Difficulty: Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need:
- Laundry Pretreatment
- Butter Knives
- Laundry Detergents
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Step 1
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.
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Step 2
Scrape off what you can with a dull-bladed butter knife or another metal object without sharp edges that will rip through the fabric.
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Step 3
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.
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Step 4
Launder as usual.
Comments
Juniper2327 said
on 11/17/2008 I tried using GooGone from www.magicamerican.com, and it worked very easily. Just spray it on the gum stain and let sit for about 3 minutes. The gum then scraps right off.
kathw said
on 9/23/2008 my daughter had chewing gum on her white school p.e top, i first applied washing up liquid then salt, i then gently rubbed them in with another piece of fabric and then gently scraped the chewing off. it didn't even leave a stain!!
debbiew said
on 8/9/2008 Somehow a stick of gum in the lined pocket in a good purse became unwrapped and left little gum fuzzies, plus a stain, on the fabric. What's the best way to remove both the fuzzies and the stain? Thanks.
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.