Removing Stubborn Decals and Stickers from Walls
Hello, friends! Ummm…can we just take a little ol’ minute to discuss how quickly the holidays are approaching? I always get to this time of year and I’m like…’ok…I’m going to slow down a bit and enjoy all the things the season has to offer.’ Do I enjoy them? Of course! Do I slow down? Not so much. Maybe next year, right? We should make some sort of deal or something. Support group for the over-committed.
On that note…how about discussing another project? Ha! This one is easy and doesn’t take much time, though…just some elbow grease.
When we walked through what is now our new house, there were a few stand-out things that I knew we’d have to change as soon as we moved in. One of them was a few decals and stickers the homeowners had put on walls and the front door. These decals were all the rage about ten years ago…I even had a few. They’re not my style anymore, though, and I wanted them down asap in the new house. We actually took one down the day after we moved in and I failed to get a before or after picture. Sad face…hopefully you won’t judge me too harshly.
The two offending items that remained were both in our entryway area. One was a decal on the decorative moulding above the door, facing out of the house. The second was more of a sticker on the front door. It said ‘No Soliciting’ and, while I understand why they had it, our old neighbors had not one, but two signs that said this and I just didn’t like it, so I definitely didn’t want one of my own.
(I love light and wanted our entryway to be as light and bright as it could be. Anything standing in the way of that had to be removed…including the decal and sticker.)
First things first, friends…if you love stickers and decals in your house and they make you happy…you leave them up! I’m not here to judge or tell you how to decorate. I’m just letting you know they’re not my fave and how to take them down if you feel the same.
Now, I had a good idea of how to get the decal and sticker down, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss any great tricks, so I asked my amazing followers on Instagram if they had any words of wisdom. Every one of my Instagram followers is so wonderful and they totally came through for me! Don’t follow me on IG yet? You can do it HERE.
To remove the decal above the door, I used:
Step-ladder. THIS is my fave of all time!
Hair dryer to warm the decal so I could peel it off.
Razor blade to help lift the sides of the decal.
I held the hair dryer over small sections of the decal at a time. A few seconds is all it usually took to get the decal to warm up and make it easy to peel off. I was able to peel back a small part with my finger nail and continue pulling it off from there. I did have to use the razor blade a few times to get under the decal, though, so I could peel it off from there. All this part really took was some time and patience to warm each part of the decal and remove it.
(So much brighter and better! Give me all the sunlight!!)
To remove the sticker from the door, I used:
Doterra Lemon Essential Oil. You can find the one I used HERE.
Razor blade.
All-purpose cleaner or window cleaner.
Paper towels.
The sticker took a little more time to remove. I started by putting the lemon essential oil on a paper towel and applying it to the entire area of the sticker. I let it sit for a minute and then, started working the razor blade under one corner of the sticker to separate it from the door. This part took some patience, but it slowly started to come up and I was able to pull some large chunks off at a time. Once I had the entire sticker off, I used METHOD ALL-PURPOSE CLEANER to remove the extra sticker residue and METHOD GLASS + SURFACE CLEANER to make the door sparkly clean.
(I love our front porch area and am so excited to start decorating it for the different seasons! I think the door looks better without the sticker for a lot of reasons, but especially because it didn’t jive with my personal style.)
(Sheldon watched over all my work and seemed to approve…although, you’d never know it from his face. But how handsome…am I right?)
Even if you don’t have any decals or stickers to remove in your home, lemon essential oil is pretty much magical when it comes to removing sticky residue from most surfaces! You’ll be amazed at what a powerhouse it is, whether your kiddos put some stickers where they don’t belong, or your favorite score from the thrift store has a label on it that won’t budge.
Now…if only all our house projects were this easy…
Need help getting your master bedroom into shape? Be sure to check out my FREE Master Bedroom Shopping Checklist HERE.
