Removing residual Stick-Ease seam glue

[CamVal]

Hi Folks,
Have a bit of a problem here.
I have removed the wall paper in my parents' hallway. The paper came down rather easily with the blue Dif gel.
The problem is that my father decided to use Golden Harvest's Stick-Ease seam glue at every seam. And not just a little bit, but a lot. And this was done about 25-28 years ago.
So I got all the paper down but I'm left with the Stick-Ease (Roman's Decorating Products make it now) seam glue in vertical lines on the walls.
I have no idea how to get it off the wall.

I've tried leaving a good amount of the Dif on the residual for about 30 minutes, but that didn't do anything.
I tried hand sanding with 180 grit paper, but that didn't do anything.
I tried the citrus based Goo Gone, but that didn't do anything.
I tried paint thinner, but that didn't do anything.
I tried rubbing on it with a razor blade on edge, but that didn't seem to work to well.
I tried isopropyl alcohol (50% concentrration), but that didn't do anything.

The local Benjamin Moore store recommended Chomp. Don't know if it would work.

Called the company back and they now say to try Citrus Strip (a paint stripper). I'm hesitant to use a paint stripper on latex paint covered drywall.


Does anybody here have any experience with removing dried Stick-Ease?
Does anybody here have any idea how to remove it?

I don't what we're going to do if I can't get it off. It's raised beyond the surface of the wall, so that if we were to paint over it, you'd see bumped-out vertical lines where every seam was.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[Bill Archibald]

CamVal,

We all sympathise (and some can empathize) with you.

The seam repair glue you are "blessed" with is actually vinyl to vinyl border adhesive, which will not strip easily with conventional wall paper stripper.

I'd like to tell you there is a stripper made for this, but alas, it has been discontinued and the manufacturer of it (Safe & Simple) told me that he would just recommend fabric softener. I have not tried this myself, just passing on what Mike told me.


I'm not clear if you called Roman Decorating or not. If not, give them a try.
Customer Service: 708-891-0770. One would think the chemists there would have a notion what would remove a product they formulated.

I haven't tried this, but sometimes mineral oil works on weird sticky stuff. And if it does, just make sure you wash it off thoroughly before installing more wallpaper.

good luck.

[CamVal]

Bill,
Thanks for the input.

I did call Roman's.
They first told me rubbing alcohol or De-Solve-It.
The rubbing alcohol did nothing. And De-Solve-It appears to be just like the citrus Goo Gone that I've already tried with no luck.

I then called them back and they suggested Citrus Strip (a paint stripper), but I'm hesitant to use a paint stripper on latex paint covered drywall.

Do you know anything about the product Chomp?

The thing about the old, dried Stick-Ease is that it is not sticky (or gooey) at all. It's smooth & dry and is actually smoother than the rest of the wall.

[ProWallGuy]

I highly doubt you will be able to get 100% of it off.

Hit it with a heat gun to soften it up, and scrape off as much as possible with a stiff putty knife.
Prime whatever is left with an oil-based primer. Not Kilz, but something like Zinsser's CoverStain. Let dry, and use joint compound to smooth out those areas. Sand flush, prime those areas with an acrylic primer, and then paint.

[Chris Nelson]

I highly doubt you will be able to get 100% of it off.

Hit it with a heat gun to soften it up, and scrape off as much as possible with a stiff putty knife.
Prime whatever is left with an oil-based primer. Not Kilz, but something like Zinsser's CoverStain. Let dry, and use joint compound to smooth out those areas. Sand flush, prime those areas with an acrylic primer, and then paint.

What he said. You are basically going to have to remove it mechanically and leave a groove down the wall. Proceed as Tim says and all will be good

FORGET the Chomp,it will NOT work ,nothing will work( maybe the paint remover)

[CamVal]

This is what I ended up doing:

Used a 3" block plane with the blade set to barely stick out and shaved the majority of the old glue off the wall. I took off the paint, or paint & compound, or paint, compound and drywall paper in a bunch of spots. Had very good results. Just a very little bit of residual glue left on a few spots but nothing portruding.

Filled all the spots where paint and paper was removed with joint compound.

I still want to prime the walls with a sealing primer, but I want to use a primer that's compatible with latex paint. Any suggestions?

[Chris Nelson]

Cannot go wrong with this

[HangingInThere]

Total wallcovering adhesive removal is imperative when opting for a painted surface. I usually use a 3M Scothbrite pad to help getting any residual adhesive into suspension using DIF. With the advent of Zinnser's GARDZ any residual adhesive can be kept from lifting when the paint coats are applied as the GARDZ seals the surface nicely.

If the walls wind up having any residual adhesive still in play the paint coat will wind up reactivating it and making a mess as you try and apply the paint coats.

[CamVal]

Total wallcovering adhesive removal is imperative when opting for a painted surface. I usually use a 3M Scothbrite pad to help getting any residual adhesive into suspension using DIF. With the advent of Zinnser's GARDZ any residual adhesive can be kept from lifting when the paint coats are applied as the GARDZ seals the surface nicely.

If the walls wind up having any residual adhesive still in play the paint coat will wind up reactivating it and making a mess as you try and apply the paint coats.

Unfortuneately, I'm not dealing with wallpaper glue. What's left is seam sealer glue (I guess a vinyl-to-vinyl product). DIF wouldn't take it off. Nothing would. I had to mechanically remove as much as possible with a planer. Sand paper wouldn't remove it.

So will GARDZ seal the very little residual glue I have left?
I'm topcoating with latex and I don't want any issues.

[HangingInThere]

So will GARDZ seal the very little residual glue I have left?
I'm topcoating with latex and I don't want any issues.Yes, indeed. That's what I was actually adressing...since it appeared the room had been wallpapered previously. The Gardz will help ensure that there will be no problems with your latex topcoating.

[Jeff Evans]

Good grief, don't any of you pro's ever use a traditional wallpaper scraper anymore?
http://www.core-industrial.com/manage/gallery/tYankee%20Scraper%203%20%28Small%29.jpg

The block plane was a good improvisation, but the scraper, equipped with a razor sharp blade, is unsurpassed for scraping glue like that off. I've shaved entire rooms by hand before with mine. Love those blisters.:eek:

[papernpaste]

CamVal, I dealt with this stuff, too many times over the years of removal. If people only knew what a problem they were creating, they would use a high tack clay instread of shure stik. I scrape it off of the wall, when it and the wall are completely dry with the 4" scraper blade shown in someone else's picture, here. Just try not to go too deeply into the wallboard surface. The, spackle on or two thin coats of vinyl spackle over it; sand, if necessary and prime and paint. Nothing disolves cured seam tape...I don't care what the removal manufacturer claims. Like many products, today, they claim a lot but, it's :bs:. Good luck with the scraping. It's not that hard, really. Just bought a new one at Lowes and it has a knob to grab with the other hand, up near the blade end...can't wait to try it out. It has THREE screws to hold the blade in which shows that there still are profound thinkers in the tool making business. Good luck.:tiphat: