Bubble gum gets stuck in hair, clothes and tracked in on shoes when you have kids. If you have chewy, stringy, sticky bubble gum in your carpet, here’s what to do.
Today on Ask a House Cleaner, Angela Brown, The House Cleaning Guru taps into bubble gum removal tips from a daycare provider.
Cut it out as a last resort, but try first peanut butter. House Cleaner Training approved technique.
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Listen: How to Get Bubble Gum Out of Carpet and Hair
Watch: How to Get Bubble Gum Out of Carpet and Hair
Hey there, I’m Angela Brown, and this is Ask a House Cleaner. This is a show where you get to ask a house cleaning question, and I get to help you find an answer.
How to Get Bubble Gum Out of Carpet and Hair
We don’t have a question today, but a tip! This great tip comes from a daycare service provider who has been in business for 25 years. She’s dealt with all kinds of kids of all ages.
One of the major issues that she has dealt with over the years is bubble gum! Bubble gum being stuck on furniture, stuck on carpets, stuck in your hair and clothes.
She says, “The best way to get bubble gum out is with creamy peanut butter.”
Answer: How to Get Bubble Gum Out of Carpet and Hair
What? Peanut butter in your carpet?
Here’s how it works. The oils in the peanut butter will break down the plastic that’s inside the gum. This is the rubbery thing that allows the gum to hold its consistency.
Won’t the Peanut Butter Leave a Stain?
My question to her was, “But if you put peanut butter in your carpet, isn’t that going to leave a stain?”
And she said, “Yes, but it’s peanut stain. And because it’s peanut, they are peanut oils and they wash right out with soap and water.”
How to Get Bubble Gum out of Carpet
Take about a half a teaspoon of peanut butter, and put it right in the gum in the carpet fibers. Don’t spread it around. You don’t want to spread it any bigger than you have to, or this will turn into your worst housekeeping chore.
So, mix it on the gum, and twist it, and keep smashing it in there. And as you work that in there, leave it for a couple of minutes.
It’s going to break down all that rubbery content that’s inside the gum.
Use a White Paper Towel
As the gum breaks down, take a white paper towel and blot it up. Do not use a pattern paper towel, because the color will bleed onto your carpet. And it will change the color of the carpet fibers.
And then dab the peanut butter and the gum out of the carpet. Once all the peanut butter and gum is out of the carpet, you can deal with the peanut stain.
Warm Rag and Dish Soap
Take a hot wet warm rag, with a little bit of dish soap on it. And just wipe that area and blot it out.
You don’t want to scrub it, because if you scrub it, then that’s also can ruin the carpet fibers. And so, you just want to blot it out.
As you use the soap and the hot water, that will bring the oils of the peanut out of the carpet. So, the peanut butter will then come out of the carpet, and so will your gum.
Then she says just let it dry. And brush the carpet back over, just kind of like ruffle it up, and your carpet will look as good as new. There are other ways to get gum out of carpet but she swears by this method.
How to Get Bubble Gum out of Hair
Now the same rule applies if a kid has gum in their hair. You don’t want to cut their hair off because then you have weird lengths of hair. But if a kid gets gum in their hair, use peanut butter.
Grab a little bit of peanut butter and spin it inside that hair, twist it, mash it, mush it, work it in.
Remove Peanut Butter and Bubble Gum
And let it wait for a couple of minutes until the oils in that break down the latex that’s inside the gum. And then go ahead and just pull it out.
As you pull it out, it’s going to leave a little bit of oil inside the hair. And so again, use a drop or two of dish soap. Put some on the strands of hair, then take a hot wet rag and wipe it out.
When the hair dries, it will be as good as new. The gum will be out, and you did not have to cut the child’s hair.
Thank You for the Tip!
Thank you, Janet Mackley for this great tip! So, if you get bubble gum in your hair or in your carpet, use creamy peanut butter.
This is most likely something that all parents are going to deal with at some point. And also, daycare service providers.
So, thank you much for that tip, and until we meet again, leave the world a cleaner place than when you found it.
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Resources For This Episode
Simply Clean: The Proven Method for Keeping Your Home Organized, Clean, and Beautiful in Just 10 Minutes a Day – http://amzn.to/2AZ1wgf
How to Clean Your Room in 10 Easy Steps – http://amzn.to/2BKGsqD
Adulting: How to Become a Grown-up in 468 Easy(ish) Steps – http://amzn.to/2BJF0Vx
Get Your House Clean Now: The Home Cleaning Method Anyone Can Master – http://amzn.to/2j2QTCc
Organizing: How To Clean and Organize Your House – The Ultimate DIY House Hack Guide for: Speed Cleaning, Decluttering, Organizing: Learn How to Save Money – http://amzn.to/2nFLcvp
CHAOS to Clean: in 31 Easy Baby Steps – http://amzn.to/2BTn3Vh
30 Days to a Clean and Organized House: A complete guide to transforming your home – http://amzn.to/2j1rN6N
Get Bubble Gum Out of Clothes – http://bit.ly/2A3a9Te
How to Get Gum Out of Clothes – http://bit.ly/2ADT5EB
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