The Nightmare Known as Border Paste

Remember how I was just amazed at how easy it was to remove the wall paper? Well, the glue stayed behind and I've used everything under the sun to get it off, including muscle power (that only resulted in gouged drywall) and tears (not effective).

Most suggestions end with Dif. And if it's not working, the suggestion is to leave it on longer. There have been suggestions about vinegar, laundry detergent and fabric softeners. Then I stumbled across a "technical data bulletin" from the makers of Diff, and it had this dispiriting news:

"Removal of wallpaper borders
Wallpaper borders are frequently installed with a special glue called "border adhesive" or "vinyl-to-vinyl adhesive". This glue is very similar to common white glue (Elmers® Glue) and cannot be removed with wallpaper removers including DIF Gel.

There is no easy way to remove borders installed with these glues. Try to peel off the decorative layer as mentioned earlier, and then start a long soaking process using one of the DIF Wallpaper Strippers. The white glue may soften with long soaking. Scrape off as much of the border and adhesive as possible using a Paper Scraper.

After scraping, sand off the remaining portion with 100 grit sandpaper. Expect some wall damage. Spot prime damaged areas with B-I-N® Spray Primer or GARDZ® Damaged Wallboard Sealer and patch with Ready Patch ® Spackle and sand smooth."

Greeeeeeeaat.

Full bulletin