How to Remove Gum from Clothes

Have you ever seen this scene – after a while of sprinting to catch the bus home, you succeeded (glad!), you sat down in the first seat you saw without noticing it. something that has taken its place before you. When you get home, you are horrified to realize that the whole area behind your beloved pants is sticky with gum. Don’t panic, take a breath – the wikiHow is here to help! Here are quick solutions that can be done in 5 minutes and you’ll be glad you got rid of that gum.

Table of Contents

Frozen gum

Take the gum-stained clothing off and fold it up. Fold the garment so that the gum is on the outside, not in other places. Try to remove the gum with your fingers as much as possible. You need to be careful not to let the gum stick any further to the fabric, and also don’t accidentally add more to it. ^{[1] X Research Source}

You should also consider wearing rubber gloves when removing gum to prevent your hands from getting stuck. But don’t delay putting the item in the freezer just because you have to find rubber gloves.

Put the item in a plastic bag. You need to use a zippered bag. When you put the item in the bag, you need to make sure the gum doesn’t touch the bag and get dirty (and will stick elsewhere on the fabric).

You can use a plastic bag of any size – it doesn’t have to be a specific size, it just needs to fit in the freezer.

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Close the mouth of the bag. Once you have zipped the plastic bag, put it in the freezer. This may sound strange, but freezing can cause the gum to harden and become a little less sticky. From there you can remove it more easily. ^{[2] X Research Source}

If you can’t use a freezer but have ice available, you can rub the gum with ice until the cold causes the gum to harden. Then move on to the next steps.

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Leave the garment bag in the freezer for several hours. The harder the gum, the easier it is to remove. Remove from freezer when the candy has hardened.

Scrape gum from clothing. You should do this as soon as you take the item out of the freezer. Remove the item from the plastic bag and place it on a hard flat surface. Use a blunt but pointed object to peel or scrape gum from clothing. You can use a paint scraper, butter knife or even fingernails if your nails are long and sharp enough.

It’s important to remove the gum as soon as you take it out of the freezer, because once it’s warmed up, it will stick back into the clothes and make it even harder to remove.

Wash clothes. If there is some gum left behind, and to make sure it doesn’t stain the fabric, you need to put the garment in the washing machine.

Use an iron to remove gum

Place a piece of cardboard on the ironing board. The cover will make sure the gum doesn’t melt and stick to the tabletop. Place the fabric to be treated on the ironing table so that the piece of gum is in the center of the cardboard.

You can also use brown wrapping paper.

Set the iron to medium heat and do not use steam. Turn on the iron and adjust the heat to medium. This heat is best, as the gum will melt if the temperature is too high. You need to heat it so that the gum comes off but doesn’t bleed.

Is on the left side of the cloth sticky gum. The side of the candy should be facing down on the card, which means you need to iron on the wrong side of the fabric so that the iron is about a layer away from the gum. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

Continue until the gum comes off. Eventually, the candy will melt and stick to the cardboard. Pull the fabric away from the cardstock. If you find that the gum hasn’t fully adhered to the cardboard, you need to continue ironing.

Use hot liquids

Use hot liquid to remove the gum. There are three ways you can do this, and all three give the same results. You can use hot water, steam, or hot white vinegar.

Hot water : Heat a large pot of hot water. If the gummy item is trousers or a large size, you may need to use a bathtub instead of a pot.
Hot steam : Set the kettle on high heat to get really hot. A kettle is a great way to remove gum from fabric.
Hot Vinegar : Heat some white vinegar. Dip a washcloth (or absorbent cloth) in the vinegar.

Let the hot liquid do its magic. Whichever method you use, you’ll have to wait for the liquid to work. Remember that you may have to do this several times during processing.

Hot water : Soak the gum spot in hot water. Remember to let the sticky spot soak in the water for a few minutes. During this time, the gum will gradually come off under the action of hot water.
Hot steam : Place the gum spot directly in front of the teapot spout (or where the steam comes out). The gum will absorb the steam and soften.
Hot Vinegar : Use a cloth dipped in vinegar and place it directly on the gum spot. The vinegar will loosen the bond between the fabric and the gum. The candy will be softer and more pliable. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Use a toothbrush or knife to scrape the gum. Once the gum is hot, you need to scrape it off. Use a toothbrush (unused brush) or a blunt knife and gently scrape the gum off the fabric. If the piece is still sticky despite your best efforts to scrape it off, you can re-soak it with your chosen method.

Wash the treated clothes in the washing machine as usual. Once you’ve removed all (or most of) the gum from the garment, put the item in the washing machine and wash it normally to remove any remaining gum stains.

Use peanut butter

Spread a spoonful of peanut butter on the gum. You need to cover the entire piece of gum. Add a little more peanut butter to form a thick layer around the candy. Peanut butter is a good product because the natural oils in it work to loosen the gum. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Leave the peanut butter layer on the gum for about 60 seconds. You should only leave it on for a short time, as peanut butter can stain the fabric. Wait about 60 seconds.

Use a butter knife to scrape the gum off the fabric. If you don’t have a butter knife, you can use a thin, sharp object (a paint scraper, fingernail or nail file will do). Scrape until both the gum and peanut butter are removed, but be careful not to scrape too hard to avoid damaging the fabric.

Apply stain remover to the area you just shaved. You need to do this as soon as you scrape the gum and peanut butter off the fabric. Although peanut butter is very effective at removing gum, its oily substance can also stain fabrics. Luckily, you can handle it with bleach. Dab a little bleach on the stain, put it in the washing machine and wash as usual. ^{[6] X Research Source}

Use coconut oil

This is a great solution for removing gum from synthetic sportswear.

Pour 1 tablespoon of coconut oil into a small bowl.

Advice

You can also try other household products, but they can damage clothes while handling the gum. Products include Goo Be Gone, adhesive remover spray, rubbing alcohol, WD40 oil, and hairspray.

Steps