How to clean Bubble Gum off of your carpet

How many times in your life have you suffered through the unfortunate crisis of dealing with rogue used bubble gum?  Bubble gum is all fun and games while you are chewing away without a care in the world.  The real problem begins when the flavor runs out and so does your desire to keep the gum in your mouth.  There are only a couple of options with which you are no able to deal with the situation including expulsion from your oral cavity.

One of the unfortunate fates befalling a flavorless piece of gum is to be carelessly discarded.  That piece of bubble gum can then become the bane of another person’s existence if it attaches itself to clothing or indoor flooring.  Essentially the gum goes from being welcomed out of the wrapper and into someone’s mouth with great fervor to being hated and cursed without a chance of redemption.

Sometimes the bubble suffers through that emotional cycle with one person.  This author has fallen asleep with gum in his mouth and woken up with said gum carefully clinging to an article of clothing.  Yet even through these tragic events we continue to keep chewing through massive amounts of gum every year.  Why is that one might ask?  The answer is that we have learned how to clean up after these unwanted attachments have been formed.

The following step-by-step directions will lead you through cleaning gum up from your carpet.  Enjoy and safe chewing!

1. Scrape away as much of the gum as you can using a spatula or spoon (to protect carpet fibers).
2. Vacuum or brush away loose pieces.
3. Rub the remaining gum with a plastic bag filled with ice until the gum is frozen.
4. Chip away the frozen gum fragments using a spatula or spoon.
5. Dissolve any final traces of the stuff by dabbing with a small amount of dry-cleaning fluid. Blot.
6. Blot on a detergent solution of 1/4 tsp. mild dish washing liquid and 1 cup (8 fl oz/250 ml) warm water.
7. Rinse thoroughly!