Gum is probably every mom’s enemy. We all love gum, especially our kids. But these delicious treats are absolutely difficult to clean once they got stuck on clothes, upholstery, carpet, and even on your hair. Sometimes, we get so frustrated with cleaning our toddler’s clothes of gum stains that we just throw the stained garment.
However, most of us don’t realize our error when removing gum stains. Oftentimes, we try to remove the gum while it is soft and gooey. This is incorrect and will just make the stain tougher to remove.
Here’s a step by step guideline on how to remove gum stains from clothes:
- Scrape the excess gum from the clothing with the use of a dull knife. If the gum is still soft, place the clothing in the freezer. Leave the garment in the freezer for at least an hour or until the gum is hard. This will harden the gum, which makes it easier to scrape off. Scrapping the gum in its soft state may grind the gum into the clothes’ fibers.
- Use a toothbrush to remove any additional residue on the garment. Then wash the fabric as you normally would. If this does not completely take out the stain, use a cleaning solvent.
- Take a white clean cloth and sponge the stain with a dry cleaning solvent or chewing gum remover. But if the stain is caused by the dye or sugar from the gum, pretreat the stain with a laundry prewash stain remover.
- Wash the garment in the hottest water the fabric can handle.
- Do not put the clothing in the dryer unless you’re sure that the stain is thoroughly removed. If the stain is persistent, repeat the steps over until the gum is removed.
In case you have accidentally washed a pack of gum with your clothes, you have to use a gum stain remover product. However, remember to use stain removers that are baby safe and non-toxic.
photo credit: The Facey Family
