How to Remove Gum Stains

Everybody who's had to keep their homes clean know how annoying chewing gum can be on carpets. Mothers are especially privy to this problem and it's not a surprise that they are. Children are naturally inclined to be such chewers and careless disposers of gums. Sometimes, these sweets end up under chairs, on tables and practically everywhere. But when they end up on carpets, that's when they can be really nasty.

While chewing gum can be one of the most difficult things to remove from a carpet, it usually gets easy if you know the little tricks and strategies you can try. One of these is using your ever reliable hair dryer. It works by heating the gum, although you'd like to watch that heat. Too much of it can burn that particular stained portion of your carpet and that would spell more trouble. Another trick is to get a good grip of the still soft part of the chewing gum using a plastic wrapper where it can stick and it's easier for you to pull it. While this can take a bit more time, it usually delivers for most types of gums.

There's yet another strategy around that gum on your carpet and you'll find this quite interesting. If you thought your liniment only worked to soothe your muscles, think again. They can be your best tools against gum. That's because an ingredient it contains, methyl slicylate, somehow reacts chemically with the gum which then allows it to detach from a surface pretty much on its own. You simply need to “assist” it by using your good old reliable plastic wrap to pull the gum. You may not get all of it at once but you can always take it off a little at a time until everything is gone. That particular spot on the carpet which you soaked with the liniment could be cleaned using detergent and warm water. You'll want to rinse off those suds, though, and be sure to blot-dry that particular area. If you leave the detergent to dry without being rinsed off, it's going to make the carpet fibers stiff and you won't be very happy with the results.

There are actually different types of gums available and since they have a mixture of many different ingredients, some of them will probably be harder to remove than the others. There are those wholesale retro sweets varieties which you could get from a wholesale retro sweet shop. There are also the newer brands which you could get from Walmart or any department store. If there's one particular type of gum that's been stuck on your carpet for days, you can ask your child what gum that was and look it up on the Internet. You'll surely find tips on how to remove that clingier-than-usual gum off those fibers.

As a mother, you probably loved gums as well when you were that little girl. You could probably even remember trooping down to that candy store with jars and jars of those old-fashioned sweets you so adored. Don't worry, you can get wholesale retro sweets yourself if you're feeling a little nostalgic. And then perhaps, you can extend a little patience to your kid when he says he accidentally dropped that gum on your carpet. Maybe he did.