DIY Home Remedies for Removing Chewing Gum

Chewing gums – chewing gums will give many benefits like an appetite suppressant, prevents tooth decay, lessens your stress and anxiety levels, maintains a proper acid level in the stomach, aids in easy digestion, enhance personal alertness, eliminates bad breath, etc.

But what happens, if chewing gum gets stuck in the hair or clothes and becomes problematic for you? It makes you irritate intensely till you remove the chewing gum.

However, sticking of chewing gums will happen occasionally but don’t panic, as you can easily remove these clung chewing gums with some simple home remedies.

Home Remedies to Remove Stuck Chewing Gums:

These are the best ways that widely used to remove chewing gums on your hair, clothes, shoes or carpets. Let’s get started.

Ice:

Ice is an effective remedy used to remove chewing gum stuck on your hair. It loosens the adhesive nature of chewing gum with its cooling effect and thus removes gum from the hair, shoes, clothes or carpets.
Place the ice cube on gum stuck hair and rub it gently.
Or wrap a cloth with few ice cubes and put it on the gum stuck hair.
For removing gum on shoes, rub the ice cube on and around the gum.
For clothes, place the cloth in a zip lock bag and freeze it for 2 – 3 hours. Then take out to remove gum.
For delicate fabrics, wrap the cloth in polyethene plastic bag or a plastic bag. Freeze it for few hours and remove the gum using a flat edged knife.
Do the same for carpets also. Continue doing the process till you removed the gum stuck.

Peanut Butter:

Peanut butter is an age-old folk remedy used to ease chewed up gum out of the hair. The butter will loosen the sticky nature of chewing gums and thus removes it from the skin or hair.
Apply some peanut butter on the area where the chewing gum stuck.
Let it sit for few minutes and rinse off thoroughly under tap water to remove the clung chewing gums.
Repeat it whenever the chewing gum stuck on the hair and skin.
Also, cover your gum with peanut butter and remove it using a wire brush after 10 minutes from your shoe.

Cooking Oil:

Cooking oils like soybean, canola, mustard, peanut oil, olive oil, etc. will help to get rid of chewing gum that stuck to the hair or skin or clothes with its oily nature.
Apply some oil on the gum area and rub it gently to remove it (either using your fingers or comb).
For best results, drive it in the opposite direction.
Make sure to rinse your fingers or comb after removing the gum.
Or use mayonnaise in the same way as vegetable oil to clear the residue of gum on hair, shoes or clothes.

Petroleum Jelly:

Vaseline or petroleum jelly moisturizes the area where the chewing gum has clung, which in turn helps to prevent the stickiness of the gum. Then you can easily remove the gum from the hair and skin.
Just rub some petroleum jelly on the area where the gum is stuck.
Rub it in the opposite direct to get rid of the gum easily.
Also, use cold creams or moisturizing creams to get rid of the chewing gum.

Vinegar:

White vinegar will work well in removing the chewing gums from your clothes. It works as a solvent that deteriorates the bond between the gum and hair.
Simply pour some white vinegar on the chewing gum stuck areas.
Then take an old toothbrush and rub the area gently with it.
The vinegar soak will help to remove the gum easily. For best results, use hot vinegar than normal vinegar.

Sand:

Using sand remedy is an effective remedy that works well in removing the gums stuck on shoes.
Pour some sand on the gum stuck area and remove it using a stick.
Make sure to pour more sand while rubbing it with a stick for easy and complete removal of chewing gums on the shoes.

Hand Lotions:

Even hand lotions will work in removing chewing gum from the hair with its oily nature.
Apply enough of hand lotion on the area where the gum stuck on the skin or hair.
Let it sit for few minutes and remove the gum using your fingers or comb.
Leaving the scalp / skin oilier than before is the only drawback of using hand lotion.
Alternatively, use mouthwash instead of hand lotions for a drier option.

Hair dryer:

This remedy is used effectively to remove the gum from carpets. We know that hair dryer will dry out the moisture or wetness which in turn removes the stickiness of chewing gum, softens it and thus fall off easily.
Blow your hair dryer on the particular place and pull out the gum with your fingers (placed your hands in a plastic bag).
Rinse your hands thoroughly and use this remedy whenever you need to remove the chewing gums on the carpets and clothes (not delicate fabrics).

Egg Whites:

Egg white has a different consistency that absorbs the sticky nature of the chewed gums on the hair or skin or clothes.
Apply some egg white mix on the gum is clung area and leave it for few seconds.
Then remove it egg white mix along with the gum.
Rinse your skin after removing the gum.

Lemon Juice:

Lemon juice has drying effect which dries out the sticky gum and removes it easily. It is used to clear the gums on the clothes or carpets.
Soak the gum area in lemon juice for few minutes.
Then wash the cloth normally to get rid of the gum and its residue on the cloth.

Cardboard:

This remedy is especially used to remove gums from jeans.
Place jeans on a piece of cardboard, make sure that gum should touch cardboard surface.
Then set your iron to medium heat and iron your jeans on the top of cardboard.
Now keep on ironing till the gum has transferred from your jeans to cardboard.

Tips and Precautions:

Make sure to have a post cleanup with laundry detergent or warm soap water to the clothes and carpets after removing the chewing gum to clean out any remaining traces of chewing gum.
Spraying WD – 40 (acts as a lubricant) on the chewing gum will help to remove it effectively with comb. But remember that WD – 40 can be harmful, if swallowed or consumed, so rinse your hands thoroughly after using this method.
Even direct application of toothpaste or alcohol on the gum that stuck in the hair will help to remove it.
Also, soak the affected area in coke for few minutes before attempting to remove chewing gum easily from the hair.
Go for a professional cleaning to remove gum on the delicate fabrics or costly clothes for proper removal of gum without damaging the fabric.
Rinse the chewing gum stuck area with water thoroughly for removing it.

Have any experience of removing gum from hair or skin or clothes? Share with us through below comment box.