Underlays

Removing "stuck" carpet underlay?

I'm replacing carpets, and the existing foam underlay has stuck to the concrete floor... so I'm looking for an easy way to remove it. I'm already familiar with the "crawl around on the floor with a scraper for several days" technique, I was hoping that somebody may be able to offer something more, well... easy Something magical, along the lines of "soak the floor in a mixture of white wine vinegar, rhubarb juiceand the leaves of certain rare herbs, which will completely unstick the whole carpet, and roll it up in the corner, ready for disposal", would be perfect.... Or somewhere between the two extremes would be welcome, too... Any ideas, anyone?

Public Comments

1. To be honest, anything you put on to soften it and make it easier to remove is just going to make it messier. At the end of the day, you will still have to scrape it up and this is probably easier done as it is. It might be worth heating it (maybe with a hairdryer) to make it drier which would probably make it a bit easier to scrape.
2. Go to a hardware store and buy a scrapper with a long handle, I bought one that looks like a garden hoe but the blade is straight like a scrapper. It took about 1 hour to do 1000 sq. ft. standing up.