Step By Step Gum Removal DirectionIf you have children living in your home, it is likely that you have found chewing gum stuck in places it shouldn’t be, including your carpeting. It can be quite a task getting gum removed from your carpets. The longer you wait to get it out, the harder the gum gets, making it even more difficult to remove it. There are some ways that can help you with gum removal from your carpet that we will discuss. If you don’t remove the gum as soon as you find it, odds are it will be stepped on and go deeper into your carpeting, so you will want to get it out as soon as possible and not wait. Never try to pull the gum out of the carpet, though. Doing so can harm the carpet fibers and cause you more problems than you started with. Try the step below and you may be able to get your carpeting looking like it did before the gum was dropped onto your carpets. Each method work differently in different situations, so if one doesn’t work well, try the next one until you find what works for your situation.
Your first step in gum removal is freezing it. It is also one of the easiest ways to try. Get a baggie and put ice in it. But the baggie on the gum and let it sit for about thirty minutes. After the gum is hard and frozen, use a dull knife or your fingertips to try and pry the gum up. When gum is cold, it becomes brittle and less sticky, allowing you to pry it out of the carpet more easily. Be careful, though. Avoid lifting the carpet fibers with this technique. If the fibers start to pull up with the gum, use your fingers to hold down the fibers while you work on pulling the gum up. This will help you avoid removing the fibers from their backing. This method works best when the gum is brittle and breaks into chunks. After the bulk of the gum is up, you may have a little bit of sticky residue left. Use a little bit of liquid soap on this area and blot the carpet to remove the sticky mess. Never scrub the carpet, though, since this can cause fraying. Be sure to get all the soap out of the carpet before you finish. Otherwise, the soap residue will attract dirt. Sometimes you may find that using the freezing method or the heating method to remove gum from your carpets does not work as well as you want it to. When this is the case, you may want to consider using a solvent instead. You can find a type of goo/gum removing solvent at most department stores or supermarkets. You will want to read all directions carefully to ensure that the solvent can be used on your carpets safely. Once you have determined it is safe, apply a small amount of the solvent to your carpet and gently work it in with a soft brush. The solvent will cause the gum to soften and dissolve. As this happens, blot or vacuum over the area to pick it up. Repeat as often as needed, being cautious not to hurt the carpet fibers located under the gum in the process. The solvent will help to break down the properties of the gum but, if left on the carpet too long or agitated too much, the fibers in your carpet will start to break down as well. Be gentle and quick working on your carpet with the solvent, then was the area well when you are done with plenty of water and clean rags. If you have a good wet/dry vacuum, this can be a big help in extracting the gum from your carpet. Once the solvent is working, use this vacuum to suck up the dissolved gum and then the remaining solvent and water during the cleanup process. Regardless of the method you use to remove gum from your carpet, you will likely have some gum residue that is left in your carpet. You can remove this residue with muscle pain reliever or wd-40. These items will help to lubricate the gum, releasing the residue from the carpet. After using one of these, apply a little soap on the area and warm water, then flush and blot the area until it is completely clean. Before using any method to remove gum, make sure you test a small section of carpet to ensure it will not stain or bleach your carpet. This is best done in an area that is typically out of sight. If you have gum that you can’t seem to remove on your own, you may want to call us at Carpet Cleaning Nurse's Touch to help you with your problem. As professional carpet cleaners, they will have the products needed to solve your issue. |
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