How to Remove Liquid Nails from Drywall [5 Top Methods] | Pepper's Home & Garden (2024)

If Liquid Nails has bonded to your drywall and you want to remove it, apply heat or a solvent before scraping. This process will make removal easier and reduce damage to the drywall surface. Use a heat gun to soften the Liquid Nails or apply mineral spirits, petroleum jelly, or a similar compound to the dried adhesive. Once the Liquid Nails has softened, scrape it off your drywall. If there is any damage after removal, patch your drywall with joint compound before painting.

Will Liquid Nails Ruin Drywall

Liquid Nails and other construction adhesives won’t irreparably ruin drywall. Construction adhesives bond to the drywall’s paper surface but will not penetrate any deeper than the surface. This means that if you use the right methods to remove Liquid Nails, the damage will be minimal.

• Liquid Nails won’t ruin drywall because it only bonds to the paper surface of drywall.
• You can remove Liquid Nails without damaging your drywall.
• Hasty removal of Liquid Nails can cause damage to drywall, so work carefully.

If you attempt to remove dried Liquid Nails from drywall with brute-force measures, such as intense scraping, you increase the chance of damaging your drywall. Certain solutions, like acetone, can also discolor certain surfaces. Before you attack the problem with a scraper or the wrong product, try some other methods.

The 5 Best Ways to Remove Liquid Nails from Drywall

If you’ve removed paneling or a wall fixture that was secured to drywall with Liquid Nails, you’ll probably be left with a bumpy residue of adhesive that won’t budge. Don’t panic. You can get rid of the adhesive and make your walls beautiful again. Just try these techniques.

Heat Gun or Blow Dryer

In many cases, heat will return hardened Liquid Nails to a softer consistency. Use a construction-grade heat gun or a blow dryer to heat the Liquid Nails. Once it begins to change to a putty-like consistency, use a scraper or putty knife to peel the Liquid Nails from your drywall slowly.

• Use this heat gun or a blow dryer to heat up the dried Liquid Nails.
• As the Liquid Nails changes to a putty-like consistency, use a scraper to remove it from your drywall.
• These heat tools are safe to use with drywall and will not cause damage to your walls.

This method is safe to use because drywall is very heat-resistant. The water in gypsum remains in an unevaporated state until temperatures reach 176°F (80°C). Only at temperatures above this point will the water begin to evaporate, increasing the chance of damage to the drywall. You can thus use a heat gun or blow dryer to heat residual construction adhesive without posing a threat to your drywall.

Mineral Spirits

Coat dried Liquid Nails with a light layer of mineral spirits and allow 12 hours for the adhesive to soften. Once the adhesive bond breaks down due to the mineral spirits, it is much easier to remove the Liquid Nails with a scraper.

• Use a brush or sponge to coat the dried Liquid Nails with these mineral spirits.
• Allow 12 hours for the mineral spirits to soften the Liquid Nails.
• Remove the softened Liquid Nails with a scraper.

Because mineral spirits evaporate quickly, consider making more than one application of mineral spirits to the Liquid Nails. When working with mineral spirits, be sure to wear protective gloves, a face mask, and work in a well-ventilated space.

Petroleum Jelly

Like mineral spirits, you can also use petroleum jelly to break down hardened Liquid Nails. Petroleum jelly (commonly known as Vaseline) has the added bonus that it won’t evaporate or run down your walls the way mineral spirits will. It’s very easy to coat Liquid Nails with petroleum jelly.

• Coat the dried Liquid Nails with a layer of this petroleum jelly.
• Allow 3–4 hours for the petroleum jelly to break down the Liquid Nails.
• Scrape the Liquid Nails off your drywall.

As a bonus, petroleum jelly doesn’t release any noxious fumes and is safe to apply by hand. Remember, this is the same stuff that’s commonly used to moisturize skin.

Baby Oil

Simple baby oil can be used to soften Liquid Nails for easy removal. Coat the Liquid Nails with common baby oil and allow it to work for 12 hours. Then scrape the adhesive off your drywall using moderate pressure.

• Apply baby oil to Liquid Nails.
• Allow baby oil to work for 12 hours.
• Scrape Liquid Nails off your drywall.
• Use vinegar solution to remove oil stains from drywall.

If your petroleum jelly or baby oil application leaves stains on your drywall, the stains will show through a coat of paint. To prevent this, spray the wall with a 50/50 mix of vinegar and water, allow it to sit for 3 minutes, then wipe the wall. Once the grease stains are gone, you can repaint your wall.

Scrape and Repair

No matter what method you choose to soften Liquid Nails, there is a chance that there will be some surface damage to your drywall during the removal process. If the surface paper of the drywall peels free during drywall adhesive removal, patch your wall with joint compound. By following the process for properly repairing damaged drywall, your patches will be invisible after you apply your primer and paint.

• Your drywall may incur some damage during Liquid Nails removal.
• Peeled paper, gouges, and scrapes can be fixed by properly applying drywall joint compound, sanding, and painting.
• You are far less likely to damage your drywall if you soften the Liquid Nails prior to removal.

Using a softener (heat or another product) to make Liquid Nails more pliable greatly reduces the risk that your drywall will peel during removal. You’ll end up with far less damage this way, making repairs a lot simpler.

Can You Sand Adhesive Off Drywall?

Sanding Liquid Nails or any other adhesive off a drywall surface is tricky work. The dried adhesive is harder than drywall. This means that it’s very easy to accidentally sand through your drywall paper while trying to remove some stubborn adhesive. Often, sanding can lead to a rough drywall surface, gouges in drywall, or Liquid Nails residue that you can’t seem to remove.

• It can be very challenging to remove construction adhesive by sanding.
• You are likely to gouge or damage drywall while attempting to sand Liquid Nails off the wall surface.
• Soften the Liquid Nails with heat or a solvent before attempting to scrape it off the drywall.
• After scraping, remove remaining residue with mineral spirits.

Rather than sand Liquid Nails to remove it from drywall, it’s best to use a softening material or heat tool to make the adhesive pliable. Then, scrape the Liquid Nails off the drywall. You can remove any remaining residue by wiping the drywall surface with mineral spirits.

How Do You Remove Adhesive From Drywall?

To remove Liquid Nails or other dried adhesives from drywall, it’s essential to soften the adhesive first. The best methods for softening adhesive so you can scrape it off drywall are:

• Heat the adhesive with an electric heat gun.
• Apply mineral spirits to the adhesive and allow it to soak for 12 hours.
• Spread petroleum jelly on the adhesive, then allow it to work for 3–4 hours.
• Brush baby oil onto the dried adhesive and allow it to work for 12 hours.
• After scraping, remove adhesive residue by wiping the wall with mineral spirits.

These tricks turn rock-hard adhesive into a pliable substance that you can scrape off your wall. Applying any of these methods will make your work easier and reduce the risk of damaging your drywall during adhesive removal.