How to Remove Gum from Carpet

It's amazing how a piece of gum can find its way from a child's pocket or the edge of a sandwich plate and onto the carpet, where it often ends up being mashed in by traveling feet, before anyone notices.

Getting it out isn't all that difficult though, and uses some of those all important tools for removing other household accidents: the ice cube and the hair dryer! For the initial removal, you can either freeze the gum hard by applying ice cubes for 15-20 minutes and then breaking off as much as possible, or you can heat it just enough to be nicely pliable, and pull it from the carpet with the help of a plastic bag. The gum will adhere to the plastic and be pulled up with it, but be ready to catch any strings that break away in the process.

Once you have cleaned out the bulk of the gum, you can use a commercial preparation such as Goo Gone to get out the rest. Apply a small amount and rub in with an old butter knife or spoon. Solutions like this tend to break the gum up into tiny pieces or crumbs that can then be picked out and vacuumed up.

An alternative method is to use one of the muscle pain treatments like Ben-Gay, which contain methyl salicylate. Rub a small dab on the gum, and then use a cloth or plastic bag to pull it out, as you did when heating the first mass of the gum.

Whatever you use to remove the gum, the area of the carpet should be washed immediately. Try a little dish detergent in a cup of warm water. Rinse the area, then pat dry.

Of course, if you were planning on cleaning the carpet anyway, a steam cleaner works just great.