While not as nasty as chewing gum in the hair, chewing gum on your clothes can be an icky mess--especially if it has been through the dryer. Fortunately, it's easy to fix this problem.
Harden the gum by rubbing it with a cube of ice. You could also put the clothing item in the freezer for a few hours until it hardens. If you're in a hurry the ice cube will work quicker.
Step2
Scrape off what you can with a dull-bladed butter knife or another metal object without sharp edges that will rip through the fabric.
Step3
Rub the area with a pre-treatment enzyme product or liquid laundry detergent. Some claim WD-40 or cooking oil does wonders if you rub it on the chewing gum. If you go that route make sure you wash the clothing item right away after to avoid stains.
on 7/24/2008
Okay, so someone -- I'm not saying who -- left mint gum in their pocket. I was in a hurry and just threw some things in the washer. I had two loads of stuff to dry, so I added a few of my husband's white work shirts -- just to dry. When the clothes came out, my husband's shirts had little turquoise spots all over them. One shirt had been washed for the very first time. He was a little miffed. I came to this place to see what others had tried. I noticed that more than a few people used WD40. We had that in the garage! I tried it. I sprayed the spots and then scrubbed with warm, soapy water using an old toothbrush (I always save them for just such an emergency). The little turquoise spots began to disappear. They are now soaking in hot water with a cup of bleach and detergent. I am going to close the lid in a few minutes to finish the cycle, but so far...I am very impressed wi
on 2/7/2008
Well, I hope I'm not double posting, but in the middle of my post, my program quit, so I don't know if my info was submitted or not. Here's what I did. I had a MAJOR MESS, 4 PAIRS of pants covered in gum that had been washed and dried. I would have been scraping for a week, if I had tried that. What worked: Goo Gone took off the gum inside the dryer. Use the rest of it sprayed on the pants, used WD 40 on the other pairs of pants, as I ran out of the Goo Gone. Let sit about 5 mins. Scrubbed a few tough spots with a vegetable brush, toothbrush was not going to work here! Soaked in HOT water in my washing machine with Oxyclean and detergent overnight. Ran the load in the morning and dried as usual. All gum off the clothes. I wouldn't have tried this except I would have had to throw them away, as the gum was all over. Hope this helps someone else.
on 4/12/2008
OK guys, listen up. A piece of green Trident gum went through an entire dryer cycle and got all over a load of light colored clothes. Tried vaseline - it didn't work. Tried nailpolish remover with acetone - it didn't work. (I was hoping to find something that wouldn't stain the clothes so I was hesitant to try anything with oil). Here's what DID work & it was EASY: Soak the stain in Downy fabric softener for about 15 minutes (I used Ultra Downy). Then rinse in very warm water & the gum comes right out as you rub your fingers over the stain. I will never try another method in the future... Although I hope I won't need to! :)
on 12/26/2007
i accidentally sat on a huge gob of yellow gum at the movies and didn't notice till i'd got home 2 hours later, and it was smeared all over a back pocket of my favorite jeans. i stuffed them into the freezer overnight and then scraped as much as i could with a butter knife and plucked at it with my nails, which was gross but more effective. after i'd gottten off as much as i could i put about 2 spoonfulls of vegtable oil all over the area of the gum and made sure it really soaked into the jeans. i then resumed scraping and rubbed the area with an oil soaked napkin to get the last bits off. the last step was to wash the oil out with dishsoap before i stuck the jeans in the laundry. it worked really well and it only took around 15 minutes, so i was pretty pleased!
sidenote- this couldd have been avoided if people could just learn to dispose of their gum properly!
on 12/15/2007
Forget all the suggestions using smelly stuff like hairspray, WD-40, Goof-Off and vinegar. They may work, but this method is quick, easy and causes no damage to most clothing. Just take a container of canned air (used to remove dust from keyboards), hold it upside down and spray directly onto the gum. It will instantly freeze it and the gum will crack off! Use a butter knife to help scrape it off. Be careful not to spray it onto your hand or you will get frostbite and don't inhale! Works like a charm!
Comments
lasimon65 said
on 7/24/2008 Okay, so someone -- I'm not saying who -- left mint gum in their pocket. I was in a hurry and just threw some things in the washer. I had two loads of stuff to dry, so I added a few of my husband's white work shirts -- just to dry. When the clothes came out, my husband's shirts had little turquoise spots all over them. One shirt had been washed for the very first time. He was a little miffed. I came to this place to see what others had tried. I noticed that more than a few people used WD40. We had that in the garage! I tried it. I sprayed the spots and then scrubbed with warm, soapy water using an old toothbrush (I always save them for just such an emergency). The little turquoise spots began to disappear. They are now soaking in hot water with a cup of bleach and detergent. I am going to close the lid in a few minutes to finish the cycle, but so far...I am very impressed wi
bookfairy said
on 2/7/2008 Well, I hope I'm not double posting, but in the middle of my post, my program quit, so I don't know if my info was submitted or not. Here's what I did. I had a MAJOR MESS, 4 PAIRS of pants covered in gum that had been washed and dried. I would have been scraping for a week, if I had tried that. What worked: Goo Gone took off the gum inside the dryer. Use the rest of it sprayed on the pants, used WD 40 on the other pairs of pants, as I ran out of the Goo Gone. Let sit about 5 mins. Scrubbed a few tough spots with a vegetable brush, toothbrush was not going to work here! Soaked in HOT water in my washing machine with Oxyclean and detergent overnight. Ran the load in the morning and dried as usual. All gum off the clothes. I wouldn't have tried this except I would have had to throw them away, as the gum was all over. Hope this helps someone else.
Homegirl said
on 4/12/2008 OK guys, listen up. A piece of green Trident gum went through an entire dryer cycle and got all over a load of light colored clothes. Tried vaseline - it didn't work. Tried nailpolish remover with acetone - it didn't work. (I was hoping to find something that wouldn't stain the clothes so I was hesitant to try anything with oil). Here's what DID work & it was EASY: Soak the stain in Downy fabric softener for about 15 minutes (I used Ultra Downy). Then rinse in very warm water & the gum comes right out as you rub your fingers over the stain. I will never try another method in the future... Although I hope I won't need to! :)
craftywitch said
on 12/26/2007 i accidentally sat on a huge gob of yellow gum at the movies and didn't notice till i'd got home 2 hours later, and it was smeared all over a back pocket of my favorite jeans. i stuffed them into the freezer overnight and then scraped as much as i could with a butter knife and plucked at it with my nails, which was gross but more effective. after i'd gottten off as much as i could i put about 2 spoonfulls of vegtable oil all over the area of the gum and made sure it really soaked into the jeans. i then resumed scraping and rubbed the area with an oil soaked napkin to get the last bits off. the last step was to wash the oil out with dishsoap before i stuck the jeans in the laundry. it worked really well and it only took around 15 minutes, so i was pretty pleased!
sidenote- this couldd have been avoided if people could just learn to dispose of their gum properly!
Lawher said
on 12/15/2007 Forget all the suggestions using smelly stuff like hairspray, WD-40, Goof-Off and vinegar. They may work, but this method is quick, easy and causes no damage to most clothing. Just take a container of canned air (used to remove dust from keyboards), hold it upside down and spray directly onto the gum. It will instantly freeze it and the gum will crack off! Use a butter knife to help scrape it off. Be careful not to spray it onto your hand or you will get frostbite and don't inhale! Works like a charm!