LESLIE: Sandy in North Carolina needs some help removing wallpaper. How far into the process are you, Sandy?
SANDY: Well, I’ve already done one room but my biggest issue was that there was a lot of the glue residue left on the walls.
TOM: Yeah.
LESLIE: Have you tried fabric softener and water? I know it sounds weird but it’s an excellent wallpaper paste remover.
SANDY: Oh, yeah? No, I haven’t tried that.
LESLIE: It’s worth a shot. I mean, otherwise, if it’s not too, too much and you’re just dealing with like a little bit of texture and residue, you could lightly sand that away, too.
TOM: Yeah, and you know, if you use the fabric softener on your walls, it smells lemony-fresh. (Leslie chuckles)
SANDY: And that won’t sink into the sheetrock and stuff that’s under the …
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) Well, I’m not saying like super-saturate it.
TOM: (overlapping voices) No, don’t saturate it. Don’t saturate it. But you can spray it on – some people do a dilute solution of it – and get more of the paste off. And then a light sanding with a very fine sandpaper; like 200, 220-grit. And then you want to prime the wall with a good-quality, oil-based primer and then you can paint it. And if you follow those steps, it’s not as smooth as new drywall but it’ll be acceptable.
LESLIE: It’ll get there. And then don’t pick a paint that has any sort of a sheen if you don’t get it super-smooth. Because if you pick something – you know, I wouldn’t even go eggshell; I would go like flat.
TOM: Yeah, just get good-quality flat; otherwise, any little bump in the wall, when the light hits it, it’ll show.
LESLIE: (overlapping voices) You’ll see everything.
SANDY: Right. So it’ll show the imperfections more with that.
TOM: Yeah, exactly. If you use something that’s got a shine to it, it’ll show the imperfections.
SANDY: OK. OK, sounds great.
TOM: Alright. Well, good luck with that project, Sandy.
SANDY: OK, thanks. I appreciate your help.
TOM: You’re welcome. Thanks so much for calling us at 1-888-MONEY-PIT.
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