Tuesday Tip!

Wow - it's been awhile since I've done a tip.
I've been a painting machine these past 2 weeks since moving into our new home. The owner wanted to do it herself but she was taking too long, so I took matters (i.e. a paintbrush) into my own hands and got busy on my office. The owner was very happy that I did - she was feeling a bit overwhelmed by the job at hand. So since then, we've been working together (me more than her - but I'm cool with that).
The other day we were working on the dining room. It was a hodgepodge of color with a nice stripped border at the top of the room. You know, the wallpaper that only the pattern came off but the paper stuck to the wall. We didn't want that line going around the top of the room - a bit tacky - but we didn't want to have to scrape and score and spray that wallpaper remover all day long.
You know what works - FAST?! Vinegar.
Yep - I said it. Vinegar. I hate the stuff. I hate the smell - I hate that people swear by it for all thir cleaning needs. I just hate it. But we sprayed it onto the wallpaper (mixed with some water - about 50/50) and rubbed it in and then it came. right. off. No funky paper designs under the paint. No straight lines running around the ceiling. It was like magic!
So then I went upstairs 2 days ago to paint the trim in the upstairs hallway and noticed all the stickers that previous tenants had put on the doors. So I went and got the Goo Gone and started on the stickers. And after about 20 minutes and little progress, I remembered the vinegar and wondered how it would fare against the stickers.
And those stickers came off, too. A little tougher for some because of the plastic top of the sticker. But they all still came off. (I was tempted to get a clothespin for my nose, though.)
So there you have it. Got some nasty wallpaper to remove? Forego the pricey wallpaper gunk. Go get some cheapo vinegar and a spray bottle and get to work!