In order to save some money onrepair, many owners of apartments and houses prefer to perform some types of work independently, without involving builders. One such job is cleaning the walls from old wallpaper before coating them with new finishing material. An uncomplicated, at first glance, process can cause a lot of problems for non-professionals. To avoid this, it is necessary to understand how to remove the old wallpaper correctly. 
Remove old wallpaper with a spatula (a) or a drilling machine (b).
The need to clean the walls of old wallpaper
Removal of the old paper coating is veryan important stage in the repair, because it largely depends on the future type of renovated rooms. Some home craftsmen do not bother cleaning up the walls from worn wallpaper and stick new paper cloths on top of them. However, you can not do this in any way, because:
- dilapidated wallpaper in some places may not fit snugly to the surfaces, and under the weight of the new wall cover they will finally peel off;
- Between the layers of old and new paper cloths, the likelihood of wrinkles and air bubbles, spoiling the appearance of the wall, is great;
- grease stains and other contaminants that are present on the old wall cover, eventually pass to the wallpaper pasted over it.
As you can see, removing old wallpaper from walls can not be avoided. To facilitate and accelerate this process, you need to listen to the advice of professionals. 
Tools and means for removing wallpaper.Before, the room needs to be prepared for work. Considering the fact that in the process of cleaning surfaces a lot of debris and dust is formed, it is recommended to cover the entire floor with plastic wrap, gluing its edges to the baseboards using masking tape. In the room where it is planned to remove the wallpaper from the walls, turn off the electricity, and close the sockets with special plugs or cover up with masking tape to prevent dust and moisture from entering. If there are lighting fixtures on the walls, they must be removed. Before removing the old paper wallpaper, the master will need to prepare all the devices and tools necessary for this business. Do not forget about the stepladder, which will be needed when you have to remove the wallpaper from the ceiling. After careful preparation, you can get to work. Usually, removing old wallpaper from the walls is not difficult, even for those people who have never done it before. But if the paper canvases were glued with heavy-duty glue, then removing them from the surface can be quite difficult. In order to not turn into a problem cleaning the walls from dilapidated wallpaper, several ways of carrying out this process should be considered. Back to the table of contents</a>
Removing wallpaper by hand and wet
Old paper cloths, which in many placesget unstuck and do not stick well on the wall, you can take it off with your hands, and use only a spatula from the auxiliaries. To clean the surface, you need to lift the upper section of the blade with your hands or tool and after it falls behind the wall, pull it from the top down. If the wallpaper is kept on an honest word, it will be very easy to remove them in this way. In the event that some areas are firmly pasted, they will have to be cleaned with a spatula. Remove the dilapidated paper coating until the walls are completely cleaned of it. 
The scheme for removing old wallpaper. And how to remove old wallpaper, if they are firmly glued to the walls? In this case it will be impossible to tear them off from the wall with bare hands. There are several ways to clean the surfaces from the wallpaper that has become unusable. The most accessible and easy one is the removal of the wall covering by wet method (using water). Before proceeding with the process, it is necessary to prepare:
- large capacity with water;
- sponge or roller with foam nozzle;
- spatula or scraper.
So that those who hold fast to the wall, by theirsurfaces are carried out with a wet roller or sponge. Some people prefer to spray them with water from a spray bottle. After waiting 5 minutes (during this time, the water will be absorbed into the paper covering), slowly begin to remove the wallpaper from the surface with a spatula. Wallpaper soaked in water will easily come off. It is not necessary to cover all walls with water at the same time, as the paper dries quickly enough. It is recommended to wet the canvases one by one: each subsequent one should be impregnated only after the previous one has been removed from the wall. When cleaning the walls from wallpaper with a wet method, remember: the hotter the water is, the better it will soak the old canvases. Washable wallpaper cannot be removed in this way. Before starting work, the water-repellent film must be removed from their surface and only then soaked in water. If it is difficult to remove the film, then each sheet of waterproof wall covering is cut in several places with a sharp knife, and then it is carried out over its surface with a wet foam rubber sponge. 
The scheme of removing old wallpaper with the help of a "tiger". Through the notches, water will penetrate under the washable wallpaper and soften their base. After letting the water soak in, the wall covering is slowly torn off the walls, picking up badly lagging areas with a sharp scraper or spatula. Recently, a new type of wall cover appeared on the market of finishing materials - liquid wallpaper. Not everyone knows how to remove them from the wall, but it's very simple. To remove such a coating, it must first be moistened with water, and then remove from the wall with a spatula. Back to contents</a>
How can I remove paper sheets with special solutions?
It happens that a water-wet wall coverdifficult to move away from the surface. How easy is it to remove old wallpaper in this case? In order to avoid problems when removing paper from the walls, experts recommend using the cheapest deep penetration primer sold in any construction shop. Some types of primers should be diluted with water before use, others can be used immediately. If the master purchased the first type of primer, then he should dilute it with cold water at a ratio of 1:10 (regardless of what is stated in the instructions). If the composition is not intended for breeding, it will still need to be poured in a little liquid (for 1 part of the primer, 2-3 parts of cold water). In the resulting solution, a foam roller is wetted and carried to the canvas. Then they act the same way as when removing the wall covering with water. The primer soaks the wallpaper much faster and better than water, so that they quickly lag behind the walls. If the paper webs are glued to the base of gypsum board, then they can not be soaked with water, since this material does not like excessive moisture. 
The scheme of removing old thin wallpaper. Remove the old wallpaper from the walls of gypsum board can be using a special liquid, which is bought in ready-made form. It is made of non-toxic components that easily penetrate the base of the wall cover, reduce the adhesion of paper to the surface and dissolve the dried glue. The liquid for removing wallpaper is applied to the walls with a roller. Impregnated with her canvases easily cleaned in the usual way (with a spatula or scraper). Back to contents</a>
Steam method of removing the wall cover
When deleting old wallpaper, you can useferry. The power of steam can soften even the most dense wallpaper. To remove the wall covering by the steam method, there is even a special device - a stripper. No worse than a professional stripper will cope with steaming canvas steam iron or household steam generator, which will be found in many homes. It is very easy to remove wall panels with steam: the steam unit is brought close to the wall for half a minute, after which the soaked paper is immediately removed with a scraper or a spatula. Work should start from the bottom of the wall, as the steam will rise up and soften other areas of the wall covering. When working with hot steam, you must remember the safety precautions: in order not to burn yourself, the master needs to hide the body under the clothes with long sleeves and trousers, and put gloves on his hands. In deciding to remove the wallpaper in this way, it should be borne in mind that all the steam appliances operate from the mains, and the room in which the walls are cleaned must be de-energized for safety reasons. In order to connect the device, you will need to use an extension cord. Having become acquainted with how quickly to remove old wallpaper, you can start to work. It is most difficult to remove from the walls a coating that was glued with the use of PVA glue or other water-insoluble compounds. If the paper can not be macerated and firmly holds on the surface, then it will have to be scraped off with a sharp scraper. In difficult cases it is possible to resort to the help of a grinding machine, treating them with fragments of wallpaper that can not be removed. Cleaned from the old wall cover, wipe it with a damp cloth or sponge, after which it should be completely dry. Before you start to glue the walls with new material, they need to be taped lightly. If it is found plots where the plaster is loosely attached to the wall, it is removed, and the places freed from it are again plastered. Only after this you should start pasting the walls with wallpaper.
