A wallpaper steamer is an electrical device which

boil A boil, also called a furuncle, is a deep folliculitis, which is an infection of the hair follicle. It is most commonly caused by infection by the bacterium ''Staphylococcus aureus'', resulting in a painful swollen area on the skin caused by an ...

s water continuously in order to produce

steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

. This steam is then allowed to pass through a narrow bore tube to a face plate. This face plate is then held against a wallpapered wall. The steam passes through the paper, saturates the backing paper and partially dissolves the desiccated

wallpaper paste Adhesive flakes that are mixed with water to produce wallpaper paste Wallpaper adhesive or wallpaper paste is a specific adhesive, based on modified starch, methylcellulose, or clay used to fix wallpaper to walls. Wallpaper pastes have a typica ...

. This then allows the

wallpaper Wallpaper is a material used in interior decoration to decorate the interior walls of domestic and public buildings. It is usually sold in rolls and is applied onto a wall using wallpaper paste. Wallpapers can come plain as "lining paper" (so t ...

to be pulled from, or scraped off the wall. The wallpaper steamer was invented by Peter Ravenscroft Wilkins from

Blackwell, Worcestershire Blackwell is a village located in the North-East of Worcestershire and comes under the jurisdiction of Lickey and Blackwell Parish Council. Nearby large towns include Barnt Green and Bromsgrove. Worcester and Birmingham are also influential. The v ...

, England. Its European patent was filed 19 November 1987.

Technology

The basic form of a wallpaper steamer is a semi-sealed container, usually made of plastic, that contains a

heating element A heating element converts electrical energy into heat through the process of Joule heating. Electric current through the element encounters resistance, resulting in heating of the element. Unlike the Peltier effect, this process is independe ...

. A quantity of water is added to the container and the water comes into contact with the heating element. Once electrical power is connected to the element, it heats up which then in turn heats the water. The water reaches its boiling point, evaporates and produces steam. As the container is sealed, the steam pressure builds up but is released via a small opening in the container to which is connected a length of pressure pipe. At the end of the pressure pipe is a flat plate about square and 1 cm deep. The plate has a handle on its reverse side. This plate is then held up to the papered wall. The steam being released under pressure from the container travels along the pressure pipe and is released into the forward face of the steam plate. As the plate is held against the wall, a slight seal is maintained which holds steam long enough to force the moisture into the wallpaper, saturating it and rehydrating the

. Once the paste is rehydrated, it starts to lose its adhesive properties, allowing the wallpaper to be either pulled or scraped from the wall. Penetration of steam, especially with vinyl-coated wallpapers, may be accelerated by first perforating the surface of the wallpaper. A variety of spiked roller and spiked wheel hand tools are available for this. During use, the operator's hands are close to the steam source and so protective, heat- and vapour-proof gloves, such as silicone oven gloves, may be helpful. Wallpaper steamers have been more popular in countries, such as the UK or Europe, using 230 V domestic electricity. This provides around 3 kW of steam generating capacity from all sockets around the house.

Other uses

A commercial wallpaper steamer is a conveniently packaged source of steam. This can be used for other purposes too, such as steam-bending wood.

References

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