How to Remove Chewing Gum from Clothes?

clean your clothes

Being as sticky as it is, chewing gum easily adheres to fabrics and materials, and can be a huge problem when it comes to laundering your clothes.

Sometimes, gum can end up on your clothes without you even noticing. For example, strangers can leave their chewing gum on desk surfaces, chairs, and other places that you might encounter. 

Clothes cleaning services usually know the tips on how to handle these situations. We will share several tips with you, so that next time you are more confident when chewing gum sticks to your clothes.

 

  • Freeze the gum off and heat it up
    Before looking for “best clothes cleaners near me” on the internet, try rubbing the affected area with an ice cube. Once it’s hardened, remove it swiftly with a butter knife or scraper. You can also pop the clothing in your freezer in a plastic bag for a couple of hours until the gum hardens. Just be careful that you don’t put the clothing into the freezer with the gum faced down.
    Heat and hot liquids can also be applied to remove gum from your clothing. You can use a hairdryer to warm the gum. When the gum starts heating up and melting, it could get messy, so work carefully and use an old toothbrush to scrape the gum off as you go. 
  • Use iron
    Many professional clothes cleaners use this technique. To ensure that the gum on your clothing doesn’t get stuck on your ironing board, put a piece of cardboard in between the two before you start. Use light to medium heat when ironing, as you don’t want to run the risk of melting the gum and creating an even stickier mess. The goal of the ironing is to get the gum to stick to the cardboard instead of your fabric. It should do so eventually, so continue pressing on until you notice the gum has softened and stuck to your cardboard. 
  • Use coconut oil
    Do you like coconut? And what about its oil? Coconut oil has recently been used for a variety of ailments and as a treatment for our hair and skin. It’s a great moisturizer and can do wonders for our health. But did you know that coconut oil can also help to remove unwanted gum from clothing? You’ll want to heat the coconut oil for a few seconds and then dip the affected area into the oil and work it in so that the oil saturates the stain and dissolves the gum.

 

Here at Hollywood Dry Cleaners, we have years of experience in clothes cleaning services. In case you have this problem, you can always rely on us!