If you’ve ever pulled back old wallpaper, you know the drywall underneath can be…messy at best. When I pulled off the wallpaper in our kid’s bathroom (that was practically falling off anyway), I was left with a rough yellow layer of wallpaper paste/glue. Their bathroom isn’t huge, but it certainly isn’t small, so I wanted to avoid sanding if I could. I tried sanding (regretfully), hot water & vinegar, hot water, and hot water & fabric softener.
If you need to remove leftover wallpaper paste without harsh chemicals, a mixture of hot water and vinegar will make quick work of scraping away the old glue. Combine half hot water with half white vinegar, and spray liberally. Then, use a spatula to scrape the residue.
That being said, there are some tricks to know, and a few other combinations you should try – every glue is different, and some may respond better than others to different combinations. I actually filmed a video on this as well, which you can check out below, or right here on my YouTube Channel.
In this post, I’ll be going over a few different combinations of liquids I tried to naturally remove wallpaper paste including hot water and vinegar, plain hot water, hot water and fabric softener, and a steamer (as well as a few other solutions I came across, but didn’t try). I’ll also go over when and where a sander is necessary, and the tools you’ll want and need to naturally remove wallpaper paste/glue.
Check out the before and after on my $1000 kids/guest bathroom makeover here! I’m so thrilled with the end result, it feels like a glam spa in my own home.
Solutions To Naturally Remove Wallpaper Paste
#1 Hot Water and Vinegar
The combination of hot water and vinegar worked flawlessly for me – though I went back when the combination was lukewarm/room temperature and it worked just as well. I also found that letting the mixtures sit on the wall for a second before trying to scrape it away helped with removing the glue. Apparently, the acidity of the vinegar eats through the glue and softens it, making it much easier to scrape off.
Another vote for hot water and vinegar is cost – though it’s just a tad more expensive than hot water alone, it’s certainly cheaper than hot water and fabric softener.
#2 Hot Water
Plain hot water does not work nearly as well as hot water and vinegar, and it was a lot messier. That being said, depending on the adhesive used, it could work. As with anything, test a small area with various solutions to see what works best for you!
How To Naturally Remove Wallpaper Paste
Step One: Prep the Room
- Turn off the power if you’ll be working near outlets
- Tape off any vents, baseboards, and trim you don’t want to get wallpaper goo on
- Cover or remove any surfaces/items you don’t want to get wallpaper goo on
- Prepare the natural cleaning solution (50% hot water and 50% vinegar)
I also like to bring all the tools I’ll be using into the room at this point – it keeps me focused on the task at hand, and makes the whole process seem faster!
Step Two: Spray The Walls, One Section At A Time
- Spray a 5’x5′ or so section liberally, but not the whole room. The vinegar and water solution will dry relatively quickly, so it’s best to work in one area at a time.
- I only needed to wait about 15-30 seconds for the glue to soften since it was so old, but you may need to wait a bit longer.
- Start high and work down – the solution will drip, so let gravity help you!
- Using a metal scraper, slough the goo off the wall and into a bucket or trash bag, wiping your scraper with each pass on a rag or paper towel
- Repeat until you’ve scraped the whole room, avoiding the outlets.
Step Three: Work Around Outlets and Light Switches
- If there are any sections around outlets or light switches, either use a rag to keep the solution from dripping inside the electrical box, or use a sander to take care of those sections
- If you do end up using a sander, be sure to wear a mask and wait until the wall is dry – wet sanding could tear up the thin paper that sits on top of drywall
Step Four: Clean, Patch, Prime, and Paint!
Once you have all the wallpaper paste removed, clean the room, patch any holes or imperfections, and you’re ready to prime! You’ll want to wait at least 24 hrs after removing the wallpaper paste to prime the walls. Priming is definitely necessary once you’ve removed wallpaper paste, since the wall underneath has likely taken a beating. Once you’re primed and ready to go, paint the room or add any other treatments you’d like. If you’re looking to add a less permanent wallpaper on top, I wrote an excellent post with 24 sources for peel and stick wallpaper, which you can find here.