Hi all!

Ok so I've read online dozens of articles on removing wall borders. All say soap and water, or fabric softner and water, or whatever and water... Remove the picture part... then spray/sponge the water mixture and soak for awhile... then scrap off.

Alright seems simple enough, but here's my issue. Although every article mentions "soaking" or "let it sit", not a single one says how long! Are they talking let it sit for 10 minutes? an hour? a day?

Please help! I got the ugly picture part off, now I have a nice yellow stripe all around my room (that actually looks better than the ugly border did!)

Or if anyone has any easier way to remove this stuff, feel free to suggest :)

Secret formula. Not to be read by anyone but VivaSuzi,

To a pint of lukewarm water add one teaspoon dishwashing liquid and two tablespoons vinegar, preferably distilled white. Put in a spray bottle and shake well then spray liberally on the border. Wait a half-hour and test for looseness. Wait another fifteen minutes if it still tight. Once the vinegar soaks through the paper to the glue it should almost peel off in large chunks. The water is the carrier. The soap is the wetting agent to get it into the paper. The vinegar is the glue loosener.

Larry

My house was loaded with wallpaper and border when we moved in - It took me quite some time, but I found a product that made it easier and left no residue - It was a dream - I should review it!


"Dif" by Zinsser was the name and you can even get it in a spray on formula. It really helped me.

Good luck with your new house!

Courtney

I haven't seen it at Target, but I saw it at Lowe's (hardware).

It is harder to find, but worth it...

Good luck!

Courtney

Suzi, Is this only for the purpose of removing wallpaper, or does it have other uses.

I'm looking forward to the review and it's so neat how you guys came up with this result.

Don't work too hard! Good luck,

Lorace

ps I put wallpaper on one wall of a bathroom about 40 years ago. Do you suppose I should change it? lol.

Suzi, Is this only for the purpose of removing wallpaper, or does it have other uses?

I'm looking forward to the review and it's so neat how you guys came up with this result.

Don't work too hard! Good luck,

Lorace

ps I put wallpaper on one wall of a bathroom about 40 years ago. Do you suppose I should change it? lol.

Saw everyone's posts helping with border removal....well here's my situation:

We just purchased a house where the owner REALLY loved borders. They were in every room except one, and the one that didn't have a border had a partial border in the walk-in closet. We've managed to get all the borders off except the one in the master bedroom. For the rest of the house we used a steamer, after deciding that smelling downy everywhere was too much. Worked fine. Got wallpaper and border off.

Apparently, it looks like they put the border on right on the dry wall, didn't even paint first. I have tried the steamer, Dif, downy....heck even tried a sander (knew it wouldn't work but tried anyway). And yes, I did score the border first.

Thanks,
Pat

Sounds like it is in the Master Bedroom - if you can't paint it, can you put up some crown molding to hide it? Or maybe texture the wall?

Border might be too thick for crown molding, but I thought it would be worth a try. Texturing is cool because you can make a room look like an Italian or Mexican Villa. I did my bathroom this way and with the right glazes and a chandelier over the bath plus some dark bamboo hardwood, it turned out pretty amazing.


You have stumped me otherwise....

Good luck!

Courtney

Thank you. Yes, it's in the master bedroom. I did some looking around and based upon what I'm reading, and what i'm seeing on the web, first off...they probably didn't properly prime the wall....most people probably don't. Also, the glue is very thick. More so than the other borders, possibly something they put up and then stuck the border to it.

Whatever it is, I'm getting it up. Painting unfortunately won't work as far as I'm concerned. The border (over 6" wide) is peeling at the top and bottom (made me think there wouldn't be a problem getting it off) I'll just have to do some work after getting it off.....oh well.

-Pat

The border in the closet is not a problem....the master bedroom is a problem. Isn't it amazing how something can be so hard to get to stick when you want to put it up can be so hard to get off when you want to take it down.

I have been reading the posts and most have said a jell at home depot or lowes is good but could someone give me the name of the product or is that a no no.


Thanks

I like Larry's suggestion and the Dif product works well too. Those borders are a pain to remove. We have one in a half bath that I've got to get around to one of these days.

You got the hard part done by removing the outer layer.
It should be relatively easy to soak the backing and scrape off with a large putty knife.
In the past I've just used hot water in a spray bottle with good results.

spuds

we used vinyl to vinyl adhesive to apply a border on top of wallpaper maybe 8 years ago - now I would like to remove to border ONLY from this room. Any easy way to do this and not mess up the wall paper that I really like, thanks in advance to all of you - this is my first time visiting this site - I've read some other tips but couldn't really find my situation listed - help me... Leslie

I don't think that's doable. You might have to just put a new border on top of the old border. In our two previous houses I papered and repapered just about every room.
It's too much work for me any more, so in the present house it'll be just paint and maybe a few selected murals.
They also have those little cut out wallpaper shapes that I might try too.

spudman