Wallpaper Removal with Fabric Softener

Many people use wallpapers instead of paint on their walls. This is because a wallpaper comes in many lovely designs and all you have to do is stick it on your walls. Painting on the other hand gives you a single color and while you can paint designs on your walls, it will be too big a hassle to make your wall look as good. But before people put their lovely wallpaper on the wall, they do not know what a headache it is, to remove it. And after a while, you do have to remove them, because they get faded.

Remove Wallpaper with Fabric Softener

The problem that occurs while removing wallpapers is that it may spoil the walls. Many times people apply the wallpaper without applying wallpaper primer before sticking them on. As a result, the glue which is used to stick the wallpaper on the wall gets absorbed into the wall and as a result, removing the wallpaper may take some chunks out from your wall. Hence removing it is clearly a delicate job. To make this job easy, you can go for a quality fabric softener. Yes, it makes one of the best wallpaper removal products. For this experiment, you need some hot water, some fabric softener and a wallpaper removal steamer or a simple sprayer. You may also need some old cloth as things may get a little messy. So, are you ready with the necessary products?

Before you start this exercise, make sure that you turn off the circuit breaker and all the electrical appliances. You will also have to remove all the furniture from the room, as this is messy work. Cover the floor with some dry unused cloth to prevent it from getting dirty. Mix the softener and water in the ratio of 1:4 in a steamer. In case you do not have a steamer, heat the water first and then mix it with the fabric softener in the same ratio in a sprayer. In case you do not have a steamer or a sprayer, you can mix the fabric softener and water in a bucket and then use a paint roller or a heavy rag of cloth. But it's advisable to use a steamer/sprayer as its less messier. Start spraying the walls with this mixture. You will see that the walls start peeling after some time. Usually, you can spray one wall, then peel the wallpaper off the wall you sprayed previously. If it refuses to come off, then spray the wall again with the same mixture and then peel it off! To even out the wall, you can use a heavy duty cleaner (preferably one which has trisodium phosphate). This cleaner will work as an abrasive on the walls, and rub out all the wallpaper residue, wax and grease, if any, and even out the surface for your next wallpaper or paint.

Another compound which can be used in place of fabric softener to remove wallpaper is white vinegar. But personally I would advise you to use softener itself, as it makes wallpaper removal quite easy.