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How to Remove Wallpaper Borders
by Brenda Murphy
So you bought a new house. You love everything about it except for the
ugly wallpaper borders in almost every room. Time to get them off the
wall. Removing wallpaper borders is not an easy task, but with a few
good tips and some elbow grease, you can get the job done.
The best way to remove the wallpaper border depends on what type of
wallpaper was used, what type of surface it was glued on and what type
of adhesive was used. One of the easiest things you can try is to use a
hair dryer to heat the wallpaper border which may loosen the adhesive
enough to let you peel it off.
Usually if the border has been glued to wallpaper, it will come off
fairly easy. Slightly mist it down and use a plastic scraper to remove
it from the wall. If the wallpaper border has a vinyl covering that
won’t let the water or any commercial wallpaper remover soak through,
use a perforation tool over the entire surface of the border to allow it
to soak in.
If the wallpaper border has been glued directly onto a painted wall, use
warm water and some commercially available wallpaper remover and give it
plenty of time to soak in before you try to scrap it off.
Steaming also works well for removing wallpaper borders. Steam the
entire surface of the wallpaper border. Start from the bottom to the
topmost part in sections. If the adhesive is very strong, steam the
boarder twice or more until the wallpaper boarder starts to loosen from
the wall. Use a plastic or soft metal scraper to avoid damaging the
wall. Scrape the border off the wall working from the bottom up. Use
warm water and a clean sponge to remove any remaining adhesive from the
wall.
Instead of using a commercially available wallpaper stripper, you can
also use a mixture of fabric softener and water. Mix 1 capful of fabric
softener with 1 quart of water. Pour it in a spray bottle and spray it
right on the wallpaper border. For very strong adhesives, you can also
use a sponge and soak the boarder with pure fabric softener.
Another “homemade” option is vinegar. Mix water and vinegar and pray it
on, or use an old paint roller and roll it right on the wallpaper
boarder. The stronger the wallpaper adhesive seems to be, the more
vinegar you should use. Use the vinegar option as a last resort, since
it will smell pretty strongly for a few days. Wipe the walls down with a
damp rag after you removed the wallpaper boarder to get as much of the
vinegar as possible off your wall.
Visit
www.LearnHowToRemove.com for a growing library of tips to remove
those annoying messes in your life.
Article Source:
http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Brenda_Murphy
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