The Best Tools to Easily Remove Wallpaper

August 18, 2020

*This home improvement post is sponsored by Trimaco. All content and opinions are my own.

Today I am sharing tips for one of the best money-saving DIY’s – the best tools to easily remove old wallpaper! My latest home project is giving our dated master bathroom a little refresh. The master bathroom in our home is original to when the home was built – the late 1960’s.

The bathroom has retro blue shower tiles and even matching blue sinks! My goal is to give this bathroom a modern update without a major renovation. Removing the wallpaper and adding a fresh coat of paint on the walls will completely change the vibe in this room.

Here is what it looked like when we moved in.

Original 1960's master bathroom with peeling wallpaper | Building Bluebird — Original master bathroom

Removing wallpaper can update a room and is an affordable and easy DIY to try at home | Building Bluebird — Original bathroom

As a realtor, house flipper, and homeowner, I have seen SO MANY people scared away from houses with dated wallpaper. When you learn how to take it off it correctly, removing wallpaper is not as intimidating. I have tackled this task many times and I can’t wait to share the best tools I recommend to remove your wallpaper.

How to use a wallpaper steamer | Building Bluebird #diy

How to Remove Wallpaper & Tools to Use

I partnered with Trimaco for this project to protect the floors and surfaces in our master bathroom. These products work super well for wallpaper projects and can certainly be reused again and again for all kinds of projects! Scroll to the bottom of the post for a complete list of materials used for this project.

Step 1 | Protect Floors & Surfaces

Before removing any wallpaper, it is important to protect the floors and surfaces in a room. To protect the new carpeting in the vanity room, I laid down the Stay Put Canvas dropcloth from Trimaco. The wallpaper pieces you remove will be wet and sticky from the glue so you want to make sure to protect the surfaces in the room.

The best tools to use when removing wallpaper - Stay Put dropcloth | Building Bluebird

With this triple-layer dropcloth, I was able to remove wallpaper without worrying about the wet and gluey strips ruining the carpet. The canvas has a thin layer of plastic to prevent any leaks beneath the dropcloth. The final layer of the dropcloth is a rubber backing to keep the canvas in place and prevent slipping.

In the toilet and shower room, I used Trimaco’s toilet cover to prevent any glue from sticking to the toilet. I definitely reused this toilet cover to paint the room and can use it again in our other bathrooms!

Use a toilet cover when removing wallpaper or painting your bathroom | Building Bluebird

Once the surfaces have been covered, take off anything attached to the walls. For example, the outlet covers, hooks, and towel racks should all be removed before you begin. Having a few screwdrivers on hand is a must for this step in the process. Eliminating these barriers will allow you to easily and quickly take down the wallpaper attached to the walls.

Remove any attached items from the walls before removing the wallpaper | Building Bluebird

Step 2 | Use the Wallpaper Steamer & Scraper

If you do not own a wallpaper steamer, you can purchase or rent one at your local hardware store. Personally, if you have more than one room where wallpaper needs to be taken down, I would just buy one to own. As the wallpaper steamer heats up, use a scoring tool on the walls to allow the steam to penetrate through the top layer of the wallpaper.

Bathrooms typically have vinyl wallpaper which holds up better in high moisture areas. The scoring tool creates small holes in the vinyl wallpaper to allow moisture to seep beneath the top layer. As the steam penetrates the wallpaper, it will reactivate the glue that holds the paper in place.

The best tools and tips to easily remove wallpaper | Building Bluebird

When the steamer is ready, place it on the wall and allow it to saturate for 5-10 seconds. Move the steamer to another spot on the wall with one hand and with our other hand, use your larger putty knife to scrape off the saturated wallpaper.

How to easily remove wallpaper using a steamer | Building Bluebird
#homerenovation #bathroommakeover #diy

As you move across the wall, your scraper will get sticky from the glue. Keep a cloth rag on hand to wipe the glue off of your scraper. I like to scrape the blank walls one more time after I pull off the wallpaper to remove as much of the glue as possible.

The best tools to use when removing wallpaper in your home | Building Bluebird — Using my Trimaco rag to wipe glue off of the scraper

Step 3 | Remove Wallpaper from Tight Corners

There will be some areas in a room that the steamer cannot reach. This is where the spray bottle of wallpaper remover and the smaller putty knife come in. Saturate the wallpaper with the spray and scrape it off of the wall with the putty knife. If you don’t remove the toilet, it is a challenge to reach this area with a steamer. The spray bottle and small scraper work really well around a toilet and outlets close to door jams.

How to quickly easily remove wallpaper on your own | Building Bluebird — How to remove wallpaper from tight corners

Step 4 | Remove or Seal Remaining Glue

Remove remaining glue on the walls with TSP and a sponge. When you begin wiping with the sponge, the glue will feel slippery; but the more you scrub, the less slippery it will feel. This indicates that the glue has been removed. After scrubbing the walls, I use my cloth rag to wipe the wall dry and remove any lasting glue from the wall.

How to remove wallpaper glue from your walls | Building Bluebird — TSP solution to clean the walls

If you do not want to scrub the walls to remove the glue, another option is to apply a coat of flat oil-based primer to the walls before painting with standard water-based paint. Oil-based paint does not reactivate the glue (like water-based paints will). Once the primer is applied, you can paint with standard interior paint. Oil-based primer is very smelly so ventilate the space as best as you can.

Have you ever painted latex paint over oil-based paint? Check out my tips on how to fix this mistake when it happens!

Step 5 | Fill Any Holes & Sand the Walls

Fill in any holes in the wall with drywall spackle.

After removing wallpaper, fill any holes with spackle to prep the walls for paint | Building Bluebird

Use a sanding block to smooth out the walls. Wipe the walls down with a damp cloth to remove any dust.

After removing wallpaper, fill any holes and sand the walls before painting | Building Bluebird

Step 6 | Clean Up

Toss the wallpaper strips into a garbage bag. Bring the dropcloth outside and shake out the debris. Remove the toilet protector and fold up the canvas drop cloth to be ready for your next home project! In my case, I will be using these again to paint the walls in the bathroom.

You now have a blank canvas to paint the walls any color your heart desires! For the bathroom, I chose Snowbound by Sherwin Williams. The neutral palette allows the retro blue tiles and sinks all of the attention without competing.