Tim S wrote:
Hi,

This sounds like really stupid question - but bear with me...

How pedantic would you be in washing off the old wallpaper paste after
wallpaper stripping, especially on ceilings?

Obviously, you wouldn't just leave it on in lumps.

I haven't come across such slimy gooey paste before - and I intend to
contribute to the wall paper stripping wiki in due course, so I'd
like to give best advice.

Scenario: Celing paper strips easily with steam, leaving bare plaster
and painted plaster.

More steam and a scraping blade takes off 90% of the paste very
quickly.

An immediate wash with hot water and a drop of Flash takes off a bit
more quite quickly, but leaves a thin film of slime that takes
inordinate amounts of hard and repeated washing to shift (as in
double the length of the job).

So far, I've been washing it to the point where there's a hint of
slime whilst wet, and when dry, you can see a faint light haze in
patches, but otherwise you wouldn't know it's there.

Washing it off 100% will probably take as long again (quadruple the
original paper stripping time) as it's an absolute bugger to shift -
moreso on the bare plaster than the paint.

----

Do you reckon this is:

a) Good enough;

b) Too good and I could have stopped after the first scrape and quick
wash off;

c) I need the plaster to be crunchy clean - as in feels rough when
wet.

----

I'm rather hoping it's not c) - but if it is, then I'd better do it
and recommend accordingly in the wiki (which should, IMO reflect best
practise, but I'd rather be practical rather than perfect about it...

Cheers

Tim

B is more than ample for painting, strip paper and give it a quick wash and
allow to dry, then prior to paining, a very light sanding will remove almost
all of the remaining paste.

for papering over, simply strip, then after it's completely dried, a light
sanding, then size with dilute PVA.

--
Phil L
RSRL Tipster Of The Year 2008