How to remove liquid wallpaper from the 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, as they are environmentally friendly, durable and look great. In addition, they can also be painted. But the moment comes when you have to wonder how to remove liquid wallpaper from the walls to replace them with a new finish or create a new design. If the wallpaper has not been painted, then removing them from the walls will not be difficult. But in the case when the wallpaper was covered with varnish or water-based paint from above, you have to tinker. So how to remove liquid wallpaper?

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Preparatory stage

Before applying a new coating to the walls, it is advisable to remove the old. 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 bumps on the surface of the walls.

Important! Before proceeding directly to the process of removing liquid wallpaper from the walls, you need to think about protecting the room. If during manual removal with a spatula the contaminants will not be significant, then when using a grinding machine, the dust will fly in all directions.

Therefore, you need to do the following:

• Get masking tape and tape it all sockets, skirting boards and switches.
• If there is no way to remove the furniture from the room, then at least hang it with plastic wrap or a thick cloth.
• For the duration of the work, it is advisable to turn off the electricity or at least isolate the sockets to avoid injuries.
• If sconces or other lamps hang on the walls, it is better to remove them and insulate the wires. It is also advisable to remove or close the chandelier from dust.

Important! Before you shoot 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, then the wallpaper can be removed by simple soaking. They can subsequently be used again.
• But if the wallpaper in appearance resembles decorative plaster, then reusing them will not work, and removing such wallpapers is best done with a special tool.

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What is used to soften the wallpaper?

To make the wallpaper easily removed from the wall, special means are added to warm water:

• You can use any detergent for dishes or liquid soap. For 1 liter of water is 50 ml of the product.
• In construction stores, special products are sold that 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 harsh chemical flavor.

• You can prepare the following solution: in 5 liters of warm water add two tablespoons of vinegar and two tablespoons of fabric softener.
• Some experts also recommend adding wallpaper glue to obtain a jelly-like mass.

After everything is prepared, you can begin the process of removing wallpaper.

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Removing wallpaper with a spatula

How to remove liquid wallpaper? The easiest, but at the same time the most laborious way is to use a spatula.

Important! This method is recommended if no additional paint or varnish was applied to the wallpaper, and if the room is not very large.

The easiest way to remove vinyl mixes. We will need a metal spatula with a curved handle. So let's get started:

1. We prepare a tool for softening the old decorative canvas.
2. With a wide brush, apply it to the walls, trying to evenly moisten them. We do this until the coating softens.
3. We are waiting for some time for the paper to swell.
4. Carefully scrape off the material from the wall with a spatula. If the material can be reused, we dry it and put it in a bag.
5. Immediately remove the entire finish is unlikely to succeed. The remaining pieces of the old coating must be moistened again with water diluted with vinegar.
6. If the coating was applied in a thick layer, then it will have to be removed in stages: water is applied, then the upper layer is removed with a spatula, then water is applied again and the spatula is used again.
7. To remove the coating from drywall, you can use a mixture of special tools to remove wallpaper and glue.

If the coating is so adhered to the wall that it cannot be removed with a spatula, then you will have to use special construction tools.

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We use construction and household tools

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

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

Sander

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

Important! It is recommended to use a respirator and goggles.

Instead of a grinding machine, 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 hairdryer will come to your aid.

How it works?

• Wallpaper is strongly 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 disadvantages:

• Such work will take a lot of time, especially if the room is large.
• An industrial hair dryer takes a lot of electricity.
• If there was a layer of paint under the material, then it will lag behind with the wallpaper, and it will not work again.

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 can be removed.

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

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We mask the old coating

If the material is firmly attached to the wall, the room is large and you do not want to mess around with it for a long time, you can simply disguise it. In this case, you can polish the wall using sandpaper, a grinder or a grinding machine:

1. You need to completely remove the entire coating, but you just need to remove the relief.
2. Then the surface is coated with a primer.
3. Then putty is applied.
4. We are waiting for drying, and everything is ready - you can make a new coating.

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

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Stock footage

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