Chewing gum

In detail

Gum is a synthetic elastomer — a polymer chosen to stay cohesive and stick to things — so it is not dissolved by detergent and not lifted by blotting. The universally repeated household answer is to harden it with ice and chip it off, and that is worth examining because the trade body that publishes a per-stain procedure for carpet does not say it. Its entry begins with breaking up solids and vacuuming, then a non-flammable spot removal solution or dry-cleaning type solvent applied to a cloth, with a dry absorbent cleaning compound offered as a substitute to reduce drying time. Freezing, ice and chilling appear nowhere in it. That is not the same as the ice method being wrong; embrittling a polymer below its glass transition is real, and no authoritative source assesses the technique either way. It is a statement about what is actually evidenced. What the entry does carry is the constraint the ice advice never mentions: solvent must not be poured on the carpet or allowed to reach the backing, because it damages the latex bonding the two backings together.

What works

• Freezing is effective against Chewing gum Established practitioner practice

  Chilling makes the deposit brittle so it breaks off. Warming it does the opposite and spreads it.

Why

• Chewing gum is explained by Adhesion and cohesion

Hacks and claims involving this

• Freezing chewing gum off with ice Unresolved