Do you have some Halloween wall decals still plastered to your wall and you’re desperate to get these stickers off because it’s already approaching January? Maybe you need the wall space to put up a DIY birthday banner. Well, we’re going to walk you through how to get them unstuck without damaging the surface.
Yes, even if your walls are full of vinyl wall stickers and other decals, it is still possible to remove them without damaging the surface beneath them. You just need to follow the process and tips below to get it done seamlessly. In this post, we will discuss these tips and explore the strategies you can use to remove these clingy decals without damaging other wall features.
Table of Contents
The Right Way To Remove Wall Decals From Indoor Walls
Test how stuck the decals are on the wall
Not all decals are strongly attached to the walls and you will be surprised to find that the greater proportion of the decals are loosely attached and easy to peel. To test how strong they are attached, hold them from the corners and try to pull them off. If only a small proportion of the decals peel off, then they are strongly attached and will require advanced strategies such as heat or solvent treatment.
Tip: Perform this test on several areas and on all your walls to have a clear perspective of the work ahead of you.
Remove the loosely attached stickers
If there are loosely attached stickers on your walls, peel them off first so that you will be left with the firmly attached ones to deal with. Pulling them from the corners will give an easier peeling experience.
Tip: For direct peeling, only remove the decals that do not cause damage to the wall’s painting.
Use heat treatment for the firmly-attached decals- Heat treatment is the perfect solution for removing wall decals. Here you can use a hairdryer on high heat setting to heat small areas of the wall as you peel the decals. A heat gun on a medium-heat setting can also be used for this purpose. The heat treatment you use should get rid of most if not all the decals.
Tip: Heat the decals in the corners as this will quickly loosen them and make them easy to peel off.
Remove the stubborn ones with adhesive remover
An adhesive remover will work on the adhesive via a chemical reaction making the tough decals loose and easy to peel. If you don’t have an adhesive remover, you can use a nail polish remover as an alternative. This form of solvent treatment will deal with the remaining decals leaving the walls nearly clean.
Tip: Test with a small area first, as some harsh adhesive removers can damage your painting.
Clean your walls with soapy water
Washing the walls with soapy water will remove any traces of the decal’s adhesive from the walls. Soapy water will also remove the traces of the adhesive remover leaving the walls as good as new!
Tip: Use a sponge or a soft cloth to ensure that you don’t interfere with the wall paint.
At this stage, your walls will be decals-free and you just wait for everything to dry up before you kick off your renovation works. Repainting the walls should form the basis of the works you will perform on the walls as it will eliminate any imperfections on the existing painting. Next time you might consider using a vinyl banner that’s easier to put up with a DIY banner stand and disassemble than something that sticks to the wall!
