How to Remove Old Wallpaper Before Painting: Scoring, Steaming and Chemical Strippers

Why Wallpaper Removal Is Worth Doing Properly

There is a persistent temptation, when faced with an old, faded or damaged wallpaper, to simply paint over it. It is quicker, less dusty, and avoids the risk of damaging the wall behind. We have written separately about the circumstances in which painting over wallpaper is genuinely acceptable — but in most cases, removal is the right approach, and doing it properly is the difference between a decoration that lasts a decade and one that starts to telegraph its problems within a year.

This guide covers the complete process: assessing the existing wallpaper, choosing the right removal method, dealing with multiple layers and difficult substrates, and preparing the bare wall for either re-skimming or direct painting. We work on properties across London — from Victorian mansion flats in Belgravia to period conversion flats in Chelsea and Kensington — and the principles in this guide apply across all of them.

Step One: Identify What You Are Dealing With

Before picking up a scorer or steamer, spend five minutes assessing the existing wallpaper. The answers to these questions will determine your method:

How many layers are there? Probe a corner or an area behind a light switch plate. In Victorian and Edwardian London properties, it is not unusual to find four, five or even more layers of wallpaper. Multiple layers add complexity and risk — the weight and moisture of removal can pull at the plaster beneath.

What is the substrate? Traditional lime plaster (found in pre-1930s London properties) behaves very differently to modern board plaster (Thistle Final Coat applied to plasterboard). Lime plaster is generally hard, resilient and tolerates moisture well. Modern board plaster is softer and can be damaged by excessive soaking.

Is the wallpaper vinyl or paper? Modern vinyl wallpapers have a face that strips dry in a separate operation from the backing. Traditional wallpapers are paper throughout and require wetting or steaming. You can usually tell the difference by attempting to peel a corner — vinyl face sheets come away cleanly, leaving the white backing paper adhered to the wall.

Has the wall been previously painted over wallpaper? If so, moisture will not penetrate readily and you will need to score first.

Dry-Stripping Vinyl and Fabric-Backed Wallpapers

If the wallpaper has a vinyl or fabric face, begin with a dry peel. Work a palette knife or flexible scraper behind a seam or corner, grip the edge and peel back at a shallow angle. Pull slowly and steadily — too fast and the facing tears; too slow and the backing begins to come with it.

Ideally the face sheet peels back in large sections, leaving the backing paper flat on the wall. This backing can then be removed by wetting (see below).

If the face refuses to dry-peel — common on older vinyl papers that have been up for many years — score the face with a Zinsser PaperTiger (a scoring tool with a wheel of small spikes) to allow water to penetrate, then wet-strip as for a paper wallpaper.

Wet Stripping: Hot Water and Fabric Softener

The simplest and often most effective stripping method is hot water applied generously by sponge or garden sprayer. Adding a small quantity of fabric softener to the water helps it penetrate the paper fibre. The ratio is approximately one capful of fabric softener per litre of hot water.

Apply the water to a manageable section — roughly one square metre — and allow it to soak for three to five minutes before attempting to remove the paper. Use a broad flexible scraper (a 150mm or 200mm decorator's scraper) held at a shallow angle, pushing the wet paper away from the wall surface rather than digging the blade in.

Key tips:

• Work in sections, keeping ahead of the water rather than trying to soak the whole room at once. Over-soaking can cause water to get behind multiple layers and increase the risk of plaster damage.
• Keep the water genuinely hot — it penetrates paper faster than cold water.
• Change your water frequently; cold, paper-clouded water is much less effective.
• Scrape parallel to the surface, not into it. Angling the blade towards the wall puts the leading edge at risk of gouging.

Steam Stripping: Faster, More Powerful

For multiple layers or stubborn wallpapers — particularly those adhered with old animal-glue paste rather than modern PVA-based adhesive — a steam stripper is considerably more effective than cold water.

Steam strippers consist of a boiler unit and a flat steam plate that is held against the wall surface. The steam penetrates through the paper and softens the paste behind in around thirty to sixty seconds. Then the plate is moved on and the scraper follows, lifting the wet paper.

Advantages of steam stripping:

• Much more effective on multiple layers
• Does not require fabric softener or spraying equipment
• Can work on painted-over wallpaper without pre-scoring

Risks and limitations:

• Excessive steaming can damage lime plaster, particularly ornate mouldings or areas where the plaster key has already failed
• On modern plasterboard-and-skim walls, prolonged steaming can soften the skim coat and cause it to lift
• Steaming generates significant moisture — ensure good ventilation and allow the walls to dry thoroughly before painting

For professional use, we use hire-quality Earlex or Reliable steam strippers. The key discipline is moving the steam plate continuously — holding it in one spot for more than sixty seconds risks damage to the substrate.

Chemical Stripping: Paste and Spray Removers

Chemical stripping gels and sprays — Zinsser DIF is the best-known product in the UK market — work by penetrating the paper and dissolving the paste adhesive. They are applied by spray or roller, left for the specified dwell time (typically ten to fifteen minutes), and the paper is then scraped off.

Chemical strippers are not faster than steam for large areas, and they are more expensive. However, they are the right choice for:

• Delicate plaster surfaces where steam could cause damage
• Carved, moulded or textured wall surfaces
• Paper that has been applied around difficult details such as cornicing or fireplace surrounds
• Situations where electrical fittings are nearby and steam presents a safety risk

Always follow the manufacturer's instructions for dwell time — applying and attempting to strip immediately is a common mistake that results in the paper tearing rather than lifting cleanly.

Scoring: When and How

Scoring wallpaper before wetting increases the rate at which water or chemical stripper penetrates to the adhesive layer. It is essential where the wallpaper has been painted over (paint provides a waterproof film that prevents soaking), useful on heavy embossed papers such as Anaglypta, and advisable on vinyl papers where the face cannot be dry-stripped.

The standard professional tool is the Zinsser PaperTiger, which uses a series of small spiked wheels mounted in a hand-held holder. It is rolled over the wall surface in overlapping strokes, creating a pattern of small perforations. The key is to apply moderate pressure — sufficient to penetrate the paper but not so heavy as to score the plaster surface beneath.

Do not use a serrated edge scraper or any tool that drags across the surface — these can score deep grooves in plaster that then need filling. The PaperTiger is specifically designed to puncture rather than drag.

Dealing with Multiple Layers

Multiple wallpaper layers are common in Victorian and Edwardian London properties. The layers have often been applied with different adhesives — animal glue (which re-softens slowly in water), wheat paste (which responds well to water), and modern PVA-based adhesive (which responds to chemical strippers).

The practical approach is to attempt wet or steam stripping as a first pass, lifting as many layers as possible at once. Where layers remain adhered together and resist removal, chemical stripper applied to the residual layers and left for ten to fifteen minutes usually dissolves the remaining adhesive.

In some cases — particularly where a painted layer has been applied over the bottom layer of paper — the only practical solution is to strip back to bare plaster and accept that some plaster repair will be needed.

After Stripping: Preparing the Bare Wall

Stripping wallpaper almost always reveals imperfections that were hidden beneath. Common findings include:

• Paste residue. Wash down the bare wall with warm water and a sponge to remove any remaining paste film. If residue is heavy, use a sugar soap solution. Allow to dry before doing anything else.
• Plaster damage. Areas where the plaster has been pulled away by the stripping process need to be cut back to a sound edge and filled. For small areas, a flexible filler such as Toupret Interior Ready Mix or Polyfilla Multi-Purpose is adequate. For larger areas, a lime-based or gypsum plaster repair is more appropriate.
• Screw holes, nail marks, previous fixing points. Fill and sand flush.
• Joints between plasterboard sheets (in 1980s and 1990s conversions). These often have only a thin skim coat over the joint tape, and stripping wallpaper can expose or loosen the tape. Restick with PVA, re-tape if necessary, and apply a fresh skim over the joint.

Mist Coat or Straight Paint? Making the Right Decision

After stripping and preparation, the decision whether to apply a skim plaster coat or to paint directly onto the bare plaster wall depends on the condition of the plaster surface.

Straight to paint is appropriate where the plaster is sound, smooth and requires only minor filling. In this case, the first coat should be a mist coat: emulsion diluted approximately 20% with water, applied thinly to seal the surface. This prevents the plaster from drawing moisture too rapidly out of the subsequent full-strength coats, which can cause flashing (uneven sheen) or poor adhesion.

Re-skim and then paint is necessary where the plaster is heavily damaged, uneven, or has multiple patches from previous repair work. A skim coat — applied by a skilled plasterer — creates a fresh, smooth surface. New skim plaster must be allowed to dry completely before painting. The tell-tale sign that skim is ready is a uniform light-grey colour with no remaining dark patches; the mist coat is then applied as for bare plaster.

Zinsser Gardz, applied undiluted as an alternative to a diluted mist coat, is an excellent product for consolidating friable or soft plaster before decoration — it penetrates and hardens the surface without significantly affecting the appearance.

The Professional Approach

Wallpaper removal and wall preparation are among the most time-intensive aspects of any decorating project, and cutting corners at this stage invariably shows in the final result. Our team works methodically through the assessment, stripping, preparation and priming phases before any decorative paint is applied, and we provide a detailed written programme for every project so that clients know exactly what to expect at each stage.

If your property has multiple layers of old wallpaper, damaged plaster, or you are uncertain about the right approach, we are happy to carry out a no-obligation site visit and assessment.

Request a free quote or contact our team to discuss your wallpaper stripping and preparation project.