It works!

As I struggled last week to remove the wallpaper in a bathroom I'm having remodeled I realized that there must be a better way.  The wallpaper did finally come off in little bits and pieces although I'm pretty sure it had been put on with super glue.  Today I started removing the same wallpaper in the adjoining bedroom.  Thankfully the people who owned this house before me had constrained themselves to only papering two of the walls in the bedroom.  Of course they also papered at least one wall in every room of the house - most of which is gone now.  In my time in this house I've removed metallic wallpaper, strippable wallpaper, flocked wallpaper, paisley wallpaper and more but none that was more stubborn than the bathroom just finished.

Because of the problems with the bathroom paper, I googled ideas for better ways to remove wallpaper while avoiding steam and harsh chemicals, and guess what, I found the perfect solution. Use fabric softener! I tried it today - fabric softener mixed with hot water and sprayed heavily on scored wallpaper.  It works.  That paper peeled right off.  I still have to peel it off in fairly small pieces but it's coming off easily.  Of course I think it also helps that in the bedroom the paper was put on previously painted walls while in the bath it seemed to have been put on minimally primed drywall.

I think my goal of getting the bedroom painted over Thanksgiving weekend is going to happen.