There are few food stains that are as stubborn as chewing gum. Here’s how I got my daughter’s neon blue gum off my favorite skirt.
After a recent trip to the pizza store, I gave my daughter a handful of quarters to buy gumballs for all the cousins. One of those neon blue gumballs came back to haunt me… on my favorite skirt.
Yes, I know, the long terms solution would be to skip the gum. But in the meantime, I had to get my skirt clean. I started off by scraping whatever I could, but there was still a large stain left. I was hesitant to wash it or send it to the cleaners, for fear of the stain setting in.
My quick research produced a few solutions:
- Freeze the gum. My friend said that this trick works well, that after freezing the item, the gum would “crack off.” After a long stint in my freezer, my skirt was still stained. It didn’t work.
- Peanut Butter: Another friend recommended peanut butter. It could be that it would have worked like a charm. But I was hesitant to smear peanut butter on my favorite skirt.
- Next, the original solution: We put a bit of Goo-Gone on a clean sponge and scrubbed the stain vigorously. And it worked! The skirt looks perfect!
*Please note that this anecdotally worked for my skirt. I was hesitant to do a mass experiment in my closet (though I am certain that my children would happily chew the needed gumballs). Please don’t try this at home until you test on an inconspicuous corner of the garment.
Read Sarah’s other posts on Between Carpools here.
I had a similar experience on my go to party dress. The only thing that worked for me was toothpaste! I smeared a bit and scrubbed it with an old toothbrush and the gum dissolved in my fingertips! I read online that it’s because the toothpaste breaks down the sugars in the gum similarly to how it does to those in your teeth…..and it scares me less than peanut butter 🙂
Anyone know how to remove a peanut butter stain?
toothpaste worked for me though it may have been just the elbow grease i used – it was a pair of jeans so I wasn’t scared of rubbing hard or using a rough sponge.