How to Remove Wallpaper Borders

Changing wall decor alters the look of your room.

Wallpaper borders can enhance and change the look of a room. When you're ready to redecorate, simply remove an old wallpaper border and replace it with a new one. Take down your wallpaper borders with a combination of supplies from the hardware store and your home. Household ingredients provide for chemical-free wallpaper border removal and are often less expensive than commercial products. While wallpaper removal can be messy and time-consuming, effective techniques and the right supplies make the task more manageable.

Things You'll Need

• Perforating tool
• Spray bottle
• 1/3 cup liquid fabric softener
• Sponge
• Scraper
• Bucket
• 1 cup white vinegar
• Clean cloths

Instructions

1. Poke holes in your wallpaper borders using a perforating tool. Press the tool into the wallpaper, starting at the top, and work your way down. Doing this helps the adhesive removal solution to be absorbed through the wallpaper.

2. 

   A spray bottle filled with household ingredients helps loosen wallpaper border adhesive.

   Mix up a wallpaper border adhesive removing solution by pouring 1/3 cup liquid fabric softener into a spray bottle. Add 2/3 cup warm water and shake the bottle to mix.

3. Spray the wallpaper borders thoroughly with the fabric softener solution. Be sure to spray along the edges as well as in the middle. Leave the solution on the paper for 10 minutes so it can soak through to the glue.

4. Scrape up the upper corner of a strip of wallpaper border. Hold on to the edge of paper with your fingers and pull the border out and down in one continuous motion to remove as much of the border as possible. Continue this process to remove the entire border. Apply more fabric softener spray to areas of wallpaper border that are difficult to remove.

5. 

   Diluted vinegar does double duty as an adhesive remover and wall cleaner.

   Place 1 cup white vinegar into a gallon of hot water. Dip a clean cloth into the mixture and wring out the excess moisture. Use the diluted vinegar to remove any remaining border adhesive and clean off your walls.

6. Allow your walls to air dry for at least 24 hours before painting or hanging a new wallpaper border.

Tips & Warnings

• Sponge or rub undiluted fabric softener onto your wallpaper border if it is really difficult to remove.

• Mix 1 cup baking soda and 1 gallon water to make an alternative border remover.

• Be careful when scraping up the edge of a wallpaper border. Scraping too hard can cause damage to the wall.

References

• Good Housekeeping; Heloise Hints: Removing Wallpaper; 2011
• Painting Techniques and Decorating Ideas
• Housekeeping Channel; Getting to Know Wallpaper-Removal Techniques; Soaking and Scraping It Off; Roy Barnhart, et al.; March 2010
• Earth Easy; Non-Toxic Home Cleaning Solutions: Wallpaper Removal; 2010