Homemade Wallpaper Remover Recipes: 5 Tips for Easily Removing... (2024)

Making your own wallpaper remover is a smart and cost-effective solution to refresh your space.

Here’s how to create and use a simple homemade wallpaper remover:

• Mix equal parts white vinegar and warm water in a spray bottle.
• Score the wallpaper with a tool to allow the mixture to seep through.
• Saturate the wallpaper and let it sit for 15 minutes to dissolve the glue.
• Peel the wallpaper from the wall using a putty knife or scraping tool.
• Use the vinegar solution again to wipe down the walls and remove any residue.

The white vinegar method is a wallet-friendly and efficient way to strip off old wallpaper, making it the perfect choice for homeowners looking to renovate with ease and speed. The ingredients are likely already in your pantry, and the process is straightforward. Plus, by using natural white vinegar, you’re avoiding harsh chemicals, which is better for both your health and the environment.

Design projects are a fun time in any homeowner’s life with all of the new colors and accents; it’s enough to make your head spin. If you live in an older home, chances are there are a few things you want to change right away, such as that ugly wallpaper left by a previous owner. “When tackling old wallpaper, patience and the right technique are key,” advises Alice Gilbert, a seasoned authority on home improvement, “I always recommend starting with less invasive methods before moving to chemical solutions.”

Luckily for you, this article includes several recipes and tips on how to make homemade wallpaper remover, thus saving you from having to buy a giant bottle of chemical-laden wallpaper remover. At the beginning of your wallpaper removal project, no matter which DIY wallpaper remover you choose, make sure you have the right supplies.

A spray bottle, a scoring tool, some paper scrapers or a putty knife, sponges (a sponge mop would be easier) or a paint roller, and a drop cloth are necessary at the start of your project. Once you have these tools at hand, you are ready to remove that old wallpaper with these step-by-step recipes.

My Simple and Effective Homemade Wallpaper Remover Tips and Recipes

While wallpaper removal is usually not on the top of the list of favorite home projects, there are ways to make it easier and less time-consuming. Check out our solutions for how to remove wallpaper with some simple ingredients and a little elbow grease.

I Use White Vinegar – An Easy Homemade Wallpaper Remover

An easy way to make wallpaper adhesive let go is to use white vinegar. One of the components of vinegar is acetic acid, which has the chemical properties to help unbind adhesive glue, making it a great tool to remove wallpaper. You can follow this recipe for a vinegar and water mixture.

Use a scoring tool to create small perforations in the wallpaper. If the wallpaper is already peeling, you can peel off the top layer of paper. Then, mix equal parts vinegar to equal parts water in a spray bottle or a bucket.

Generously spray or apply the vinegar and water mixture to the walls. Let soak for 15 minutes. Scrape the wallpaper with the tool of your choice.

After you remove the wallpaper, use this mixture to go over the walls again to clean dirty walls and get rid of any wallpaper paste residue. As a bonus, this vinegar all-purpose cleaner will also deodorize your home and act as a natural mold killer, especially when mixed with baking soda.

Fabric Softener

By using fabric softener, the wallpaper adhesive will break down and make it easier to tear the wallpaper away from the wall.

Use your scoring tool to create small holes in the wallpaper. Mix equal parts fabric softener and hot water in a spray bottle. This method works best by focusing on small areas and slowly working your way across the entire wall.

Saturate the wallpaper with the fabric softener spray and let it soak for a few minutes. Use a putty knife to peel the wallpaper away from the wall.

Fabric Softener and Dish Soap – My Simple DIY Wallpaper Remover

A combination of dish soap and fabric softener will also give you the extra power to remove that stubborn wallpaper.

Add dish soap to hot water in a bucket. Use this water mixture to saturate small sections of wallpaper and begin peeling the wallpaper.

If you need some extra help, mix fabric softener, dish soap, and warm water in a spray bottle. Then, spritz the wallpaper adhesive using your spray bottle mixture for easier removal.

Steam

By using a conventional clothing steamer, or renting a wallpaper steamer, you can break down the wallpaper paste. You’ll want to slowly move the steamer so that the steam has time to work on one area. When the wallpaper bubbles up, the steam is working.

Take your scraper or putty knife and peel the wallpaper away. This is helpful around any wooden molding or accents that you don’t want to saturate with soapy water.

I Use Dish Detergent

Dish detergent is incredibly useful for eliminating grease from your dishes, but did you know that it is also an effective DIY adhesive remover? If you have pieces of stubborn wallpaper or wallpaper adhesive, mix a tablespoon of dish detergent with 1 cup of hot water.

Use a sponge to wipe down the walls and remove the remaining wallpaper or wallpaper adhesive. You can use a scraper or putty knife for extra help.

Hopefully, these step-by-step homemade solutions will give you a DIY wallpaper remover you want to try! No matter how much wallpaper you need to remove, from a small area to an entire wall, there is a wallpaper removal solution for you.

My Recipe for Homemade Wallpaper Remover

Homemade Wallpaper Remover

Yield: 3 cups

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Difficulty: Easy

Fabric softener has multiple uses!

Materials

• 3 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons dish soap
• 2 tablespoons liquid fabric softener

Tools

• Clean cloths
• Bucket
• Measuring cup
• Tablespoon

Instructions

1. Swish the ingredients in the bucket to mix.
2. Soak one of the rags and wring out slightly, leaving it dripping.
3. Swipe the rag over one section of the wallpaper at a time.
4. Let the solution sit on the wallpaper for about five minutes.
5. Start peeling the wallpaper.

Notes

Use a scoring tool on the wall before applying wallpaper remover to help the mixture penetrate.

Secure a dropcloth to the baseboard below the wall to catch drips and peeled wallpaper for easier cleanup.

If you know someone who is about to start a redesign project at home, then please share this article on Pinterest and Facebook to make their wallpaper removal less of a headache and more about therapeutically ripping large sheets of wallpaper off the walls (safely, of course!).