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How to Remove Wallpaper  
HOW TO 

Tags: Wallpaper, Wallpaper removal, redecorating

Removing wallpaper is a simple way to make a change in any room. Here is how you can remove the wallpaper in your home.

1.	Lay dropcloths over carpet and anything else you want to protect. Use small nails to attach to wall edges if necessary -- dropcloths move around a lot even if you nail them, however. Moving furniture out of the room to be stripped will make your life easier.
2.	Shut off all circuit breakers to any room outlets and lights. If you have a job and an active weekend social life, and therefore will be doing this at night after work, invest in a halogen work lamp (US $20 at Sears or Home Depot) and a long extension cord.
3.	Remove covers from outlets and switch plates, and keep them and their screws in a safe place.
4.	Fill a bucket with hot water, as hot as you can stand, the hotter the better. Mix in the stripping solution according to the instructions on the bottle. A 20% solution of vinegar is also effective, cheaper, and not as toxic.
5.	Do not score the wallpaper, as the instructions say. This will only make your life more difficult. By all means do not buy a Paper Tiger. It will break instantly. Note: Some wallpaper may have a coating which makes it impervious to water, thus requiring the use of the paper tiger. (Not everyone agrees on this. Remember, the only purpose of the Paper Tiger is to perforate the surface of the wallpaper. This allows the solution to soak through better, especially on vinyl wallpaper. If you break it, you're pushing way too hard.)
6.	Soak your paint roller in the hot water / stripping solution mix.
7.	"Paint" the stripping solution mix onto the wallpaper. Do an area only as big as you think you can strip in 15 minutes' time. As you strip, you'll get a better idea of how large an area this is.
8.	Let the solution soak into the wallpaper, and then repeat step 7.
9.	Start peeling. Try to get pieces as big as possible. Have fun with it -- take your frustrations of the day out on the wallpaper. Have a huge garbage can nearby.
10.	If your solution mix gets too cold (you won't be able to strip wallpaper as easily), or cloudy with old wallpaper glue, dump it out and make a new batch as in step 5.
11.	Repeat steps 8-11 throughout the room until no wallpaper is left. If there are multiple layers of wallpaper, only take off one layer at a time. If your previous homeowner, like mine, was a complete and total moron who painted over wallpaper then put another layer of wallpaper over, do not use paint stripping solution. It irritates the skin and stinks to high heaven. Chip at the paint with a razor blade tool instead, getting as much paint as you can, then strip. Often, the painted wallpaper will come off if enough solution can soak behind the paint, making your job slightly easier.
12.	Let the walls dry.
13.	Ah, the pleasant sight of unprimed plaster walls, dirtied with brown spots of old wallpaper glue. Wasn't that easy? Don't answer that. Now would be a great time, if you're handy with electrical work, to replace those pesky two-prong outlets more than twice as old as you are with three-prong outlets that can actually be used without fear of fire. I'm sure there's another eHow article on this.
14.	Replace outlet covers, turn on the breakers, and clean up.

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