How to remove liquid wallpaper from walls?

Liquid wallpaper appeared on the construction market relatively recently, but immediately gained popularity due to its technical and aesthetic properties. They are an excellent finishing material, because they are ecological, durable and look great. In addition, they can also be painted. But there comes a time when you have to wonder how to remove liquid wallpaper from the walls, to replace them with new trim or create a new design. If the wallpaper has not been painted, then removing them from the walls will not be very difficult. But in the case when the wallpaper on top covered with lacquer or water-based paint, will have to tinker. So, how to remove the liquid wallpaper?

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Preparatory stage

Before applying a new coating to the walls, it is advisable to remove the old one. If this is not done, it can lead to the following consequences:

• To the appearance of mold and various fungi and bacteria on the wallpaper and under them.
• To the appearance of unevenness on the surface of the walls.

Important! Before you start directly to the process of removing liquid wallpaper from the walls, you need to think about protecting the room. If the manual removal with a spatula, the impurities will not be significant, then when the grinder is used, the dust will fly in all directions.

Therefore, you need to do the following:

• Purchase a paint tape and seal all the sockets, skirting boards and switches.
• If there is no possibility to take out furniture from the room, then at least zavesete its plastic wrap or a dense cloth.
• For the duration of the work, it is advisable to turn off the electricity or at least isolate the sockets to avoid traumatic situations.
• If there are sconces or other fixtures on the walls, it is better to remove them and insulate the wires. It is also desirable to remove the chandelier or to cover it from dust.

Important! Before you remove liquid wallpaper from the walls, you need to evaluate the front of the work and the quality of the wallpaper itself:

• If the composition of the material includes viscose fibers, the wallpaper can be removed by simple soaking. They can be used again later.
• But if the wallpaper looks like a decorative plaster, then they can not be reused, and it is better to remove such wallpaper with a special tool.

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What is used to soften the wallpaper?

To easily remove the wallpaper from the wall, special agents are added to the warm water:

• You can use any dish detergent or liquid soap. On 1 liter of water is 50 ml of the drug.
• Specialty products are sold in construction shops, which are used to remove liquid wallpaper, as well as to remove other types - vinyl, paper, etc.

Important! When choosing such a tool, pay attention to its smell. Do not buy compounds with a very sharp chemical odor.

• You can prepare the following solution: in 5 liters of warm water add two tablespoons of vinegar and two tablespoons of conditioner for laundry.
• Some experts recommend also adding wallpaper glue to obtain a gelatinous mass.

After everything is ready, you can start the process of removing wallpaper.

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Removing wallpaper with a spatula

How to remove liquid wallpaper? The simplest, but the most laborious way is to use a spatula.

Important! This method is recommended if the wallpaper is not applied in addition paint or varnish, and if the room is not very large.

It's easiest to remove vinyl blends. We need a metal spatula with a curved handle. So, let's start:

1. We prepare the means for softening the old decorative cloth.
2. Wide brush it on the walls, trying to evenly moisten them. Do this until the coating softens.
3. We are waiting for some time to make the paper swell.
4. With a trowel, use a spatula to scrape the material off the wall. If the material can be reused, dried and poured into a bag.
5. Immediately remove the entire finish is unlikely to work. The remaining pieces of the old coating should be moistened with water once again, with the vinegar dissolved in it.
6. If the coating was applied in a thick layer, then it should be removed step by step: water is applied, then the top layer is removed with a spatula, then water is applied again and the spatula is again used.
7. For removing the coating from gypsum cardboard, a mixture of special means for removing wallpaper and glue can be used.

If the coating is so strongly adhered to the wall that it is not possible to remove the spatula with it, then you will have to use special construction tools.

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We use construction and household tools

There are cases when manually removing the coating is difficult - as a rule, this happens when:

• was used very high quality glue;
• walls were subsequently painted or varnished;
• coating was applied without preliminary preparation of the surface.

Grinding machine

In such cases, you need a straight grinder. This method requires physical strength and leaves behind a bunch of dust and dirt. But it will save you time, if you have a question, how quickly to remove liquid wallpaper from the wall. During operation, the grinder must be pressed against the surface of the wall.

Important! It is recommended to use a respirator and safety glasses.

Instead of a grinder, you can use a grinder with special nozzles that protect the wall surface from severe damage.

Industrial dryer

If you do not have the skills to work with power tools, and the spatula is powerless, then what to do, how to remove liquid wallpaper? Do not despair, an industrial hair dryer will come to your rescue.

How does it work?

• The wallpaper is heavily wetted by the solution and heated by hot air, which penetrates to the deepest layers.
• After heat treatment, the coating easily lags behind the wall and can simply be removed with a spatula.

Important! It should be noted that this method has several significant drawbacks:

• This kind of work will take a lot of time, especially if the room is large.
• Industrial hair dryer takes a lot of electricity.
• If there was a layer of paint under the material, then it will fall behind with the wallpaper, and it will not be possible to reuse them.

Steam Generator

How else can I remove liquid wallpaper from the wall? You can soften them with a steam generator. Under the influence of hot steam, the coating will soften, and it can be removed.

Important! With this method, it is better to disconnect the sockets, in order to avoid injuries.

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Masking the old

coating If the material has firmly attached to the wall, the room is large and you do not want to bother with removing for a long time, you can just disguise it. In this case, you can sand the wall, using sandpaper, grinder or grinder:

1. It is necessary to completely remove all the cover, but simply remove the relief.
2. Then the surface is covered with a primer.
3. Then apply a layer of putty.
4. Wait for the drying, and everything is ready - you can make a new coating.

Important! If you plan to apply again liquid wallpaper, then the surface is recommended to scratch with a needle, knife or roller to increase the adhesion of the new and old coating.

In this article, we offered you different ways, from which you can choose for yourself a more convenient option to remove the liquid wallpaper from the walls. We hope you coped with the task easily and quickly, without spending a lot of effort on it.