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Removing old wallpaper paste

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Gazza61 | 12:09 Mon 16th May 2011 | Home & Garden
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I have removed the wallpaper from our lounge using a steam stripper. I want to paint the walls with emulsion but although I have got all the old paper off, there is a quite a bit of the old wallpaper paste remaining on the wall which won't leave a decent painting surface. It's a thankless task trying to scrape it off after steaming as it just gets sticky with the heat, and sticks to the scraper.
I don't really want to sand all the walls down (as I did in the other room) as it takes forever and leaves dust everwhere.
A friend suggested washing it down with saddle soap and warm water. Would this work ?
Does anyone know of anything else that would take it off ?
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Ive never heard of saddle soap but Ive used sugar soap for similar things to this. Thats available in most hardware stores
Warm water and a sponge sounds ideal to me. Or you can reuse the steamer to get it all soft and easy to remove. Certainly wouldn't try to remove it with sandpaper, you'd just go removing the plaster surface.
Add a wetting agent to warm water. Wetting agents include washing up liquid and also vinegar. And, though it might sound strange, water with some wallpaper paste added to it! These all allow the water to soak in more readily. Give it time to work, and keep the area wet ahead of your scraping, not letting it dry out.

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