How to remove wallpaper the simple and inexpensive way!

So many people dread taking down wallpaper. DIY shows make is seem like an impossible, expensive, drudgerous task. They also show that you need all sorts of specialised equipment and products. Well, let me tell you that's simple not true. As you may have seen, lots of the rooms in this house had hideous wallpaper. And I can tell you that I had the one wall (yes, I know it was only a simple wall, but still) in the living room stripped and ready to paint in under an hour. Using nothing but a spray bottle of plain ole tap water!

Now you have no excuse not to remove that hideous 50s floral nightmare in your bathroom. Unless, of course, you like it, in which case you have much larger problems...

	For this example I'm taking down a wallpaper border, but the procedure works equally well on an entirely wallpapered wall.
	Step one - pull the top layer of wallpaper off. Usually you can just pick at a corner and the top layer will just peel right off. On some wallpaper you can pull the top layer of an entire sheet off all at once. Sometimes the paper with tear, though, and in that case just pick at the edge again with a fingernail to start peeling up another chunk. Note: if the paper is so thin that the top layer refuses to peel off, simply skip this step and move on to the next. This step is only critical on the vinyl wallpapers, as the surface of those keeps the water from interacting with (and loosening) the glue. I've never encountered a vinyl wallpaper that will not peel, but anything is possible!
	Spray the backing with water. In this picture you can see bits of the surface still stuck to the backing, however, the water did work through this wallpaper and it wasn't a problem. Make sure you get the backing VERY WET. There should be water running down the walls, if possible, because the more water you get on it the faster it will work. If you cannot drench it all at once, apply a little bit of water, allow it to penetrate, then apply a little more.
	If you can see it in this picture, the backing is so wet it is begining to bubble off of the wall. This is how you can be sure it is wet enough and ready to be removed.
	Peel the backing off the same way you did the surface. I've had sheets backing peel off completely - floor to ceiling - in one smooth yank. The best part? A quick wipe-down with a damp cloth and the wall is ready to go (assuming the wall was in decent shape when the wallpaper was put up, with isn't always the case). No gouge marks from scraping! I use a microfiber dusting cloth to wipe the remaining glue residue off and it's ready to be repainted.
	But, you ask, what about electricity? You obviously don't want to spray water around outlets and light switches! Carefully dab at the surrounding backing with a wet sponge or cloth. A little patience and the backing with soak up enough water and the backing will just peel right off.

Okay, that's all well and good, you say, but I followed the instructions and it didn't work at all!  

Okay, there is one case where this will not work, and in fact, nothing will. If the wall was not painted prior to the application of the wallpaper, you're going to have to sit and pick little tiny chunks off, and probably damage the wall in the process. Of course, steamers and chemicals won't help here any more than the plain water, so don't waste your money even then.

There are a few surmountable problems you could encounter, too. Here are the two most common ones I've found and how to work around them.

The top surface of my wallpaper doesn't want to peel off! This isn't unusual, just keep peeling strip by strip. If your wallpaper isn't the vinyl-surfaced sort, you may be able to spray it with enough water that the top and back come off as one piece!

The bottom layer of my wallpaper is coming off in little chunks! This could mean two things - either it's not wet enough, or it's very, very wet and beginning to disintegrate. Either is easy to deal with. In the first case, simple spray more water! In the second case, take a large DULL PLASTIC drywall mud knife and GENTLY brush it over the surface of the wall. Don't push or you will gouge the wall!