The sight of chewing gum on your clothes is an immediate stress trigger, but it doesn’t have to mean the end for your garment. Whether you’ve sat down somewhere and gotten an unpleasant surprise, or your child has returned from school with gum stuck to their uniform, there are different approaches that can be taken in order to remove chewing gum from clothes.
Don’t panic – there are many effective ways to rid your clothes of gum. A high performance detergent like Breeze is a great place to start – it’s specially formulated to help shift stubborn stains.
How to Remove a Gum Stain With the Freezing Method
The easiest and most commonly suggested method for removing chewing gum from clothes is freezing. This can be done from the comfort of your own home and, most importantly, is fabric friendly, leaving no trace of chewing gum upon completion.
Here’s our 10-step freezing method for gum stain removal:
- 1
Take the clothing item and place in a freezer bag, making sure that the chewing gum doesn’t stick to the bag. This method can be applied to all fabrics.
- 2
Seal the bag correctly.
- 3
Place the garment in your freezer.
- 4
Leave the bag in the freezer for a minimum of two hours.
- 5
Remove the bag from the freezer.
- 6
Take your garment from the freezer bag and place it on a sturdy surface.
- 7
Peel the chewing gum off the clothing as soon as possible to prevent the chewing gum from warming up and reattaching to the fabric.
- 8
If you are unable to remove the chewing gum with your fingernails, apply a blunt knife or another blunt object as this will remove chewing gum from your clothes without damaging the fabric – as always, be careful when using potentially dangerous items and angle knives away from you.
- 9
The chewing gum should peel off smoothly and without any force. If traces remain, hand wash the item or place in the washing machine for a final rinse.
How To Remove a Gum Stain Without Freezing Clothes
Freezing is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to gum stain removal on clothes. There are many other options that can help you get rid of chewing gum without causing any damage to the material. Below are four suggested techniques and products that can be used.
Make sure that all garments are washed after applying the following techniques, and that all products are tested on a small piece of fabric first.
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Lemon juice. Lemon juice works wonders when trying to remove chewing gum from clothes, is extremely cheap, and causes no damage to fabric. All you have to do is soak the garment in lemon juice and scrape the gum off with a blunt edge. It is recommended, however, that you wash the garment as soon as possible after applying lemon juice.
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Hairspray. Removing chewing gum from clothes is simple with this cheap method. Apply the hair spray directly onto the chewing gum and it will harden. Then just scrape the chewing gum off.
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Vinegar. Soak the garment in hot vinegar, then brush or scrape the gum off gently with a blunt tool to avoid damaging the fabric.
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Mayonnaise. Pour this household condiment onto the chewing gum and work in slowly. The gum should then peel off smoothly.
These tips should leave you with fresh clothes and a smile on your face – just give them a try!
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Freezing is a favourite technique for resolving gum accidents
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Lemon juice, hairspray, and vinegar are just some of the alternative remedies
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You should be able to remove gum from just about any fabric
Do you want to learn which household cleaning tasks cause the most stress? Then read our Heated Household data analysis.