Have you been wetting it? A vinegar/water solution dabbed on with a towel helped when I was doing this...I left it to soak for a little while, and the peeled and scraped away. It didn't make it quick or easy, but it helped. I feel your pain...our bathroom is next for this thankless job.

i am in the process of fixing up my son's (eventual) room. there are 5 layers of wallpaper and 2 layers of paint. the ceiling was not even spared. i have scored and sprayed and scraped and cursed. i started out w/ that dif gel in the spray bottle and it worked after several applications and a lot of work. plus, it's expensive and leaves a huge mess.

listen to norsk. vinegar has been a godsend. i read somewhere that vinegar could remove wallpaper. i scoffed. then i tried it. first i boil some water then take it off the burner for a while, maybe 2 minutes or so. then i add a cup or so of vinegar to an old spray bottle (an empty windex container that has been cleaned out) and then i add the hot water. then i spray the heck out of a previously scored section of wall and then i wait 8 or so minutes and then i scrape. it works so well. and i'm glad because i have an entire house to scrape.

Perhaps you've already tried many things, but I agree w/ norsk. I found hot water & vinegar work much more effectively than the Zap or whatever it's called. I got tired, though, of trying to be super-clean. I put down a dropcloth and many newspapers. Instead of a spray bottle (my hand was cramping too much), I used a roller tray and a cheap paint roller and slathered it on. The trick is to be patient and wait for it to do its work. You'll likely have to re-apply a few times.

Sometimes it just wouldn't penetrate, so I used a wallpaper scorer. Again, I'm sorry I can't remember the name, maybe it's called a paper tiger??? You'll find it in the wallpaper removal section at the store. If you score the paper then slather on the water/vinegar, that should help.

After my last bout of wallpaper removal, I swore I was going to lobby the state's legistature to pass a new disclosure law. When selling a home, you have to legally disclose 1) if there's wallpaper and 2) how many layers.

I'm not anti-wallpaper (although, admittedly I do like paint and faux-finishing over wp). I'm anti- the hardship involved when new owners want to remove it!!!!

Hang in there (no pun intended) and good luck!

I tried many things, dif gel(used over a gallon and it didn't remove much), vinegar/water mix, straight vinegar (was getting p!ssed), and a product sold to me at the BM store....but nothing was working. I scored relentlessly. I fially gave up and rented a steamer. It was the only thing that would work. It took me probably 3 weeks, of doing nothing else, to remove all the wallpaper. I guess I'm different...I HATE wallpaper! I've had to remove it way too many times for others and I swore I would never, never put any of it up!

Dif! That's what it is! Where did I get zap from? Nevermind,--- it doesn't work, and apparently neither does my memory.

I have tried the DIF and the concentrate works ok in some places. The PO appeared to have put the wall paper directly over some sort of latex spackle or something. When I can get it to come off, the texture of the paper is thick and rubbery.

Is it worth it to just rent a steamer? How long does a typical room take? Most places charge $30/day.

The secret to Dif is to buy the big bottle of concentrate (it is cheap) and pour it in a roller paint pan and add HOT water to it. Then use a paint roller to apply it!
The dif needs hot water to work. It is an enzyme and the warmer the enzyme (as long as you don't boil it and ruin it) the faster it will work!
I have used vinegar and water and my dif method and have found that dif worked great for my needs. I have had three ENTIRE rooms I have un-wallpapered in my c1850 house. I thought dif worked great for me. Plus it doesn't smell half as bad as vinegar. I hate vinegar!!!
-renee

Vinegar and hot water work, so does cheap fabric softener and hot water.
Score the paper so it can soak in. I used the side of the putty knife or a razor blade. Trick is NOT to press too hard you don't want to scratch the walls.
For under 50 bucks you can buy a wallpaper steamer from Lowes. I did cause I have 20 some rooms with wallpaper to remove. So far I've been VERY lucky in this house. The paper was professional done and there's only been single layers.
I've found much depends on the type of paper, it's age and how it was put on as to what works best.

I bought the steamer from lowes, and like Carol says it was under $50. It was worth every penny. I'd tried the dif and fabric softener and other home remedies but the steamer made things just peel right off.

I remember my parents steaming wallpaper off the walls of the apartment we lived in. Worked great, but it did make the apartment hot and uncomfortable while the work was being done.

Paint for me!

The great thing about a steamer is that it DOES make everything steamy, making the wallpaper that much easier (lol..if that's possible) to remove. My steamer cost me $60 per week, my mom had one but it bit the dust years ago and I didn't want to buy another.

The dif I used WAS concentrate. My bottle said nothing about mixing it with hot water. It was score, spray on, leave for 15 minutes, then scrap it off. Didn't work. My gallon was over $15 bucks. When you used half of it to do 1/4 of a room, that wasn't cheap IMHO.

Try liquid Fabric softner. Appy to scored walls , let set maybe 6 min. and scrape. It worked very well and was very cheap.....I bought it at the local dollar store. Good luck

http://www.wallpaperinstaller.com/wallpaper_stripping.html

Here is a link that might be useful: wallpaper stripping

Mmm, my bottle of Dif did mention that I should put it in hot water.
I used about a bottle for my entire bedroom. However my bedrooms are not very large, as my house is a c1850 farmhouse. I am not sure how large your room was.
Regardless, I think there are a billion methods that are out there and you just have to figure out what works best on the wallpaper you have and the wall that it is attached too.
This is a trial and error sort of thing. At least there are lots of ideas to try. if you get frusterated doing one thing you can try another.
Only problem is that they all require scraping. blech. Now if we could only figure out how to skip that step.
-renee

My kitchen has ~14 layers of wallpaper. Forget DIF its useless.

Use one of those scoring tools and score the paper until your arm is sore. Then spray a WARM water/vinegar mixture on it. Saturate the wallpaper. Really soak it. Let sit for 10 - 15 minutes. Peel. I went from chipping off little bits with a putty knife to picking a corner loose with my fingers and literally pealing 14 layers of wallpaper off in a sheet. Somtimes an area is stubborna nd needs to be resored and resoaked. But it goes pretty quickly this way.

Thanks for all the tips and encouragement. We got the steamer at Lowes last night and it was worthless. I'll go back to the DIF and maybe try vinegar or fabric softener. The main problem is the multiple layers and the paint which makes them extremely difficult to score.

I guess I'll just suffer through. Unfortunately every room except for one bath has multiple layers of wallpaper (including the ceilings) so that gives us 7 good size rooms plus a hallway to strip. Oh, and I don't recommend using a steamer in 87 degree heat with no A/C. We were sweating like crazy.

There is one advantage to having a home that stayed empty for many years and, in the process, folks used it as an opportunity to decorate their own house: there are no old walls here to have wallpaper on them! It was all redwood and knotty pine paneling at one point and now it is all dry wall.

Good luck. I'll try to remember: at least I don't have 47 layers of wallpaper to strip.

Here is a link that might be useful: redwood paneling anyone?

The thing you have to remember with the steamer is it takes at least 20 minutes for the steamer to heat up enough to begin work.
Even with the steamer you do have to score the walls and hold that plate in place till the wallpaper is saturated. It takes awhile to get the hang of it.
BUT as I've said before much depends on the types of paper you have on the wall and how the paper was put up as to what is going to work best for you. I'm sure the paint on the paper isn't making the job any easier.
I've sworn that after removing wallpaper there will NEVER be paper on these walls again for as long as I'm here. I understand how frustrating it is. I've got 20 plus room all very good size that need paper removed plus one ceiling in which the paper was painted over! It's not a fun job but hang in there. This is a good place to vent about the trials of owning an older home.

Mmm. you may be able to use a box cutter and CAREFULLY cut through the paint layer and to some paper. Be very carefull not to cut the wall itself. Once you get some paint off I know it will go quicker for you as the liquid or steam will be able to get to the wallpaper.
I just know that the paint scorer I have isn't really good enough to cut through multiple paint layers.
-renee

I have plaster walls under all these layers of paper and paint. Can you really *cut* it?

The tiger thing is not enough to score this paper. I think the problem is the steam and/or solution cannot get through to the glue.

Over the years I guess I have tried every technique ever devised, until one day i read a "Hint's From Heloise" article in my local newspaper. They suggested using a "Paper Tiger" to score the wallpaper, then wet it with "Downy laundry softener"

At that point i was willing to try anything, including a cold 6pack and i dont even drink, so I grabbed the downy out of my laundry room and guess, what, it is amazing. It actually makes stripping wallpaper easy.

Sure you can cut plaster by mistake.
Well it won't cut like sheet rock but you will score it.
However you can easily fix any scores you make. the stupid paper tiger actually scored some dry wall in my house once so I had to smooth that out before I painted also.
-renee

Yes, I had to use a box cutter, too and I unfortunately, ended up scoring the plaster walls. Like Renee said, they can be fixed, but it's one more thing to patch (on top of all the other usual patching) when you finally get it all off. The only caution is: you'd be surprised how little pressure is needed to score through all those layers with a box cutter, that's all.

I just removed 5 layers of wallpaper off crumbling plaster walls a few days ago. I did it with a steamer rented from Home Depot. It's still fresh in my mind.

You can do this. I know it.

I first used the 3-headed Paper Tiger ($18), then I wet the wall I planned to work on with hot water & DIF while the machine heated up. Then I used a 4" Wallpaper Shaver ($8, a 4' razor blade in a 18-inch plastic holder) to go through a few layers at a time, working in one area at a time.
The trick is, you need to scrape in an area you JUST steamed, within a few seconds. You can't steam, put it down and come back. You can get a good 2-hand system down, moving the steamer down, scraping, moving, scraping, etc. so both hands are working all the time. And yes, I held it against the wall. This "hovering" biz does nothing.
When you get halfway through that area, and need a break, go wet the next patch of wall. I've stripped wallpaper in the past, but nothing as bad as this. I can tell you, the steamer DEFINITELY made it easier. And yeah, it was in the 90s when I was steaming.

Yes, it's miserable. Think of your ancestors, who had to boil their laundry, haul water 5 miles from the well, eat goat bladder and wear wool underwear. Don't be soft, woman! Honor them with your sweat! Remember how Nature takes care of weak organisms ...
Turn your brain off and just do it. Don't overthink it. THERE'S NO CLEVER/EASY WAY TO DO THIS. It's drudgery.
I think it's best to do solo, so there's no "helpful" advice, and no one to say "this isn't working, let's just quit". I didn't even put the radio on -- I just wallowed. I also advocate doing it in a single day if possible, to minimize the duration of misery. And make your spouse do the cleanup AFTER you're done. He'll feel he got off lightly.

It sounds like the area you're doing is up high, where people won't be looking too closely. Just get it done, and sand/skim/prime well. It'll be fine.

I'm skimcoating and painting this weekend. You will be too, and soon. Promise. Then think of a nasty, thankless but necessary job for your husband to do, and remind him he owes you bigtime.

Good luck!

"I have plaster walls under all these layers of paper and paint. "

If you have plaster walls a 3 inch or 4 inch razor scrapper will make short work of as many layers as you have, painted or not. Buy as many spare blades as the store has.
Practice in an out of the way spot until you have the correct angle to strip the paper without gouging the wall. The plaster will dull the blades pretty quickly, thus all the extras.
Have a lot of trash bags handy, or even cover the floor with thick plastic and roll up the entire mess.
Razor scrapers do not work well on drywall. The cardboard surface is not smooth or hard enough and every little snag is a pain to fix.

Think I've got just about everybody beat. I counted 37 layers of wallpaper in my dining room before I stopped counting-- and there were probably ten or so more. I did this before I bought the house, so I knew what I was getting into. It was as thick as cardboard in total. My house inspector said, half-jokinly, that the wallpaper might be structural at this point.

If I'd been smart, I'd have pulled as much as I could when I first got the house-- the house had sat empty over the winter and was damp, so a lot of the wall paper was loose. Dried out the house, and it glommed on again.

I spent last winter working bit by bit on removing wallpaper from the kitchen and dining room. Steaming would not have done it. But soaking small areas with hot water mixed with dish detergent worked, and let me remove the wallpaper with little (additional) damage to walls.

Unfortunately, two walls are not in good shape and have crumbling spots. The ceiling had leaked badly, and the ceiling was lying on the floor when I bought the house (new roof on wings). So now I am trying to decide whether there is any point in patching or if I should just rip it out and put plasterboard over the lath. Doing that in the back bedroom, so probably do that in the dining room as well. The ceiling is going to be stamped metal tile. Which, by the way, was invented in the 19th century to cover water-damaged plaster ceilings and walls...

Gulp. Still have the living room to go...fortunately, it's in better shape. I think I'm going to give the fabric softener thing a try, though.

I do now have a good idea how the "rustic French farmhouse plaster" look evolved. Not sure it would work in a New England Eclectic Victorian cottage...

Dayle Ann

Wow, growlery - that was an inspiring pep talk! I'm all pepped up and want to find some wallpaper to tear down!

Dayleann - 37 layers??? I can't even begin to imagine.

I do think POs need to declare how many layers of WP (as part of home-selling disclosure statements) are in the house. Excellent negotiation leverage for buyers!!!

I guess we were really lucky. Most of our 1850's house has never been painted, only papered. The previous owners stripped the paper off every time and started from plaster walls. Each time it was repapered they signed the walls. The neighbours seemed to have done some of them, as we have traced some of the names to farms down the road.

Sharon, that is so cool. If only they had done that in my house! On the other hand, each layer was like a little bit of history. It was fascinating to see the changes in styles and patterns through the years. I am keeping samples of it all.

Dayle Ann

Go and buy a garden sprayer( very inexpensive) and fill with the hottest water possible. Put newspapers lined up against the mop board all along the wall. Spray each section TWICE to soak it. Then start scraping. After each wall is done, roll up paper with waste inside....time consuming, but works !
salbwil

I'm going to weigh in in favor of DIF!! Used hot, scored, and it worked fine for me. Even ate through vinyl paper. Came off in huge chunks.

I have to say I finally found a good tool. A wallcovering scraper with a razor blade on a slick. It basically shaves off all but the buttom layer and glue. Now I can go back and easily get that with the DIF.

With multiple layers and paint on top and in between the scoring did very little to let hot water of any kind penetrate. This thing actually works. I have plaster walls, so it's not damaging them at all. Just be warned that it may not be the best if you have drywall.

Okay, just got through 2 rooms or wallpaper in my newly purchased old house (1910). Our walls are plaster, so we didn't have to deal with drywall.

In one room, we had 6 layers of wallpaper. The first layer was fairly recent vinyl that just peeled right off. Then we discovered the rest. There were 5 layers, with 2 layers painted over. First we tried the paper tiger with DIF. The paper tiger will only score down MAYBE 2 layers and in my opinion DIF is a waste of money. We were able to scrape it off a layer at a time.

Here is what we finally did and it worked really well. We took the point edges of our scrapers and scored all the wallpaper surface, down to the plaster. There was a slight bit of inevitable gouging, but because it was on plaster walls, we are just going to patch over. We scored the heck out of the wall, diagonals, checkerboard patterns, just totally scored up. Then we rented two industrial steamers from Home Depot. That costs $26 for every 24 hours. The steam works really well, as long as you are patient and keep the steamer on the paper for at least 30 seconds. Because we had painted layers, it took us a little longer than if we just had the paper layers.

For smaller areas, we filled spray bottles with really hot tap water and mixed in fabric softener, which in some cases worked just as well as the steamer.

I have 2 more rooms to do, and I officially hate wallpaper.