[scatterbrain]

Our house is about 35 years old. The contact paper in the cabinets is about that old as well. We are trying to remove the contact paper so we can paint the inside. This is proving to kick our butts. We have tried using water to soften the paper. Nope. We tried using DIF...nope. We are now using scrapers and sandpaper to remove the contact paper. Can we paint directly over the contact paper? should we remove as much of the contact paper as we can? or can we just scrap this scraping and paint right over the contact paper? Thanks so much for any info and advice.

 

[oldehouse8879]

not an expert here but here's an idea - can you flip the shelves over and put the contact paper side down? I guess get as much off as you can, sand, prime and paint but if that side is down it won't matter if it's a little "rough" compared to the other side...
(I'm assuming the contact paper is on the shelves)

also, have you tried Goof Off to remove the adhesive - scrap off as much of the "paper" as you can and use the Goof Off to remove the adhesive... then sand etc.

or apply heat (a heat gun) - that should soften the glue, just don't hold in one spot too long or you will probably start a fire!

I'm thinking it probably wouldn't be good idea to paint over the contact paper - most paints probably won't stick to well and you may end up with a paint peeling mess...

 

[scatterbrain]

Goof off worked really well. Thanks. We got the low odor just in case. good thing. Sprayed it on and let it sit for a couple of minutes. Everything came right off. Thank you very much.