-Carola Mittag
How many times have you started to do something and thought “something bad is going to happen if.…..”? And before you’ve even finished the thought, that something happens. For me it is cutting vegetables and thinking “I’m going to slice my finger” and then it happens and has happened more than once. For that reason, before I began a stripping project, I thought about what I needed to do to ensure my mental prophecy wouldn’t fulfill itself this time.
What can you do during a pandemic and a snowstorm? This month I didn’t have to do any reading to put my thoughts to paper because, speaking of paper, I have spent the last week stripping old wallpaper in three rooms. Fun job? Easy job? Safe job? An emphatic NO to all three questions!
The wallpaper had been up for 33 years. How hard could it be to remove? As I was working, I remember my father saying while hanging the paper all those years ago “I pity the person who will have to remove this one day”. I don’t think he ever dreamed that it would be me. I also remember his cursing as he hung the paper and equal to mine as I stripped it.
I gathered all the tools I thought I needed, a stepladder, scraper and a bottle of water mixed with fabric softener.
Let’s start with the step ladder. It was a folding stepladder with 9” deep steps and handrail, definitely needed for stability and safety for this grandmother.
The scraper I used was in fact a putty spatula not a proper wallpaper scraping tool, the result being I hacked some of the walls pretty good. Not having the right tool made my job much more difficult and will require my son to come and do wall repairs. *Note to self: I should ask him to do the job from the start.
Then there is the fabric softener-water mixture. It might surprise you, but fabric softener is the number one cause of indoor air pollution. It sure surprised me! Inhalation of vapours may cause headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, irritation of the respiratory tract and loss of consciousness. It aggravates disorders of the kidney, liver, heart and skin and is especially a problem when subjected to heat. Oh but it sure did smell good in my house for a few days. And yes, I have to admit I felt dizzy a few times while up on the stepladder, never dreaming it was from the fabric softener fumes.
And I still wasn’t getting the wallpaper off smoothly or without great effort and cursing (under my breath). I am part of a family chat with relatives all over North America, daily sharing our lives, events, stories, etc. Of course, I posted pictures of my mess. God bless my cousin in South Carolina who suggested a steamer. Being a frugal person, I really didn’t want to spend the money, but frustration drove me to that end. Knowing now what a difference it made, I would gladly have spent three times as much in order to have spent three times less of my energy, aggravation and time.
It should be noted though that even a steamer has its hazards. Water is heated to boiling, then rises through a plastic pipe and comes out a steam plate which, if it comes into contact with your skin, can cause severe burns. Gloves and eye protection are recommended in the instructions. So I did trade off one hazard for another, toxic fumes vs. potential burns.
Fortunately, other than some dizziness, my stripping had no other injurious effects. The moral of the story is to do your research, use the best tools available, listen to those who have experience, and always, always work safely even if it costs more time and money.
Watch for next month’s Blog published in the first week of March.
Sincerely,
Carola Mittag
Consultant and Editor for Mentor Safety Consultants Inc.