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A circumstance rather sticky
Unfolded and made things icky.
This ungainly sight
Of chewing gum white,
Uprooting it seems quite tricky!

How can I pull it out causing as little damage to the carpet as possible?

crime scene

Zaid
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5 Answers5

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Ahh.. The Horror of chewing gum on the carpet.

The best way by far is to use ICE or any cooling substance like liquid nitrogen if you are a geek but mainly ICE.

  1. Fill a bag with ice cubes and rub over the gum till its like a semi-solid blob.
  2. Use a spatula or something similar like a spoon to scrape off the gum.
  3. You will for sure end up with a residue which is even worse. You will not believe this but a spray of WD-40 will actually help you scrap off the thing from the carpet clean.

Note: I one time used oil to remove the gum which actually worked but then it was a pain to get rid of the residual oil which is not necessarily a bad thing but looks odd on the carpet.

Edit: almost forgot, you can use deodorant to insta cool the residue which will also help, it is a ghetto method but works.

Shobin P
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  • It's fairly solid as it is, and deeply entrenched in the carpet fibers. I'll post an image after work. – Zaid Nov 14 '16 at 12:40
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    @Zaid The ICE method works 100% unless your carpet is made out of some exotic material which is very delicate , in that case you have to use Oil-based solution. – Shobin P Nov 14 '16 at 12:42
  • @Zaid As an 'oil-based solution' i have used peanutbutter once(you read that right) to remove PUR foam from a carpet, and it worked great. Easy and cheap to acquire, and in no way toxic or harmful. Got the tip from my grandfather. – Bart Nov 14 '16 at 16:42
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    Why would anyone be surprised with what WD-40 can do? XD – Mindwin Remember Monica Nov 14 '16 at 18:16
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    Instead of using deodorant, use the air dusters you can buy from PC stores. In fact, if you turn the can upside down so that it sprays out the liquid rather than the gas that has evaporated in the can, the evaporative cooling effect from the liquid evaporating can rapidly cool what it is sprayed on to to as low as -30c. – James T Nov 15 '16 at 15:02
  • @JamesTrotter Inverting the can idea seems interesting.. Good Point.. – Shobin P Nov 15 '16 at 15:40
  • @ShobinP I've seen it done before on compression fit metal parts, heat the outer ring so it expands, spray the inner ring so that it shrinks, put the two together and wait for the temperature to stabilise back out. You can get it crazy cold with a couple of cans of the stuff. – James T Nov 15 '16 at 15:53
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Along the lines of what @ShobinP stated, but a little different mind set, you can alternatively use compressed air to chill the gum until it's brittle. Turn the can upside down and spray the gum with the little red nozzle in place directly at the gum. This will instantly freeze the gum. Ensure it is solid, then break up the offending stickiness with something hard to cause it to shatter. You should then be able to vacuum most of it up without too much issue. If you have to, hit it again with the compressed air to break it up further.

Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2
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4

The classic method of removing chewing gum from fabric is to cover it with peanut butter. The oil in the peanut butter dissolves the gum and now you are left with the easier problem of removing the peanut butter.

Any food oil should work, but peanut butter has the advantage of not dripping.

arp
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I opt for a good lubricant. PL-100 and even silicone lubricant have both served me a couple times for this kind of job.

To get the worst of it off, you can heat the gum with a hair-dryer until it begins to melt. If your carpet is synthetic, be careful not to melt it! Then take a plastic bag and scoop it up. The slightly melted gum should stick to the bag.

Once you have the worst of it off, soak the remaining stain with the lubricant. Then take a fingernail brush and scrub the stain - always in the same direction.

Use a sponge with some water in it to help soak up the degreaser and gum. Continue until the stain disappears.

anonymous2
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While I haven't had the problem on carpet, I've had a lot of success removing chewing gum from fabric using warm vinegar.

Just heat the vinegar up in the microwave, then dip a paper towel in and wipe up the gum.

Kevin Rubin
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