There are many types of wallpaper, all of which have their appearance and characteristics. Vinyl wallpaper is a type of wallpaper that is easy to apply and very maintenance-friendly. It is easy to clean. But sometimes you want something different on the wall. How do you remove vinyl wallpaper?
Remove the top layer first. Start at a seam and peel off the top layer. Wet the paper base with water and soapy water and let it soak well. Then you can cut it off with a putty knife. If the underlayer is made of vinyl or linen, you will first have to perforate it before you wet it.
In this article, I discuss ways to remove vinyl wallpaper from the wall with all the tips and tricks!
What Is Vinyl Wallpaper?
Knowing how something is produced or made already provides insight into how to apply or remove it. This is also the case with vinyl wallpaper.
Vinyl wallpaper is a type of wallpaper with an underlayer of (usually) paper with a vinyl layer on top. We also know vinyl under the name PVC.
Although the bottom layer usually consists of paper, there is also vinyl wallpaper that consists entirely of vinyl, and there are types with linen as the bottom layer.
This vinyl can contain many different designs, but the most famous vinyl wallpaper is the foamed wallpaper.
The advantage of vinyl wallpaper is that it is easy to clean and is good to use in damp areas such as the kitchen, bathroom, and toilet.
Due to the production method and the good qualities of the wallpaper with regard to moisture, this type of wallpaper is more expensive than regular wallpaper.
How To Recognize Vinyl Wallpaper
If you have foamed wallpaper, you know for sure that it has vinyl wallpaper, but there are also types of vinyl wallpaper with a design and of which it is more difficult to determine that it is vinyl wallpaper.
You can recognize vinyl wallpaper by its resilience of the wallpaper. When you push on the wallpaper, you can lightly press it, making it feel soft and spongy. Then you can be sure that it is vinyl wallpaper.
But how can you easily remove this vinyl wallpaper?
How to Remove Vinyl Wallpaper
Removing vinyl wallpaper isn’t that hard to do and if you’re lucky, you’ll be done in no time. How does it work?
- Start by plucking the top layer. Start at a seam or corner on the floor and pull the top layer first.
- This goes pretty quickly and what remains on the wall is the underlayment.
- If the underlayer is made of paper, you can wet it with soapy water, let it soak in, and then cut off the underlayer with a putty knife.
- If the underlayer is made of linen or vinyl, you can wet it, but the moisture does not penetrate/hardly into the underlayer and cannot dissolve the glue. With this type of underlayer, holes must first be made in the underlayer, and you can do this with a wallpaper perforator, which works very easily.
- You can also scratch with an old saw or a utility knife.
- Then wet the wall again with soapy water and let it soak in.
- The underlayer can then be chipped off with a putty knife.
If you follow these guides, I am sure the wallpaper will be off the wall in no time.
You can also rent a steamer at your local hardware store to wet the wallpaper, but it is better not to use this on plasterboard, as you will also make the plaster very soft.
Finally, here are a few more guides on removing Vinyl wallpaper.
Vinyl Wallpaper Removal Tips
These tips will make removing vinyl even easier.
- Protect the floor by putting foil on it. If you have a stone or wooden floor, the wallpaper can stick to the floor again, so cover it.
- You can also rent a wallpaper perforator from your hardware store.
- To wet the underlayment, fill a container with soapy water and wet the wallpaper with a floor wiper. This works very quickly.
- Remove the last glue residue with a sponge and a putty knife.
- To make the wall smooth, you can now let the wall dry and sand the last difficult spots flat with fine sandpaper.
Good luck with your job! And if it’s too much work, ask friends or family for help.
Also read: How to Remove Dried Paint from Floor, Wood, Plastic
