Removing Wall Paper

[EvianBaby]

I live in a rented house and I've been given permission to decorate as long as I put it back to plain magnolia walls whenever I move out.

I'd really love to put some patterned paper up on a couple of walls but wondering how easy it is to remove and return to the smooth, painted finish afterwards?

[murraymints]

If you hire an industrial steamer and lots of time and patience ..fine...otherwise forget it...

[EvianBaby]

Oh stuff that, I'd pay someone else to do it ;)

I just wanted to make sure it can be done without leaving the wall looking crap after.

[tonyav]

That would depend on how you remove the wallpaper Evian, You would probably have to give it a good soaking and take it easy with the scrapper so has not to damage the plaster or use a steamer. But then again any gouges to the plaster can soon be remedied with a bit of Polly filler.

[EvianBaby]

Oh yeah, good old poly filler. Ill do it! :)

[MichaelZZ]

I have recently removed a washable wallpaper from a downstairs loo. The top layer of paper came off more or less in one piece leaving the lining / backing on the wall. I sprayed this with warm water using a plant spray bottle, let it soak in for 5 minutes and then used a large putty knife to remove the wet paper. Very, very easy! I then washed the wall to remove the remains of the old adhesive, let it dry and put on a couple of coats of emulsion in the normal way. I was very pleased with the result - and so, surprisingly, was Mrs ZZ