How to Remove Wallpaper Glue

Once you have removed old wallpaper you have the dubious pleasure of removing removing wallpaper glue residue that has been left behind. Hopefully, the person or persons that applied it put a primer on the wallboard before applying the wallpaper paste. If so, your job will be much easier. If not, it can still be done but a bit more prep work may be needed once the old glue has been removed.

Fabric Softener
Use about a 3 to 1 - water to fabric softener. Use a spray bottle and spray onto the areas of the wall that have glue residue or use a (clean) paint roller to apply. Leave for 5 minutes to soak into the glue. If it is soft enough you may be able to wipe off the glue with a wet sponge. Alternatively, you can work it off with a scraper. Use a 5" putty knife as a narrower one may dig into the drywall. Repeat as necessary. Make sure to wipe off any excess moisture with a towel or cloth then let air dry.

As far as how long to leave the liquid to soak in: don't leave it so long that it soaks into the wallboard paper. The best way to prevent this is to work a small area at a time. Once you know how long it takes you to scrape an area or wipe off the glue, you can spray the next section so that it is ready and there is no down time.

If the wall was primed before the wallpaper was applied your job will be much easier. If not some of the glue may have soaked into the fiber. In this case you may create some gouges that you will need a skim coat for before painting or re-wallpapering.

When you clean the wall with water before letting it dry, use a clean sponge and clean water rinsing the sponge often.

Once you have removed the majority of the wallpaper glue there may be some small bits still left - use some sandpaper to sand off these remaining bits.

There are commercial products that you can purchase at the hardware store for wallpaper glue removal but before you try one of these you can try undiluted fabric softener on the tougher spots.

If you are looking for techniques for removing super glue check out our Super Glue Section.