Wallpaper and Wallcoverings - Wallpaper Paste Removal

Some time ago I wallpapered my kitchen. Since then wallpaper glue or its residue has been "appearing" all over. It is a light brown and seems to be getting worse over time. Household cleaners don't seem to be able to remove it, and I am afraid to use a harsh cleaner for fear of damaging the wallpaper, or loosening the edges. (Someone told me that it might be caused by having applied third party wall paper paste to pre-pasted paper, but to be frank, it has been so long that I am not sure what method I used to apply it.)

Anyone have this experience before and know of a way to remove this ugly stuff... short of repapering?

Thanks

Jim Byrne

Using wallpaper paste on pre-pasted wallpaper is actually a good thing, and not the cause so don't worry about that. Wallpaper paste can sometimes appear brown, so that might be your problem. The solution is a wet sponge. Wet the spots down very well and scrub with your sponge. This will remove any wallpaper paste. If this doesn't work, then your stains aren't wallpaper paste. My next guess would be mold/mildew. Diluted bleach should take care of that, but may cause problems with your wallpaper, so do so with care. Make sure that the stain is actually on the surface as well. The brown stain might be telegraphing through the wallpaper surface. If this is the case, you definately have a mold/mildew problem and you need to strip your wallpaper. My site has wallpaper stripping instructions, but with mold, take the extra precaution of using a filtered mask. Not one of the white painter's masks, but a real honest to goodness mask with spin out replaceable cartridges by 3M. Best of luck.