Removed wallpaper from 4 rooms in a house and every single room was different.
Room 1: The steamer just took the wallpaper right off. Not sure if the scoring accomplished anything. Room 2: The plastic layer came off separately from the paper layer which meant wetting the paper and scraping it with a putty knife. Scoring did not help or hurt. Room 3: It peeled right off perfectly without any steam or water. We had pre-scored most of it and it obviously didn't affect anything. Room 4: Peeled off mostly okay with a steamer and scoring and with a wet sponge and scoring, but there were many pieces that tore and had to be softened with water.
So 4 different rooms, 4 completely different experiences.
A few takeaways:
The steamer takes so long to build steam after each time you apply it to the wall.
The steam with pre-scoring worked pretty well, but it's so slow.
A wet sponge applied to the pre-scored wall took about the same amount of time as the steaming process. Sometimes it was even faster than steaming.
The big question: Can we paint the walls now or do we need to remove the glue? Is there special primer we could use? (If we need to remove the glue, what are the best techniques.)
hmmm its been awhile since we did ours. just used wet sponges, no steaming. i think we just sanded flat and parts that wouldnt be smooth and painted it. never used primer.
Slight change in technique here.
Steamer? No.
Spray bottle set to mist and a steaming clothing iron set to highest temp.
Get the wall damp and the iron makes the glue literally explode off the wall in cracks and pops.
Much less residue. It falls to adhear to anything after the iron.
We used the scoring tool and then hit it with a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water. It’s a mess for sure but it worked well. The glue was removed by washing the walls with the same mixture.
Go buy some sugar soap, mix it up, wash the walls with it, wash the walls with clean water, wait for everything to dry, fill holes/sand smooth/clean off dust, then apply a primer (if bare plaster), and then paint.