Doing an interior painting job yourself can be very rewarding. However, if your walls have previously been covered with wallpaper you may find that even though the wallpaper has been removed, there may still be some residue left behind from the wallpaper glue. Before you begin painting you will need to remove these remnants of glue. Below are some simple steps you can use to remove wallpaper glue from your walls before painting.

Here are the tools you will need to remove the wallpaper glue from your walls.

• drop cloths
• gloves
• a sponge
• dishwashing liquid
• a bucket
• a gallon of hot water
• one cup of vinegar
• drywall knife

Removing The Glue

Here are the step by step instructions for removing the wallpaper glue.

1. Put on your gloves.
2. Mix some hot water and a teaspoon of dishwashing liquid into a bucket.
3. Dip the sponge into the water until it is completely saturated then start rubbing a section of the wall that is covered with wallpaper glue.
4.  Be sure to rub the wall gently but firmly.
5. Once the wallpaper residue comes off, fill another bucket with water and start rinsing the wall.
6. You can allow the wall to dry naturally or you can use a clean dry rag to soak up any excess water.
7. Once the wall is dry you can begin painting it.

Dealing With Hard-To-Remove Glue

Some wallpaper glue may be harder to remove than others, so you may find that after you have tried the technique above a lot of residue still remains.

Here are some steps for dealing with tougher wallpaper residue.

1. Fill a bucket with hot water and one cup of vinegar.
2. Cover the areas of the floor that may get residue scraping on them with drop cloths.
3.  Rub the wall with the hot water and vinegar solution.
4. After rubbing the mixture onto the wall start scraping off  the glue with a drywall scraper.
5. Continue to soak and scrape of the wall until all the residue is removed.
6. Rinse the wall again to make sure that you have removed all the water and vinegar solution.
7. Allow the wall to dry completely before painting it.

Painting walls that were formerly covered with wallpaper can require some extra work in order to get them ready for painting. However, once you get them properly cleaned up you will be well on your way to getting your walls beautifully painted (by companies like Mylroie Painting Inc).