So why is Fleecy™ a better wall-paper stripper than a real wall-paper stripper?

And, what does that say about putting it on my clothes in the wash?

Background: for the past week, Mrs. Piper and I have been stripping wall-paper in our house. The house dates back to 1913, and we’ve gone through four layers of wall-paper, with bits of patterns from at least two other layers. It’s a cruddy job.

Before we started, we asked around about the best way to do it. One home reno friend recommended getting a little mini-steamer. Guy at Home Depot sold us a bottle of professional wall-paper stripper. And Piper Dad and Piper Secretary both recommended using Fleecy™ fabric softener. ???

We tried the steamer. Well, it worked, sort of, but wasn’t a magic bullet.

Tried the professional product. Scrape, scrape, scrape.

By this point, depression starts to set in as we realise that we’ll be scraping until spring. We’ve done enough damage that there’s no going back. House is starting to look like a little slum house, with lath and plaster showing through in spots, tattered wall-paper obstinately dangling from the walls.

In desperation, started spraying the walls with a 50-50 mixture of Fleecy and water. Wall paper started peeling off! I exagerate, of course, but you can’t imagine the relief as we started to make real progress. (Situation also improved when Piper realised he had the blade in the scraper backwards, and was using the dull side. So I’m not a handy guy. But I digress.)

So, why is a fabric softener so much better than a professional, designed-to-peel-wall paper product? What’s in this Fleecy stuff anyway? and what’s it doing to my clothes?

Oh, and does anyone know how to get the smell of “nature-fresh” Fleecy out of the walls? :wink:

The wife just finished removing paper from the room soon to be occupied by a little Butler. She used pretty much the same mixture, but she added some vinegar to it as well. Worked like a charm!!!

No clue how it works, just wanted to add my bit. The smell will evaporate after a time, and if you put up a cloth based wallpaper, it’ll just be all that softer! :wink: