Chewing Gum Removal
When chewing gum sticks to fabrics it is actually quite easy to remove. All you have to do is freeze the material to harden the gum. This doesn’t mean you have to place your clothing in the freezer. Holding an ice cube against the area of the gum will do just fine. Once the gum has hardened, use a scraping tool to gently scrape the gum and lift it off the material.
You can also use cleaning fluid to take gum out of a fabric. Apply the dry spotter to the stain and use a dampened cloth to cover the area. Let this stand until the stain is removed completely. As the pad picks up the gum, replace it with a clean pad and make sure you always keep both the pad and the stained area moist.
If you find that you have chewing gum stuck to a vinyl or plastic surface, the freezing technique will work well. Once you scrape it off, wash the area in warm soapy water until all traces of the gum are gone. Then you can rinse the area and dry off the material.
Children often drop gum on the floor and you don’t even realize it’s there until its hardened or walked in. The freezing method works well for taking gum off any kind of flooring.
For chewing gum that has stuck to felt, you have to be extremely careful because removing the gum could remove some of the felt as well. Freeze the felt and brush the gum off with a toothbrush. This should remove any excess pieces of the gum from the surface. If the gum is really ground in, you can use a razor blade to scrape it from the felt, but you have to be careful that you don’t cut the material.
To remove chewing gum from leather, gently scrape off any excess gum that you see. Then using a mild soap in warm water, scrub the area gently to remove all traces of the gum. Dry with a clean cloth. Once you have all the gum removed and the leather is dry, you will have to treat it with a leather conditioner.