Layers of painted wallpaper horror

My stairwell and landing is covered in painted lining paper with victorian varnished wallpaper underneath : it strips off dry in some areas and in others wont respond to scoring and/or steaming. I cant just paper over as I had the flat rewired, leaving areas with no paper, which will show through.(I want a lovely flat smooth wall, you see) I have been recommended to stabilise the surface with Thistle bond, then plaster skim over; but can find no record of its use over paper, only for stabilising plaster.
Can anyone give me any advice? I dont want to pay a plasterer (£800) to do this then have it all fall off!!!

Rachel

Raitch...you could try using a wire brush..give the surface a good seeing too with it, romoving as much of the sheen as you can

Then soak it in using very hot water with a bit of washing up liquid in it

Soak it a few times and then have a bash

Painted and varnished? A blowlamp and scraper will take it off.

If it is that thick embossed paper with a sort of yellow putty filling the pattern, I understand it is lead based so a blowlamp would be unsafe. Apart from lead poisoning to yourself it damages brain development in children and babies.

Could be lincrusta...in which case the yellow substance is more or less...putty..still risky with a blowlamp though