How to Get Bubble Gum or Melted Gummy Bears Out of Hair, Carpet, Upholstery or Fabric

It's a short trip from mouth to carpet for gooey candy and gum.

Bubble gum and candy are sweet treats that often find their way into hair or stuck in gooey blobs on carpet, upholstery or other fabric. You can't just wipe off a sticky mess that has become embedded in a textile's fibers. The type of gum or candy bear you have stuck determines which product you need.

Things You'll Need

• Ice
• Vegetable or olive oil
• Butter knife
• High-pressure steam cleaner
• Blow dryer
• Commercial spot cleaner
• Clean cloth

Instructions

1. Freeze the gum with ice if it's caught in some hair, do not cut it out! You don't need to. Make the gum as frozen as possible, without pulling on it or the hair. Once it has frozen, break the gum off in clumps, refreezing as you work until it is removed from the hair.

2. Work olive or vegetable oil into any small amounts of glue left in the hair. Work it out of the hair without pulling the hair.

3. For upholstery, carpet or fabrics, use a high-pressure steam cleaner on either gum or candy. Aim a jet of steam directly at the gum or candy to soften it. Scrape it off with a knife. If you do not have a steam cleaner available, use a blow dryer at a low setting in the same manner.

4. Freeze the gum on the carpet or other fabric, as with the gum on the hair. When the gum is frozen, slowly peel the gum up. Pulling the gum out can destroy the fabrics; so you want to be careful. If gum gets sticky again, re-freeze it. Keeping it frozen keeps the gum intact, and you'll have less mess left behind.

5. Any color or residue left on a carpet or other textile once the majority of gum is gone can be blotted away using a commercial spot remover.

Tips & Warnings

• When peeling the gum/bear from carpet, fabric or upholstery, try putting the ice between the gum and the material as you are peeling. It helps keep the gum frozen, allowing it to release from the material a little easier.

• Do not use olive oil on your carpet or other textiles -- it will leave a greasy stain.

References

• Fresno Carpet Care: How to Remove Gum From Carpet
• Utah State University Extension: Carpet and Upholstery