The Unexpected Way To Use Glass Cleaner When It Comes To Redecorating

Who doesn't love wallpaper? When it comes to freshening up a room and easily adding bold patterns to your space, the unlimited amount of options you have to choose from can't be beat. It's why so many designers and homeowners gravitate towards it. But when it comes to removing old, stuck-on wallpaper in the middle of a redecorating project, the tedious and time-consuming job can make anyone pause before wanting to install it again — especially when popular solvents and steaming methods can be messy, dangerous, and actually damage your wall if done improperly. There are plenty of ways to remove wallpaper, but there's an unexpected one you may not have considered, and it's probably already hiding in your cleaning cabinet: spraying it with glass cleaner.

Removing wallpaper takes moisture, scraping, and usually some form of adhesive removing solution to take off the glue that keeps wallpaper in place. This usually means applying mixtures or chemicals that include soap, baking soda, and/or vinegar. Glass cleaners like Windex have become the best kept secret for many homeowners when it comes to removing old wallpaper; the glass cleaner can mimic removers by penetrating adhesives and removing glue as effectively as any other solution. So if you have found yourself scraping and peeling at stubborn wallpaper while redecorating, instead of buying special products or mixing a DIY concoction, it might be time to grab your glass cleaner for a little assistance. Avoid some of the biggest mistakes people make when removing wallpaper and let's dig into how this method works.

The first thing to note is that wallpaper is designed to not be easily penetrated by anything liquid, so you won't be able to just douse the wall in Windex and peel it off. The key to using this method is to actually reveal the bottom layer of your wallpaper as much as you can, since Windex works best when targeting the glue that keeps the paper on your wall. You can do this by peeling back the corners of your wallpaper and getting the edges of the adhesive layer exposed as much as possible. Once you have that layer revealed, then you can start spraying it with your glass cleaner to remove the wallpaper glue from your walls.

Spray on a generous amount in sections and let it sit for up to ten minutes before you start scraping. Not only will this allow the adhesive to loosen but it will cause the outer layer to soften so that you can easily peel more off to further expose the glue. The bottom layer should scrape away with minimal effort, depending on the wallpaper, adhesive, and how long it's been on the wall. You'll need to keep repeating this process until you've removed all the paper, continuing to saturate sections of the wall in Windex, allowing it to soften, then scraping and peeling layers away. When you're finished, you'll have bare walls ready for a flashy coat of paint, or even some new wallpaper if you're brave enough.