Paint on wall soft and sticky

[woodenbowl]

I'm trying to fix a room in my house that needs a bunch of work done. One of the problems is a couple sections of wall where the paint and probably some of the paper of the drywall has been rubbed off. The paint that is left is very sticky and very very hard to remove. Has anyone encountered this before? The paint is roughly 20 years old, if that matters.

 

[tomtheelder2020]

Rubbed off how? How big is the area in the photo? Why are you trying to remove the paint (is it peeling, some other problem)? How big an area is sticky, just the patch in photo or whole wall? What was this room used for?

 

[woodenbowl]

It's a bedroom. It started getting like that becuase my head would rub it (I didn't have a headboard at the time) and I also attemped to remove the paint. It is roughly 1' by 2'. I'm trying to remove it because it makes it a very bumpy surface and I don't think I can just paint over it. There is also a smaller place like it.

 

[tomtheelder2020]

Sounds very likely the problem is oil from your head, though I don't know why that would feel sticky. If the paper is already coming off the drywall, aggressive cleaning is likely to remove a lot more of it. The underlying gypsum would then absorb moisture from latex paint and there is a good chance it wouldn't hole. If you can clean the area to remove any trace of sticky, a spray can of stain-blocking primer should seal it adequately to paint over. However, it is very unlikely you would be able to get the edges of the area where the paper was removed smooth. Removing that section of drywall and patching the hole would solve that problem but if the wall is textured matching it can be difficult.

 

[DFBonnett]

Someone may have painted over an area that had been wallpapered and failed to remove all traces of paste. Try washing the area with hot soapy water then allow to dry. If the problem is resolved, prime with a stain suppressing primer, repair as needed, prime again, then finish coat as desired.

 

[woodenbowl]

I'll just be careful when cleaning. Looking at it again, I'm not sure if paper has come off or not. It's kind of green where the paint has come off, and it's unlike the drywall I've put up in the past. It doesn't have the texture of paper, but it isn't gypsum, either. There is wallpaper in the area of the house my room is in, so it could have been removed from the walls. I cannot confirm at the moment. Though why a "stain suppressing" primer?

Thank you.

 

[DFBonnett]

Though why a "stain suppressing" primer?

I found that a messy area like that often will bleed through regular primer or paint. My preference for this type of issue is oil base Cover Stain. FWIW YMMV