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Hi. I’ve been trying to remove old wallpaper in my bedroom for the last 5 years. I’ve tried steaming, goo off, fabric softener, wallpaper removal products...just about every ‘hack’ I can find. The paper will not budge. It seems it was put straight onto the plasterboard without an undercoat first. Am I ever going to be able to get it off or will I have to re-plaster the whole room?
Welcome to the Bunnings Workshop community @presumed_living. It's fabulous to have you join us and many thanks for your question.
It's a bit hard to tell from your images but does the wallpaper have a vinyl back or is it just paper? If it is paper, which is well adhered to the wall, I would advise painting over it. You might like to first give the wall a sanding to blend in where it has already peeled. Apply two coats of good quality sealer binder undercoat and then two coats of a topcoat. You could do this in a test section to see if you are happy with the results before committing to the full wall.
The only reason why you would need to remove the wallpaper is if it is not well adhered and likely to peel away later or there is a surface height difference/damage that an undercoat won't cover.
Please let me know if you need further information or had any questions.
Mitchell
Thanks. I’m trying my best to remove it all but some of it just won’t budge. I’ll keep persevering and get rid of as much as I can and then try your tip.
One of the most likely reasons for the wallpaper glue not dissolving from water is that the water is not able to penetrate through the paper coating. Have you tried a tool which punctures holes in the wallpaper to allow the water through? I'd recommend using a Rust-oleum Paper tiger Wallpaper Removal Scoring Tool followed up by applying Rust-oleum 650ml DIF Concentrate Wallpaper Stripper and using a specific wallpaper scraper like the Rust-oleum Wallpaper Paper Scraper.
I would advise using these three products in combination. If you are already using one of them, try with the others as well.
Mitchell
I'd recommend finding an inconspicuous test section and seeing how it reacts to being sanded off. It sounds like you've tried just about everything else.
Mitchell
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