How to Remove Wallpaper Without Chemicals {Even if it’s Been Painted Over}

Disclosure: This post is sponsored by HomeRight. All opinions are my own.

First of all, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. Removing wallpaper is not the most fun thing you’ll ever do in your life. In fact, sometimes it just plain stinks, especially if it’s been painted over (like every wall in my entire house). It can be tedious, it can damage your walls, and it can be time consuming. BUT, I’m going to show you how to remove wallpaper safely, without chemicals, and I’m going to tell you what to do if/when your wall does get damaged. I’m also going to give you the opportunity to win a HomeRight SteamMachine, which will allow you to get the job done (plus there are tons of other uses for it too!). Check out the giveaway at the end of this post!

I’ve been working on making over some of the bathrooms in our house, and now I’m taking on wallpaper removal in our upstairs hall bathroom. It had been painted over but was peeling in some places and needed to be removed, and I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to show you how to do it without chemicals.

What you’ll need:

• HomeRight SteamMachine Multi-Purpose Power Steamer
• Wallpaper Scorer
• Wallpaper Scraper
• Drop Cloth
• Garbage Bag
• Broom and/or Shop Vac for cleanup

First of all, let’s talk about removing wallpaper that hasn’t been painted over. If you’re really lucky, it will slide off like butter. (This does happen from time to time, and at our old house we were able to peel it off quite easily.)

First, lay down a drop cloth or large towel because this can get messy. Prepare your SteamMachine by attaching the steam plate attachment, filling it with water and turning it on. It takes about 7-8 minutes to heat up.

While you’re waiting for your SteamMachine to heat up, score the wallpaper. I picked up a scorer and a scraper at The Home Depot for a few bucks each. You just slide the scorer over the wall and it punctures little holes in the paper so your steam can get through easier.

After you’ve scored your wall (be careful not to press too hard — you just want to score the wallpaper, not damage the drywall underneath), it’s time to start steaming. Start in a corner or at the top (or at a seam or wherever you see some wallpaper starting to lift from the wall, if this is the case for you), and work your way down slowly. Work in sections, and hold your steamer on the wall for about 3 seconds at a time. (Since mine was painted over, I had to really saturate the painted layer first in order to get to the wallpaper layer.)

Try peeling with your fingers first, and peel away as much as you can. If it doesn’t peel easily, use your scraper to remove the rest.

Be gentle with the scraper, as your drywall will be softer due to the moisture and can be easily damaged. (If your wall does get damaged, you can patch with spackle, but if the damage is extensive then you may have to skim coat the entire wall with joint compound.)

Continue the process: Steam, peel, scrape, until it’s removed. It’s possible that you may peel away the top/patterned layer first and the layer underneath that will still be adhered to the wall. Simply run the steamer over it again, and peel/scrape it away.

If your wallpaper has been painted over, as mine was, the job will be harder and the wall may end up with more damage, but it’s nothing that can’t be fixed. Score the wall, steam it, and carefully scrape the wallpaper, paint and all. It will be more stubborn and may require more steam than usual (there were no large strips peeling off like butter in this room), but just work in small sections. As I mentioned before, you may have to skim coat the wall when you’re done, but it can be done!

After the wallpaper has been removed, thoroughly clean the wall with mild soap and water to ensure that all of the glue is gone. Then patch, prime and paint.

I still have two more walls of wallpaper removal, and a lot of work to do in this little bathroom, so stay tuned for more very soon! Can’t wait to show you the before and after when it’s all said and done.

Now the fun part…

HOMERIGHT STEAMMACHINE GIVEAWAY!

Trust me when I say, you want one of these bad boys in your life. From tasks like wallpaper removal, to cleaning and sanitizing your home — the HomeRight SteamMachine Multi-Purpose Power Steamer is such a useful tool to have on hand. The steam plate is perfect for removing wallpaper, and the other attachments work great for disinfecting and cleaning floors, stovetops, ovens, bathrooms, grills and more. It kills 99% of all germs and bacteria, and with a crawling baby in our house right now (and a total of 3 boys), I can think of about a million things I’m going to sanitize with it. It uses pressurized, high-temperature steam to loosen and dissolve dirt and grime.

To enter to win your own SteamMachine, please wait for the Rafflecopter box to load and follow the instructions. (Email subscribers can click over to the blog to enter if the Rafflecopter box doesn’t appear for you.) Giveaway ends Thursday, September 24, at Midnight EST.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

For more blog posts, check out my project gallery here!

You can also connect with me here:

Thanks for visiting!

-Erin