Best method for removing "funtak" from painted drywall?

In My Humble Opinion (IMHO)
#1

So, in my stupidity and total lack of any handyman-type qualities, I thought it would be a good idea to hang a bunch of posters in my apartment using “funtak”. (That blue putty-like goo, which goes by many names).

GonzoGal has been begging me for a long time to hang them properly. For some reason she’s not fond of posters falling in the middle of the night, blue grease stains and rips developing on posters, and the like. So we’ve finally found some nice cheap poster frames, and are transferring the posters over, but there are now large globs of blue goo on my walls. What’s the best way to get rid of them?

I’ve tried rolling up a little ball of the stuff and repeatedly sticking it to the remaining blob on the wall, pulling away a bit at a time, but this takes forever and occaisionally rips a chunk of paint and drywall off of the wall. (not going to be fun to fix when I move.)

Even when I get it mostly off, there’s still a bit of residue that will probably have to be painted over.

Suggestions?

#2

Sorry, none here. But being a college student, I’d like to know, too. I’m always afraid I will lose my room deposit for all the yellow junk I leave on the walls or the chunks I rip out of the paint. Haven’t done it yet (knock on wood), and I’m a senior.

#3

Sorry, none here. But being a college student, I’d like to know, too. I’m always afraid I will lose my room deposit for all the yellow junk I leave on the walls or the chunks I rip out of the paint. Haven’t done it yet (knock on wood), and I’m a senior.

#4

Try “Goo Gone,” to remove any remaining traces after removing the bulk by rolling the bulk amount off the wall.

#5

beegirl, they may just paint over stuff like that every year with cheap paint. As long as you don’t leave masive holes in the wall, that’s considered normal maintenance. At least that’s always been the policy in off-campus apartments that I’ve lived in, and they’re usually more evil -er- less understanding than the people in charge of maintaining dorms.

gonzoron, is painting out of the question? Goo Gone sounds good, though I’ve never used it.

#6

Goo Gone will probably remove paint. And not just in a make-it-look-off-color way, but create a funky surface.

Try Orange Disolve-it type cleaners. Try slowly removing most of the blu-tak with a razor blade cutter. (Keep it off the surface.) Get down to a thin layer, then use the Orange stuff.

Repairing small dips in drywall isn’t that hard. Get a good blade, pre-mixed joint compound and a big small-hole sponge. Put on a thin layer, let it dry, smooth it with the sponge. Repeat several times. You’ll feel so Bob Villa.

#7

nope, paintings not only not out of the question, it’s pretty much assured, considering the state of my walls. I just want to minimize the amount I have to do, and hopefully get my security deposit back.

Thanks for the suggestions all, and ftg thanks for the drywall repair answer. Actually, I’m just assuming it’s drywall. I don’t know precisely what counts as drywall. All I know is it’s pretty thin (because I’ve put in some nails in some places), and when a chunk comes off, it looks like rough brown cardboard.

BTW, the walls are matte, not glossy, and just thinking about using a razor blade near it give me nails on a chalkboard type heebiejeebies…

#8

Mrs. LeChuck and I had a similar problem when we moved out of our last apartment. She’d had the idea of creating a mural of photos (which looked very cool until winter came along and the heat from a nearby vent curled the photos, which proceeded to drop to the floor at a rate of 2-10 a day), and stuck them to the wall with approximately 300 tiny balls of that blue sticky stuff.

I found that the blue stuff itself comes off fairly easily if you use a large ball of it and sort of do a back and forth rolling motion on top of the smaller bit that’s stuck to the wall. I had a few paint casualties, but no major problems. What caused the major problem was trying to remove the little blueish grease spots that were left behind. We tried every household cleaner at our disposal, and still ended up with a wall that looked like it had chickenpox.

As far as I can tell, even if you remove it all without losing any paint, re-painting is still going to need to be a necessity.

Needless to say, our new apartment will remain photo-mural-less. :wink:

#9

“Need to be a necessity.” :smack:

Well, you know what I mean.