My wallpaperer b-i-l removes it solely with very warm water applied to the paper. He then peels it off.

DIF works pretty well (see link). I've also rented a wallpaper steamer, but for just a border, the DIF should be enough.

Here is a link that might be useful: DIF Wallpaper Remover

It depends what kind of paper, how it was put up and if the wall was previously painted or primed. I would start with just using warm water and a scrapper and see if it comes off easily.

I just did this 2 weeks ago.

First pull off the top layer, a brown backing will remain on the wall. That's okay, you're just removing the top part that doesn't allow water to soak through.

Next, get a bucket of warm water and use a sponge to get the brown paper wet. You can use DIF instead of water if you want. Let it sit for about 10 minutes, make sure it doesn't dry. Take a plastic putty knife and scape off the backing. It should hopefully come off without much effort. Mine removed easily enough that my kids (5 and 3) did the scraping, they thought it was fun.

Now you need to remove all the glue. Keep rinsing with warm water and clean the water often. This is the tedious part. Feel it and look at it carefully. You may want to clean with something stronger to make sure it's all off. You can sand it off if you want. Or, if it's smooth but you think there might be a little glue left, you'll need to seal it so it doesn't eventually soak through the new paint and look dirty.

You can seal it with either Gardz (water based special primer, I couldn't find any) or use a low ordor oil based primer on that area. You can't just use a water based primer because the glue can soak through. I used oil primer with a disposable small roller and sponge brush, it worked fine and I tossed the brush and roller instead of trying to clean them. The paint forum and my local paint store recommended using the oil primer. Gardz would be easier if you can find it.

Once it's primed, you can fill in any uneven areas with spackle. You can use regular water based paint on top of oil based primer.

Good luck!

I had a horrible time removing my borders. It seemed like they were on there for life. One was in the bathroom for 15 years and it didn't even begin to want to come down. I got something called Wall Wic. It looks like a cloth. You just get it nice and wet with DIF or warm water, and let it set for about 25 minutes. Take off the WallWic and then scrape.

Thank you very much. Your info is very helpful.

I think fabric softener works better than DIF.
After the wallpaper is off, wash with more fabric softener and water. Leave the fabric softener and water on the area for a minute or so to activate the rest of the glue and then wash off with vinegar and water. Probably need to use the vinegar and water rinse about 3 times.
I just finished stripping a whole bedroom this way last week.

I borrowed a wallpaper steamer from a friend. It worked like a charm and even got all the glue off. I did notice when my painters painted that the area where the border was looked different until they put a second coat. Perhaps it would've been better to primer it first before repainting.

Whee, everyone's favorite topic!

When NOTHING else would remove my wallpaper border, someone told me to try hot water and white vinegar.

Worked like magic! Cheap and nontoxic, too.

I have to agree with the fabric softener. I have taken a lot of wallpaper down over the years. Finally used a steamer for my son's room several years ago and it also worked like a charm.

About a month ago I took a border down in the laundry room with just hot water and fabric softener in a spray bottle (after I used a paper tiger to score the border). Worked like a charm. The glue came off as I was scraping the paper off. Very easy (and the laundry room smelled nice too)! Good luck

A question related to the priming step: I have used Gardz with great success on walls that were completely covered with wallpaper. However, when removing just a border must you prime the entire wall to avoid "flashing" (a shiny appearance after painting when you spot prime) or have those of you who have done this just primed over the area where the border was pasted?

JR

I recently removed wallpaper. We used a rented steamer which loosened the vinyl coated top layer of paper enough to peel it off. I used a spray bottle with hot water and fabric softener and everything else came off like a breeze. If your outer layer comes off easily you could skip the steamer and just pull it down and use the spray.

How much fabric softener and water do you use?

I use about 1/4 to 1/2 cup in a quart of hot water.
I do a sloppy wash of the wallpaper with it and do it a couple of times and wait at least 5 minutes trying to keep it wet for those 5 minutes It seems to break down the surface of the paper and loosen the under layer too. Many times I can pull a whole strip this way.
Lets hope the person that put it up sized . Otherwise you may have trouble even with this method.

Same here...Liquid Downy fabric softener.

I used the paper tiger to make tons of tiny holes in the paper.

Then I used a sponge and dipped it in hot water mixed with fabric softener, wiped it on the paper, let it soak in then used a plastic scaper held at an angle and started pushing the scapper under the paper.

When nothing else worked, this method did.

In my spray bottle I used about 3 parts very hot water to 1 part fabric softener.