How to Remove Wallpaper (The Easiest Way Step by Step!)

Want to know how to remove wallpaper? I’ve tried lots of different ways and am sharing what I’ve found works best!

Just as in our previous home, there’s a LOT of wallpaper to remove at our home in NC! Over the years I’ve tried every trick in the book for taking old wallpaper down (we have a knack for buying houses absolutely loaded with it) and today I’m sharing the removal method that works best for me.

I’m also sharing the “before” and “after” makeover of the most recent room I removed wallpaper in – our laundry room. Ready to see?? (post includes commissionable links; for more information, see my full disclosure statement {here})

Here’s the “before” of what our laundry room looked like when we bought our house:

1. Start Steaming at a Bottom Seam

Starting at a bottom seam between two strips of wallpaper, steam that area thoroughly with your steamer. Using a small putty knife, try to get the blade under the steamed wallpaper so you can start pulling the sheet of wallpaper up at the corner. If you can’t get the corner up, steam it some more and try again.

Once I have the first bit of corner pulled up, I continue pulling the sheet with my left hand as it loosens from the wall and use the putty knife in my right hand to get under the paper and help separate it from the wall:

2. Alternate Between Steaming on Top of the Paper & Under It

Once you’re able to pull the corner up, continue steaming that sheet of paper by alternating between steaming on top of the sheet (move the steamer back and forth over the area):

and underneath it (being careful not to steam your hand):

If you’re really lucky, you might be able to use this technique to get your wallpaper off in large sheets like I did in our laundry room:

but the reality is that it’s not always that easy! Sometimes it will come off in little pieces no matter what wallpaper removal trick you try. A lot of it has to do with whether the walls were properly prepped before wallpapering or not. If it doesn’t come off quite as easily as you’d like here’s what to do:

3. Use a Putty Knife to Help With More Stubborn Pieces

In some cases you’ll find that you can easily peel off the top layer of wallpaper but the bottom layer of wallpaper backing is still stuck to the wall. This is often the case with vinyl wallpaper that you’ll find in some bathrooms and kitchens – it can be really stubborn!

If this happens, steam off the top layer of wallpaper as described. Then for the paper backing that’s still stuck on the wall, take a damp sponge or rag and soak it well, letting it sit, soaked with water for several minutes while you work on another spot. Then, come back to it and steam the paper backing (starting at the edges) while using a putty knife to lift it off:

Usually it will lift off quite easily! As an alternative to a putty knife you could also try {this long handled scraper} that gets great reviews.

4. Remove the Wallpaper Glue

Now that you know how to remove wallpaper, what about the wallpaper glue residue?! Once all of your wallpaper is removed, you’ll typically still have residual wallpaper adhesive on the wall that you’ll want to get off before painting or wallpaper installation. I simply fill a bucket with warm water and use a dampened sponge to scrub the remaining glue off – you can see the portion where I removed the glue from the wall on the left and the portion I hadn’t yet gotten to on the right:

If there’s a LOT of glue left behind after removing your wallpaper, before I scrub it off with my sponge, I lightly steam one area of the wall at a time and move my putty knife over the wall to scrape off the excess glue:

and then follow it up by scrubbing the rest off with my sponge and warm water.

5. Prep Before Painting or Re-Wallpapering

Wallpaper glue is tricky because even when it seems like you’ve gotten it all off, often there’s residual glue there that’s reactivated when you paint the walls (and the glue turns into a glob and messes up your paint job). To prevent this issue, there’s some special prep to do before painting over wallpaper glue.

After I finishing removing the wallpaper in our laundry room I… added wallpaper right back to it – ha! I’m a glutton for punishment I guess 🙂 Here’s a reminder of what it looked like “before”:

and here’s what it looks like now:

Along with re-wallpapering, I added {this new rug} as a doormat, a set of {these blue & white striped storage bins} above the washer, and swapped out the old, dated light fixture for {this brass star flush mount fixture}:

If you’re re-wallpapering like I did, be sure to check out my post on wallpaper installation for the step by step of hanging your new wallpaper. If you’re intimidated about hanging traditional pasted wallpaper, another option to consider is peel and stick! It’s a great beginner’s way to try out wallpapering since you use a lot of the same techniques to hang it but it’s easier because you’re not rushing against the clock to hang it before the glue on the back of your wallpaper dries. Check out my full blog post on peel and stick wallpaper to get the details on how to hang it!

Other Methods to Try for Removing Wallpaper

While using a handheld steamer is the best way I’ve found to remove wallpaper, there are other ways you can try too if you want to experiment with what works best for you including:

1. A Wallpaper Steamer

A steamer that’s specifically made to steam wallpaper like {this one} has a rectangular shaped attachment that you put on the wall to trap the steam and make it more effective. I’ve tried using one before but found that I did better with a handheld steamer that allowed me to steam under the sheet I was pulling up. It does have the advantage of having a much bigger water tank though so refills aren’t needed nearly as frequently. If you go this route, be sure to get one with a hose that’s long enough to reach the top of your walls.

2. Scoring + Chemical Stripper

Another option for how to remove wallpaper is to “score” your wallpaper using {this tool} that makes small holes in it followed by a wallpaper stripper like {this one} or {this one} that you spray or sponge on. I know some people who use this as their go-to method but for me it was really slow and the scoring tool left a few marks on my wall. Plus I’d rather use plain steam than a chemical stripper. If you use a chemical stripper, be sure to follow the safety instructions using safety goggles and gloves.

3. Hot Water in a Spray Bottle

This is definitely the cheapest route to go if you don’t already own a handheld steamer. Simply put fairly hot water in a spray bottle (or some people use equal parts water and fabric softener or equal parts water and vinegar), spray one area of your wall at a time, let it sit, and then use a scraper to remove the wallpaper. I removed the first half of the wallpaper in our foyer this way so it’s definitely do-able but I experimented with my handheld steamer for the first time on the second half and it moved things along much more quickly for me.

I hope you all found this to be helpful! If you want some wallpaper removing practice, come on over (ha – I wish!). While I’ve tackled our laundry room, small breakfast nook, powder room, girls’ bathroom, and kitchen, I still have our master bathroom to go….