5 Ways To Get Chewing Gum Out Of Your Clothes And Upholstery

Gum sure is a great help when you are running to a lunch date and are anxious about bad breath. However, it is also notorious for being a pain to get rid of when it ends up anyplace but inside the mouth. This is particularly true when it comes to your upholstery, clothes, and carpets. Nevertheless, there is actually nothing to worry about. Rejoice in knowing that not all hope is gone.

In this article, we will discuss the 5 ways to get chewing gum out of your clothes and upholstery.

Method 1: Hot Liquid

Use Hot Water
If your clothes have chewing gum on it, submerge the affected area in very hot water. Soak it for a couple of minutes. Hold the apparel underwater and using a sharp knife or toothbrush, try to scrape the gum off. Likewise, if your upholstery has chewing gum on it, apply hot water into it, and then scrape the gum off.

Use Hot Vinegar
Soak or apply hot vinegar in the affected area. Using a toothbrush, scrub the area in circles, until the chewing gum slackens. You might need to soak or apply hot vinegar into the area several times to put a fresh sopping of the vinegar. Make sure to wash the toothbrush thoroughly as it will surely be full of gum.

Steam Blast The Chewing Gum
Put the area of the shirt with gum at the mouth of a pot or kettle, which produces concentrated steam when the water is boiled in it. Let the gum absorb the steam before you scrape it off. Similarly, when your upholstery or carpet has a chewing gum stuck in it, you will need an upholstery cleaning or carpet cleaning. In this option, carpet steam cleaning is essential. You will steam the area, and then when the gum is already loosened, scrape it.

Method 2: Freezing

For clothes…

Fold the clothing with the affected area facing outward. You’ll need to fold it small enough to fit in a plastic bag –the size of your choice. You should avoid spreading the gum into some other parts of the fabric.

Put the clothing inside a plastic bag. Seal the plastic, but make sure that the gum doesn’t stick into the plastic bag.

Seal the plastic bag and put it into the freezer for a couple of hours. The gum will freeze wholly and will be rock solid, thus making it easier to remove.
Remove the fabric from the freezer when the gum is already hard. Get the clothing out of the plastic bag.

Peel or scrape the chewing gum off the fabric immediately. You should not allow the gum to get warm again. You may use any kind of blade-like paint scraper or butter knife to get rid of the gum. In case it doesn’t come off, put it back in the freezer.

For upholstery…

If the gum is still soft, freeze it by applying ice directly on it. You may place the ice inside plastic to avoid a mess.

After you freeze the gum, scrape any excess gum on the upholstery.
Using a clean cloth, wipe the stain using a dry-cleaning solvent.
Blot using a dry cloth, up until the solvent is already absorbed.
Repeat until the stain goes away.

Method 3: Ironing

Firstly, this method is only for clothing. There is no way that you can use iron in getting rid of chewing gum in your upholstery.

Step 1:Put the clothing affected area face down onto a piece of cardboard. Ensure that the cardboard is placed on an ironing board. This helps avoid burning any surface underneath the board.

Step 2: Put the iron to medium heat. Of course, you want the iron to loosen the gum and not melting it completely –that’d make it worse and messier.

Step 3: Run the iron o’er the side of the fabric with no gum on it. You must now have the gum somewhat sandwiched between the iron and the board, with the clothing giving a barrier in between the iron and the gum.

Step 4: Iron the fabric up until the gum sticks into the board. It might take a few minutes to get the gum completely heat up.

Step 5: Pull the board away from the fabric. The chewing gum must pull off of the clothing together with the board. In case the gum doesn’t pull away at all, keep on ironing the fabric until it’s sufficiently soft in doing so.

Method 4: Household Items or Cleaning Products

In getting rid of chewing gum on your clothes or upholstery, you may also use various household items and cleaning products.

Here are some ways to get rid of chewing gum using household items and cleaning products:

Spray WD40
This is one of the best ways to get rid of chewing gum off of your clothes or upholstery. All you need to do is to spray WD40 on the gum-affected area. Let the spray sit for a few minutes and use a metal scraper or toothbrush to scratch off the gum.

Pour Rubbing Alcohol
Spill out a tiny amount of rubbing alcohol onto the area affected. Allow the alcohol to penetrate and make the gum loosen up for a few minutes. After, scrape the gum off using a metal scraping tool.

Spray Adhesive Remover
You can use an adhesive removal spray in getting rid of chewing gum on your clothes or upholstery. You just need to spray it into the affected area and let it seep in for a few minutes. Use a wire brush or toothbrush to scratch off the gum.

Apply Goof Off or Goo Gone
These are strong degreasing agents, which make getting rid of chewing gum on clothes and upholstery easier. After applying, allow the product to soak in the gum. Scrape excess gum off using a metal scraper.

Use Liquid Laundry Soap
Pour a spoon of liquid laundry soap into the affected area. Using a toothbrush, scrape around the space where the chewing gum is connected into the shirt. Using a scraper, remove the gum.

Method 5: Peanut Butter

This might be a surprise to you, but you read it right, peanut butter can be used in removing chewing gum on your clothes or upholstery!

Here’s how:
Step 1: Lather up the gum affected area in peanut butter. Make sure that you coat the gum completely on all its sides. The oil in the peanut butter is what will loosen the grip of the gum on your clothes or upholstery.

Step 2:Let the peanut butter to sit on the clothing or upholstery for approximately a minute. You might want to give it enough time to loosen the gum, without letting it stain the fabric or upholstery severely.

Step 3: Scrape the chewing gum off with the scraping tool.

Step 4: Clean the clothing or the upholstery immediately after you’re done. Even though the oil in the peanut butter loosens the gum, it may also stain the fabric or upholstery. Make sure that you use a stain remover or a detergent in cleaning or washing it.

Removing chewing gum out of your clothes and upholstery can be so hard, but with the 5 ways, we hope that it’ll be much easier. With a little perseverance, you might be able to get rid of gum from almost anywhere.

If you happen to experience the dread of having gum stuck in your clothes, pants, shoes, furniture upholstery, carpet, or anywhere, try applying the methods we have above. Your upholstery will certainly be thankful for it.

This article is brought to you by the content team at CarpetKings.