"I would assume the glue solvents would damage paint, as well."

Actually, no.
Most recent paper is strippable and should peel off pretty well. If you have problems DIFF, or even just warm water with a tiny bit of liquid soap works well on paper.
Vinyl based products are almost always strippable.

I have removed too many rooms of wallpaper.
I found a gadget called a Paper Tiger that inserts tiny holes for the solution to penetrate. I use white vinegar and water let it soak in for a bit and remove.
Good Luck!

Check out a product called Wallwik. I used it on walls that hadn't been primed and the wallpaper came off great.

www.wallwik.com

I just went thru this and had the type of paper that DID NOT easily come off. I did my bedroom and dining room. Some valuable lessons were learned.

1)Be prepared for the paper to pull off some of the drywall paper in spots...this will mean spackling. Be prepared to accidnetly mar your wall while scraping. Remember, you don't know what lies beneath so be prepared to spackle, caulk, prime and paint once the paper is removed.

2) Get a paper tiger tool and use it all over. Try to as high up to the ceiling and down to the floor as possible. The middle wall is easy but the most important spot is at the top and bottom. This tool allows the remover to soak in and makes paper removal musch easier. If you do not perforate the paper enough it starts to come off in layers...no fun. Paper Tiger it. When you think you are done; do it again.

3) Spray your DIFF ( I used Sherman Williams brand) on HEAVILY after mixing with HOT water. I used a tank sprayer but that just made a big mess on the floor below me. I then turned to spray bottle. Also, using it smaller amounts allows you to keep the water hot. Work a small area first to see what you are in for, maybe a single sheet.

4) Let the DIFF (whatever) soak in for 15 minutes. Do yourself a favor; just leave the room. Do not be tempted to pull the paper off....it only leads to a mess later on....layers, pulling off drywall, scraping hard and damaging the wall etc.

5) Spray your solution on again. Walk away for another 15 minutes.

6) Spray your solution again and then find a corner. If you are lucky you will be able to pull the entire sheet off leaving minimal paper behind. If unlucky it will come off in layers. In those case, spray and carefully scrape and pull. It should come off but will take more time. If this happens be sure to use the paper tiger even more on the next sheet.

7) Once the paper is off BE SURE TO CLEAN THE WALL. Use the DIff to clean the wall. I'd then use soap as well or something stronger. Failure will show when painting. You will find while rolling that the paint does not stick to areas where paper paste was left behind!

Now I really think my case was a worst case scenario and hopefully the above steps will make your removal a peice of cake.

Note they also sell a gel removal solution that does not make as muck mess. I have not tried it. I do know its more expensive. Good Luck.

Rent or buy a steamer. If you have more than two days' worth of work, it's cheaper to buy one.

Most of the time, wallpaper will come off easily if you saturate the paste with water. Saturation means that it has absorbed all the water it can possibly hold. When it is saturated, it is a slimy gel-like consistency that rinses off easily with a swipe or two of a wet sponge. Before it is saturated, it is sticky and hard to get off even with a lot of scrubbing.

The quickest way to saturate it is with steam. It takes about 30 seconds. Spraying and sponging can take up to 30 minutes.

All you do with a steamer is hold the paddle against the wallpaper for about half a minute, then slide it down or over to the next area while scraping the first area. Most paper will practically fall off once it has been steamed. Then all you do is rinse down the scraped area. I do one paddle's width down the whole wall before rinsiing. If you wait too long, the paste dries and then you have to steam it again.

The hardest part is juggling the paddle and the scraper.

I've stripped and washed down an entire 12x14 room in 7-8 hours with a steamer. That's with no helper. Two people could probably do it in 5-6 hours easily.

Hello and support to anyone else tackling wallpaper removal ! And a thank you to the many folks who have placed such helpful info on this forum.

In my perfect world, it will be much more difficult to put wallpaper UP than to take wallpaper DOWN. Or maybe there should be a special license required, with a fee for removal placed in escrow before installation. *grin*

Great advice, Andrelaplume. (I found that a papertiger was not necessary for steaming paper-backed wallpaper).

The purchased steamer I am currently using has a plastic steam pan, and is lightweight and somewhat insulated. The rental steamer I used in the past had a metal steam pan that was heavy and dinged up. I much prefer the cheapo purchased steamer.

-VW