# Wallpaper glue



## Honda454 (Jul 25, 2012)

Ok iv got all wallpaper off the walls now there is some hardened glue residue, need options on how to get rid of it all input apppreicated thanks


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

I wet it with a garden sprayer take a spackle blade and scrape it into a spackle trough. Fill a 5 gallon bucket with hot water and wash the walls with a rag. If its really tough I use a green scrungie before washing it.


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## Honda454 (Jul 25, 2012)

This stuff is tough 50 yr old glue it's hard thankin about sanding then use gardz? Just wondering if there is some chemical that would cut through the glue?


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## CliffK (Dec 21, 2010)

If it's 50 years old it is probably a type of wheat paste. It's very hard when dry, but softens pretty easily when wet. Water should reactivate/soften it. There are chemicals that can help like Diff and a couple other more "friendly" ones. Many people just use a little ammonia in water and a scrungie pad like Briggs said. It is also referred to as "paste", not so much "glue" in professional circles. If water doesn't cut it somewhat, then most chemicals designed to do so will not either. The chemicals just make it easier.
If water doesn't cut it there is also the possibility what you have is not wallpaper paste at all. Every once in while we come across some crazy sh!t that someone stuck the paper up with many moons ago. Some home brew or other type of adhesive. In those cases you just have to experiment a little. Sanding can be an option, but if it's thick and as hard as you say it can be a challenge. If you decide to sand be sure to test the walls for lead base paint prior. The other route is to get as much off as you can, throw some gardz on there and skim away.....now that's a fun day...best of luck Honda.


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

Sanding wallpaper paste = really bad day


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## ProWallGuy (Apr 7, 2007)

Honda454 said:


> thankin about sanding then use gardz?


Yes, this. :yes:


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## mudbone (Dec 26, 2011)

Honda454 said:


> Ok iv got all wallpaper off the walls now there is some hardened glue residue, need options on how to get rid of it all input apppreicated thanks


I use to fight trying to remove glue residue to no avail.Now I clean as well as possible and go straight to the trusty Gardz.Seals and locks substrate.Was on a job last year that a whole home upstairs and down was full of wallcovering.Had been on for around a quarter of a century.The longer that stuff has been on the tuffer it gets and thats a fact.The owners husband use to be an installer and she had told me that he put glue on the wall and a heavy coat to the back of the covering while installing.The paste was hard as a rock and a 1/4 thick and would'nt budge.Gardz ,skimmed,primed and painted for a mirror like finish!Seal the deal!:yes:


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## Honda454 (Jul 25, 2012)

Thanks for the input guys I appreaciate it, the paste isn't that bad would I still have to gardz it if I don't plan on skimming it?


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## ProWallGuy (Apr 7, 2007)

Yes, the Gardz is what will seal in the paste and keep it from re-wetting/reactivating. The Gardz is a must.


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## Honda454 (Jul 25, 2012)

Thanks I will post up how it turned out gonna try to sand The worst spots then clean wall gardz it then paint.:yes:


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

PASTE it is *PASTE* not glue


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

YAY, I see a lot of good info, and Honda is also now calling it PASTE.


Honda, if it is some ungodly sh!t, like VOV (which is a GLUE) you will have a better chance betting on the Red Sox to make the playoffs than getting it off the walls.

if it is brown, it may be clay adhesive, or some mixture of clay. 50 years ago there warn't that many choices. Basically wheat, cellulose, and clay. Wheat can get a little hard and brown, but water will rewet it. Once you wet it, do not let it dry again. (I bet you soaked the paper, stripped it, but then did not scrub the paste off the wall while the paste was still wet). In the future, soak the paper, strip a panel, retwet that area and scrub with a grill scrub and rinse.

What kind of walls? White smooth plaster? Porous horse hair ? Sheet rock ? Painted?


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## the paintman (Feb 3, 2012)

I agree with all the above comments with a few exceptions. 

1. you don't always have to get the glue off. Its a case by case scenario

2. You don't necessarily need to use gardz. I know because i have not been able to find gardz, but we found that the zinnser basic latex primer/sealer from lowes seals glue also.

3. I am in the middle of doing 50k yes that is 50,000 sf of vinly removal and repaint. I will be the local expert by the time it is done. And will get back to you. check that. We are at the beginning.

4. We found out that sanding works. And wetting works. At this point we feel that wetting will work better after the first 5000sf and coming monday will be wetting and scraping. 

5. We have acceptable walls all 3 ways right now. 
a. wetted and painted
b. sanded and painted
c. And one area slipped by and were neither sanded well enough or wetted and scraped well enough but were all ready sealed with primer. 

On those walls i personally skimmed the worst tiger stripped areas and reprimed and painted. They will be fine. Because the reason I say either way will work (in certain cases) is you got to improvise and thier are walls that look worse that were also not sanded or wetted and and scraped (by maintenance) in the commercial building we are working in. 

One final note. We have paste(glue) that is easy and even runs when wetted. I'm almost 90% sure already the wet method will end up being the final solution of choice. Its an ALF and that method works better with the patients also.


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## PressurePros (May 6, 2007)

d-limonene is great for removing glue residue. Should work well on wallpaper paste as well. It smells good too.


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

You can substitute sw drywall conditioner for gaurdz. I think it's cheaper and does the same thing. The spackle blade and trough method has always brought the best results for me with the least amount of effort. With heavy glue/paste you can fill a trough in two walls. Trying to wash all that would be insane. If you don't know what your doing wallpaper removal can put you over hours in a hurry bidder beware.


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## mudbone (Dec 26, 2011)

chrisn said:


> PASTE it is *PASTE* not glue


 Like glue if you have to remove it!


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## TJ Paint (Jun 18, 2009)

I got a wallpaper removal, drywall patch, texture and paint thing coming up. 


I'll use gardz after patch and texture. 

It's the thick vinyl in a hospital. 

I'm not doing a damn thing to the paste, it stays on and will be the base texture. 

No water, no paste removal, no scraping or sanding.


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

Rbriggs82;332304[COLOR=red said:


> ]You can substitute sw drywall conditioner for gaurdz. I think it's cheaper and does the same thing.[/COLOR] The spackle blade and trough method has always brought the best results for me with the least amount of effort. With heavy glue/paste you can fill a trough in two walls. Trying to wash all that would be insane. If you don't know what your doing wallpaper removal can put you over hours in a hurry bidder beware.


 
You can and I have, but, it is NOT the same thing, not nearly as good as Gardz and neither one are not in the same ballpark as the original Draw Tite


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

the paintman said:


> I agree with all the above comments with a few exceptions.
> 
> 1. you don't always have to get the glue:blink: off. Its a case by case scenario
> 
> ...


 
the basic latex primer might look OK now but down the raod it will most likely fail. I have seen it countless times. Why take the chance? Either oil or Gardz, no exceptions , and it is still


*PASTE*


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## TERRY365PAINTER (Jul 26, 2009)

Been using guards lately . Do any you guys add a color to it . Like primer white or just a flat? Also what about application roller and brush . I just used a 2 inch old purdy and a 1/2 inch Wooster 
Or mini roller . The smell is bad !!! Not worst than cover stain .


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

TERRY365PAINTER said:


> Been using guards lately . Do any you guys add a color to it . Like primer white or just a flat? Also what about application roller and brush . I just used a 2 inch old purdy and a 1/2 inch Wooster
> Or mini roller . The smell is bad !!! Not worst than cover stain .


I'm not sure if color can be added to it. As for application. I use a crappy brush and a 1/2 inch roller sleeve that's been washed a couple times.


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## the paintman (Feb 3, 2012)

chrisn said:


> the basic latex primer might look OK now but down the raod it will most likely fail. I have seen it countless times. Why take the chance? Either oil or Gardz, no exceptions , and it is still
> 
> 
> *PASTE*


 Then if what you say is in fact true than its also true its Most likely not going to fail. It wont trust me. And its Bulls Eye primer. It passed the scratch test the next day. And has 2 coats of topcoat. Not gonna happen in this case.


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## CliffK (Dec 21, 2010)

the paintman said:


> Then if what you say is in fact true than its also true its Most likely not going to fail. It wont trust me. And its Bulls Eye primer. It passed the scratch test the next day. And has 2 coats of topcoat. Not gonna happen in this case.


 My experience causes me to agree with the paintman in this case. I'm old school and for decades it was oil-oil-oil over any possible paste residue. Then maybe 10 years ago when the higher quality 100% acrylic primers became popular I tried them in several instances where there may have been a slight residue of paste. Never had any problem. Originally I was using Aqualock, but I have also used the 1-2-3. It started because I wanted to strip/wash/spackle & prime in the same day. The sheetrock was too damp to go with an oil primer the same day as stripping and washing so I gave it a try. I have never looked back.
That being said I think the Gardz is a much better bet, but that wasn't around or available by me when I first switched. I still usually try to remove/wash as much paste as possible- usually all of it. Then I prime with a decent 100% acrylic primer or Gardz(on the worse ones) and never look back. I do not mind the odor of the Gardz at all. I will do anything these days to avoid opening a can of Cover Stain in someone's house or place of business. It is just nasty.

I also admit I have done what TJ mentioned, I believe, earlier as well. Pulled off the old fabric backed. Found an 1/8" of paste on the walls-threw up a double coat of gardz-textured and painted. Ended up in a magazine. There's lots of ways to go about stuff...not necessarily always a right & wrong way. Every project is different.


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

there are different levels of "paste residue" 

I have seen bubbling and crackeling of even top quality 100% acrylic primers on barely removed paste. But on stuff that has been mostly removed, I am sure there is a lot of latitude that is acceptable.

When the big Z was touting that some residue paste could be overcoated with gardz, I asked the once famous (in his own mind) Jack Ford, then working as Z's top rep, if he would recommend throwing a handful of paste into a bucket of Gardz and them applying to a wall. 

And people wonder why he doesn't loves me much :thumbup:

You see, Jack would always get up to the podium and lambaste us hangers for playing home chemist by mixing products. He said that NO manufacturer could stand behind a product that was mixed with another. 

I was just curious how that edict of his compares to applying Gardz over paste. You see, the gardz does rewet the paste and then dries as a mixture on the wall, NOT dis-similar to throwing a handful of paste in a bucket of gardz.

Would YOU throw some paste into a bucket of Gardz and expect optimum performance?


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## the paintman (Feb 3, 2012)

Ok so we can beat this horse till the cows come home. And then beat the cows. And then split thier dead hairs. But quite frankly i got 50k wallpaper to strip and so far bullseye from Z is working. Thats the bottom line my friend. Besides your a paperhanger. What do you know about paint? That was a joke D. Don't get your panties in a wad. LOL! 
Painters are to busy making a living to worry about a handfull of paste on the wall or in the bucket. Hell its binder anyway. Shouldnt it help. Thats actually where i thought yuou were going with that to start with. And besides your sounding more and more like a rep each day. Come on man!


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## daArch (Mar 15, 2008)

But remember, I was a painter for many years, my dues are paid :thumbup:

but AS a paperhanger, we are forced to consider forces exerted on a substrate that painters need not be concerned about. Paint sits on a wall needing to withstand the force of gravity pulling it down toward the floor. A square inch of paint can be help onto a wall by little more than a coefficient of friction .

Wallpaper, as you may know, expands when wet. When it dries ON THE wall, it shrinks, or WANTS to shrink but is stopped (hopefully) by the paste. A lateral force is created that NEVER stops. And with the changes of humidity it goes through pull and push cycles.

Us lowly paperhangers need to be sure that everything we remove and apply to a wall will withstand a force paint never experiences.


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## the paintman (Feb 3, 2012)

D please stop. I am getting a headache and will probably lose sleep tonight thinking about all the glue and/or paste and all those lateral forces and the push and pull of wvc that is surely working against me in my sleep. 

To be honest i am more worried about the asshole maintenance guy, excuse me chief asshole engineer maintenance guy who thinks he is colonel clink. 

And all the mildew under your paper that seems to love eating paste. It starts with a small ac or plumbing leak. And grows without light and oxegen for years and travels unnoticed and unchecked for miles and miles and for years and years. A silent deadly plant growing undetected till a lowly servant painter has a gun held to his head by some jackass in Timbuktu. Who says "your damn right i want all that paper removed. And it better be perfect walls when your done or ill have your balls on a rope. 

The bullseye primer working is the best news of the week my freind. (I tried like hell to find Gardz first. HD does not stock it anymore. Its a victim of the economy probably) I will be on these 2 projects for the next 10 weeks and as my original post said I will be probably a good expert by then on the subject. I like the scrape and trough idea. And will be doing that come monday morning on the next set of hallways.

May the force be with all of us buddy,


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## chrisn (Jul 15, 2007)

the paintman said:


> D please stop. I am getting a headache and will probably lose sleep tonight thinking about all the glue and/or paste and all those lateral forces and the push and pull of wvc that is surely working against me in my sleep.
> 
> To be honest i am more worried about the asshole maintenance guy, excuse me chief asshole engineer maintenance guy who thinks he is colonel clink.
> 
> ...


Well, good luck with that, I truly hope it works out for you.


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## Rbriggs82 (Jul 9, 2012)

the paintman said:


> I like the scrape and trough idea. And will be doing that come monday morning on the next set of hallways.
> 
> May the force be with all of us buddy,


Just don't forget to wash with hot water and a rag after. Wait to it dries, spackle, slap on the paint, and collect the check.


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## mudbone (Dec 26, 2011)

daArch said:


> But remember, I was a painter for many years, my dues are paid :thumbup:
> 
> but AS a paperhanger, we are forced to consider forces exerted on a substrate that painters need not be concerned about. Paint sits on a wall needing to withstand the force of gravity pulling it down toward the floor. A square inch of paint can be help onto a wall by little more than a coefficient of friction .
> 
> ...


 Once a painter always a painter!:yes:


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