How do you strip wallpaper? A proper guide that actually works
The method professional decorators use, and the shortcuts to avoid.
Stripping wallpaper is one of those jobs that looks easy on YouTube and takes twice as long in real life.
Done properly, it leaves you with a clean, sound wall ready to redecorate. Done in a rush, it can pull chunks of plaster with it.
Here's the right way.
How to strip wallpaper: what you'll need
A wallpaper scoring tool, a garden sprayer or spray bottle, warm water with a splash of washing-up liquid or a proper wallpaper stripping solution, a plastic scraper, dust sheets and a bucket. A steamer speeds things up but isn't essential.
The step-by-step method
1. Prep the room
Pull furniture away from the walls, cover the floor and mask sockets and switches with tape. Turn off the electricity to the room if you're using water anywhere near outlets.
2. Score the surface
Use a scoring tool in gentle circular motions. You're perforating the paper so water can get through to the paste behind. Don't press too hard, especially on plasterboard, you'll dent the surface.
3. Soak generously
Spray warm soapy water across a section about a metre square. Wait ten minutes. Spray again. Patience at this stage saves you an hour of scraping.
4. Scrape from the bottom up
Slide the plastic scraper under the paper at a shallow angle and lift. Whole strips should come away. If they don't, the paper needs more soaking, not more force.
5. Deal with the glue
The paper coming off is only stage one. See our guide to removing wallpaper glue for the finish.
How to strip wallpaper if it's vinyl or washable
These have a plastic top layer that repels water. Peel that layer off first, it usually comes away in strips, then treat the backing paper as normal.
When the wall fights back
If you're pulling plaster or hitting layers of old paint under the paper, stop. Overworking a bad wall creates more work than it saves. A Wallrock lining paper laid over the top, once the surface is stable, gives you a clean base without the drama.
How to strip wallpaper without wrecking your walls
The single biggest mistake is impatience. Wet, wait, wet again, then scrape. If you're finding yourself digging with the scraper, you haven't soaked long enough.
Know what's under the paper
The prep changes depending on what your walls are made of. Solid plaster is the most forgiving, it can take water and scoring without much drama. Plasterboard (also called drywall) is far more vulnerable: over-wetting it swells the paper facing and can leave permanent damage.
If you're not sure which you have, tap the wall. Solid plaster sounds dense; plasterboard sounds hollow. On plasterboard, use less water, work in smaller sections and score gently.
When there's more than one layer
It's surprisingly common to find two or three layers of wallpaper on top of each other in older homes, decorators have been papering over rather than stripping for decades.
Signs to look for: paper that comes off in flat sheets, an obvious edge or seam that doesn't match the pattern above it, or a slight difference in texture across the wall. If you find layers, work through them one at a time.
Trying to soak through all three at once just floods the wall and can lift the top of the plaster with them.
A realistic time estimate
For a standard room, one paper layer, decent-condition walls, a competent DIYer, plan on a full weekend. That's a day for stripping and prep, a day for the wall to fully dry, then whatever the redecoration takes.
Trying to strip, prep and repaper in one day is where corners get cut and problems begin. Book the weekend, accept the room will look worse before it looks better, and you'll end up with a much cleaner finish.
Fresh walls ready for what's next?
Order free samples of your top picks so you know what's going up before you start stripping.
Browse Wallrock lining papers for a smooth, insulating base over walls that need a bit of help.
Ask the team if you're not sure whether to strip or line, we'll help you pick the right route.