How to Remove Spruce Gum
North American Indians originally harvested spruce gum to use it as a chewing substance or chewing gum. The unsweetened gum is collected as resin from spruce trees and can still be used for various purposes, including gum and pitches. If you accidentally get spruce gum on your clothing, skin or in your hair, you can remove it using the same techniques that you would implement to remove chewing gum or tree sap. Does this Spark an idea?
Instructions
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Apply a hand sanitizer or nail polish remover to the area on your skin that is covered by spruce gum. After rubbing it thoroughly, you should be able to feel the resin break up. Wash your skin with warm water and soap and dry it with a soft towel. Repeat this step if the spruce gum is still present on your skin.
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Cover the area of sap with peanut butter, if the sap has gotten into your hair. This is useful for both spruce gum in a resin form or spruce chewing gum. Once you have covered the area with peanut butter, heat the area with a hair dryer on a low setting for a few minutes. Then, rinse the peanut butter from the hair, comb through the area, and wash your hair as you normally would. Peanut butter oils will break down the spruce gum.
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Treat areas of your clothing that contain spruce gum with rubbing alcohol. Apply the rubbing alcohol directly to the clothing and then gently scrub the spruce gum away. Launder your clothes as you normally would and repeat this step if the spruce gum is still present on the clothing.
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Put your clothing or other items that have spruce gum on them into the freezer. Let the gum or resin freeze for several hours. Remove the item from the freezer and scrape the gum or resin away with a knife or putty knife.
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References
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