When it comes to carpet cleaning and gum removal, the process of removing the gum from your carpet can be quick and easy or somewhat more challenging. However, with a little knowledge and patience of how to go about it, you should have no problems removing every last trace of it.

The first step is to scrape as much of the gum away as possible. If the gum has been on your carpet for some length of time, it may have formed a hard surface scale. Otherwise, it will still be quite moist and tend to be very elastic. At any rate, it’s best to avoid a sharp knife to scrape away the surface residue. A sharp edged scraper may damage the carpet fibre. Instead, use the side of an old spoon. Also a butter knife is fine for this purpose.

After you have scraped as much of the gum as you can, carefully vacuum the pieces away and check that every scraped particle is removed. During the scraping process, it’s possible that a piece of gum might land a foot or so away and could be missed. You don’t want to encounter it a day or more afterwards when it’s re-bonded to the carpet again. So make sure all the scraped particles are completely vacuumed away.

Next, you’ll want to remove the remaining residue. Mind you, if the gum is very old and dry, chances are good that the scraping process alone will be sufficient to remove all the gum. You will easily see if this is the case. Also run your finger over the area as a final check. If the carpet doesn’t feel tacky, it’s a very good sign that the gum is gone forever and there is no need to do anything further.

Otherwise, the gum residue remaining will be somewhat sticky and must be completely removed. If it isn’t, fresh soil will quickly accumulate on the tacky surface to form an ugly dark blotch on your carpet. There are a variety of gum removal products available from your local hardware store but for most gum removal situations, WD-40 works just fine. Lightly spray the residue and using your dull edged scraper, gently scrape up the remaining residue and vacuum it away.

Next, get an old cotton terry towel or cloth. Dampen one corner with water and wring it out. Gently agitate the area working from the outside into the centre of where the gum was removed. Then change to a dry portion of your towel and gently blot over the area. Do the finger check one more time. If there is still a wee bit of a tacky area remaining, apply some more WD-40 and repeat the process.

Finally, gently brush the nap and the carpet should be fine. No trace of gum should be visible and the area should be non-tacky to the touch. Fresh soil landing on the carpet will not stick to the area and routine vacuuming will remove it just fine. Your carpet should look uniform again with no ugly gum spot to draw the eye to it anymore…..that is, until Junior drops another wad!

Richard Watters