How to Remove Prepasted Wallpaper From a Painted Wall

Cover the floor with painter's plastic or drop cloths to protect the floor while you're taking down the wallpaper. Fill the wallpaper steamer with water, and plug it in to allow the water to heat up. Move the pinhole roller over the entire surface area, from ceiling to floor, using a ladder to reach high places.

Put on a pair of gloves to protect your hands from steam burns. Put on a pair of safety glasses. Grab the handle of the steamer in one hand and a stiff putty knife in the other. Position your ladder in a corner, and climb it to start at the ceiling line.

Press the steamer into the corner, and allow the steam to penetrate the pinholes for 30 seconds to a minute. Move the steamer to the left or right of this spot and allow it to begin steaming again. Take the putty-knife and press the blade into the corner to catch the wallpaper edge. Play at corner of the paper with the blade of the putty knife until the paper begins to peel away from the wall. Grab the corner and pull it down, toward the steamer. Continue encouraging the paper to peel from the wall by using a combination of prying and pulling.

Move the ladder across the floor each time a section has been peeled from the wall. Work a 1- to 2-foot section at a time all the way across the wall. Move the ladder back to where you began the first pass and then begin the second pass or middle portion of the wall. Cut off the peeling wallpaper with a utility knife to keep it from hanging over the steamer. Continue this process down to the floor until all the wallpaper has been removed.