After the rush of Halloween the kids usually come home and dump out their loot. The next step is trading the items you don’t want with a friend or sibling. Then you get to eat away! The problem is that enjoying treats isn’t a once a year occurrence. Lots of treats children (or the young at heart) eat is composed of sticky candy and gum. These items if dropped, immediately stick to the fibers of your carpet or your upholstery. If you see this happen you probably think there is no hope or may think you will need to go get the scissors and cut it out. This can leave your carpet damaged and in need of carpet repair or replacement.
Carpet Care 2000 has a set of steps that should get the sticky mess out without causing damage to your carpet or upholstery.
Make sure that you work quickly when you see the sticky mess, since the longer that it sits in the fibers and gets mashed in the harder it will be to remove. The best thing about following this gum removal option is that all the items needed are already in your home. That means no mad rush to the store before you can start. In fact, you should be able to start right away!
Gum Removal from Carpet – Step One: The first step is to head to the kitchen and open the freezer. You want to grab a handful of ice cubes and place them in a plastic zip lock baggie. Seal the bag up tightly and go place it directly on the spot. This can be on the couch or on the carpet or rugs and it will still work. The ice will freeze the candy or gum making it easier to remove from the fibers. If you skip this step you will be scraping and pulling away at the spot only to find that you just can’t get it all off.
Gum Removal from Carpet – Step Two: This step requires you to go find an object that you can use to scrape away at the offending gum or sticky candy. Take a butter knife or a plastic lid that you can get a grip on and head over to the spot. You want to be sure that the spot is in fact frozen before you begin. Once the candy or gum is frozen, remove the bag of ice and start to scrape away at the hard spot. This should enable you to remove the spot entirely. Then run the vacuum over the area to remove any loose pieces that may be left behind.
Gum Removal from Carpet – Step Three: The candy should be gone at this point but you may see some residue or color left behind. This will require you getting a wash cloth and soap and warm water to blot away at the rest of the stain. Once you have dabbed away the color, you can use a dry rag to soak up any remaining moisture and leave the spot as dry as possible.
