How can you remove from a carpet what appears to be a chewing gum or sticky type substance?
By James Doougherty from Philadelphia, PA
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You might want to try icing it down with ice cubes until it's frozen and hard and then try scraping it up.
Try dabbing with peanut butter and let sit. The oil absorbs the gumminess and it usually comes right up.
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We recently bought a condo, unfortunately the people living there before us left old gum in the beige carpet. I have been trying for 6 months to clean it with little luck, any suggestions?
By Brenda Walker Hellstrand from Charlotte, NC
Freeze the spot with an ice cube, and you should be able to scrap the gum off with an old knife. (01/27/2010)
By Marjorie
There are a few stain removers that will also remove gum. Check out this video here:
how2instructions.com.
It shows a cleaner called "Winning Colours" removing gum from carpet. (01/29/2010)
By Mike
I just found a spot of gum stuck to my carpet. I don' t think it's been there long, but it's pretty stuck. How do I remove it without damaging the carpet? It's a low nap carpet so I don't have much room to cut the gum out. Thanks.
Melissa from AZ
Long ago my old boyfriend was a TV repairman. He had this can of spray stuff that would freeze TV parts instantly and sprayed it onto the gum. We then hit the frozen gum with a hammer and "presto" it broke into several pieces and no more gum.
Back when our kids were young and got gum in their hair, we'd used anything greasy like peanut butter or Vaseline, to remove it, then shampoo it out. (10/15/2008)
By Cyinda
We have a rental house and the renters left a gum horror on new carpet after moving out. I used "Citrasolv" (you can find it at natural food stores). It is a citrus based product. It may seem expensive, but it is super concentrated and is a great general cleaner. You'll find lots of uses for it, and it will save the carpet.
I wet a sponge with the "Citrasolv" and put the sponge on top of the mashed in gum. Leave it for about 15 minutes, rub it with a brush then reapply it as needed. I had to do it several times to totally get it out, but you could tell that the gum was breaking down more after each try. I would try some first on a hidden area of the carpet in case it damages the color. I had no change in the color with my carpet and it totally saved the day. (10/15/2008)
By WendeG
Find someone with one of those hand steam cleaners. They make gum soft enough to scrape up. Be careful with some greasy remover remedies they might stain the carpet. (10/19/2008)
By Cariboo Lady
I tried ice cubes on chewing gum that is on the carpet, but it still has left some pink patches.
Can anyone help me, please?
Paris from West Midlands
You might try using Goof Off to remove the gum, and then some soap and water to remove the residue from the Goof Off. If you have one of those carpet steam cleaners, that would be fabulous to use to remove the residue. (07/31/2007)
I use peanut butter or mayonnaise, they both work really well. (08/01/2007)
By Becca from Arkansas
I remember in home economics we used peanut butter. It sounds crazy, but it worked. (08/01/2007)
By gretchen
There is a product called Freeze-It Chewing Gum Remover that is in a spray can. When you spray it on chewing gum or candle wax, it freezes it for easy removal. It is manufactured by Quest Chemical Company, and is probably available at Janitorial Supplies stores.
Harlean from Arkansas (08/02/2007)
By Harlean
Peanut butter & mayo will both work, but it's the oil in these products that break down the gum. So skip right to the oil, vegetable or canola, to do the job fast and your clean up will be easier too. (08/08/2007)
By Donna Wood
Peanut butter and vinegar have both worked for me. This link had other ideas too: http://blogs.findanyfloor.com/consumer/CareAndMaintenance/RemovingChewingGumFromCarpet.xhtml (10/03/2008)
By Ken Davis
