How to Remove Old Wallpaper Before Painting

Removing old wallpaper is nobody’s favourite job. It’s slow, it’s messy, and it almost always reveals a wall in worse condition than expected underneath. But skipping it — or painting over it — is never the right answer. Paint over wallpaper and you’ll have bubbling, peeling, and visible joins within months.

As a professional decorator working across Carrickmacross and Co. Monaghan, stripping wallpaper is a regular and unavoidable part of full redecoration work. Here’s how to do it properly and what to expect when it’s done.

Why You Shouldn’t Paint Over Wallpaper

It’s tempting. The wallpaper is flat, it’s already on the wall, and painting over it seems like it would save a full day of work. But it creates several serious problems:

• The moisture in the paint activates the wallpaper paste adhesive, causing the paper to bubble, lift, and separate from the wall
• The joins between strips become visible through the paint and stay visible
• If the wallpaper ever needs to be properly removed in the future, the paint seals it to the wall and makes the job significantly harder
• The wall underneath can’t breathe properly, which can cause damp issues

The only exception — and it’s a rare one — is where wallpaper is perfectly flat, all joins are tight and flush, the paper is genuinely well-bonded to the wall, and you have no intention of ever removing it. Even then, most decorators still recommend stripping.

Tools You’ll Need

• Wallpaper scorer — a small rolling tool with pins that perforates the wallpaper surface, allowing water to penetrate through to the paste behind
• Warm water with a small amount of washing-up liquid or a dedicated wallpaper stripper solution
• Wide wallpaper stripper bucket and sponge or spray bottle
• Broad scraper (100mm+) for the main strips
• Narrower scraper (50mm) for corners, around sockets, and in tight areas
• Steam stripper (optional but very useful) for multiple layers or stubborn wallpaper

Protect the floor before starting — stripping wallpaper is wet work and the soggy paper that comes off the walls is messy.

The Stripping Process

Step 1: Score the surface. Run the scorer firmly over the entire wallpapered surface in overlapping strokes. Don’t press so hard that you gouge the plaster beneath — just enough to perforate the facing of the paper.

Step 2: Soak the paper. Apply warm water (with washing-up liquid or wallpaper stripper) generously to the scored surface using a large sponge or spray bottle. Work in sections and give the water time to penetrate through the perforations to the paste behind. Typically 2-5 minutes.

Step 3: Scrape. Once the water has soaked through and you can see the paper starting to bubble slightly or lift at the edges, scrape firmly but carefully. Work with the scraper held at a low angle — too steep and you’ll dig into the plaster.

Step 4: Repeat. Some sections will come away cleanly in large sheets. Others will require multiple applications of water and repeated scraping. Old, multiple-layer wallpaper can be particularly stubborn.

Using a Steam Stripper

For wallpaper that’s been on the walls for decades, painted over, or is multiple layers deep, a steam stripper makes the job significantly faster. Hold the steamer plate against the wall for 15-20 seconds, then immediately scrape the softened paper away.

Steam strippers can be hired from most tool hire shops in Co. Monaghan. They’re well worth the hire cost on a large room or a house with multiple papered rooms.

Caution: Steam strippers can raise a fine surface layer of plaster if the plaster is old or soft. Work carefully and don’t hold the steam on one area too long.

What to Expect Underneath

Here is where expectations need to be realistic. The wall underneath is almost never in perfect condition after stripping.

Common issues you’ll find:

• Paste residue — old dried paste must be washed off with warm water before painting; painting over paste residue causes sheen differences and adhesion problems
• Small holes and gouges from the scraper
• Torn paper backing — if the wallpaper had a two-layer construction, the backing paper may have stayed on the wall while the face came off. This needs to be removed separately
• Loose or damaged plaster — in older properties particularly, stripping may reveal soft, crumbly, or delaminating plaster that needs repair before it can be painted
• Staining — water stains, marks, or discolouration that was hidden under the wallpaper

All of this needs to be addressed before painting. Filling, sanding, priming of problem areas, and allowing everything to dry fully.

The Wall Repair Stage After Stripping

This is often where a DIY wallpaper strip goes wrong — the homeowner strips the paper, sees the rough wall beneath, and paints over it anyway hoping the paint will cover it. It won’t.

Every hole and gouge needs filling. Torn backing paper needs removing or stabilising. Paste residue needs washing off. Any blown or damaged plaster needs cutting back and repairing with appropriate filler or render.

Only when the wall is clean, smooth, and fully dry is it ready for painting. This is exactly the work covered in our guide on the right order to decorate a room from start to finish.

The hidden preparation work between stripping and painting is what makes the difference between a finished room that looks truly professional and one that looks like it had wallpaper on it last week. For more on why this stage matters, read our post on the hidden prep work that makes a professional finish.

For the full decoration service across Carrickmacross and Co. Monaghan, including wallpaper stripping and full preparation as standard, visit our full finish and decoration service page.

---

Need wallpaper stripped and rooms redecorated in Carrickmacross or Co. Monaghan? Call or WhatsApp Mark today: 0879197709. Free quotes on full decoration work.