wallpaper, you might have to go over your walls once more to make sure that your surfaces don't have any leftover adhesive. Leftover adhesive will remain as a blemish on the wall surface, affecting both future paint and wallpaper applications. Combine a dash of tri-sodium phosphate cleaner with hot water. Mix. Use a sponge to apply this mixture to the parts of the wall that still have adhesive. Again, don't oversaturate your drywall. After all of the adhesive has been removed, go over the surface once more with pure water. Then pat your walls dry with a towel. 

6) Clean Up
Surely, you've made quite a mess. It's time to clean up, and then it's on to step number seven . . .

7) Celebrate
Your wall probably won't look perfect, but it'll be perfectly prepared for new wallpaper or a fresh coat of paint. But of course, you're opting for a fresh design from The Detroit Wallpaper Co.!