Walls and Ceilings - paint removal from drywall?

I'm trying to get the paint off my bathroom walls. The paint is at least 30 years old and has started peeling and cracking badly. How do I remove the old paint without damaging the drywall?

For severely peeling and cracking walls, scraping to remove all loose paint is necessary. Then, walls can be smoothed with joint compound, sanded, primed, and painted. Spread a thin layer of joint compound with wide trowel to make for faster coverage. Let dry between coats and sand and repeat until wall is smooth. Vacuum or wipe with damp sponge to remove dust before applying next coat. When choosing primer, an oil-based is best to make transition between oil to latex paints and to seal in stains.

Peeling paint could be due to folks having put latex over oil or dirty walls and there were adhesion problems, and/or moisture issues. Too high humidity in bathrooms and poor or lack of ventilation can damage walls and cause paint to peel.

If humidity is a factor, then all your hard work will be for naught unless you have adequate ventilation. Vent/fan unit should be properly sized and run during bathing and 20 minutes afterward to exhaust humidity.

Thank you. I'll try that and see what can be done about ventilation.