how to get gum off shoes?

Footwear is an integral part of a person’s wardrobe. While it is essential to make sure you have quality shoes, it is equally important to ensure that they are maintained in good condition. Keeping your shoes clean and well maintained is important, but what if you step on gum while wearing your favorite pair of sneakers? This article will help you know how to get gum off shoes? The first instinct that may come into your mind is to reach for a paper towel and try to scrape the gum off your best shoes as quickly as possible. Getting gum stuck on your shoes can be a frustrating experience, but there are several different home remedies you can use to remove the sticky mess. If you’ve ever had the experience of getting gum stuck to your shoe, you will know that it can be a real pain. Even if you scrape it off and get rid of most of the residue, there is still enough left over for people to notice and start asking questions about how it got there.

This information gives how professionals have tested how to remove gum from shoes without damaging them. Specifically, some different techniques will allow you to remove the gum from your boots. Generally, you can try scraping off as much as possible with a knife or other hard surface before wiping down the rest with soap and water. If all else fails, there are products designed specifically for removing gum from boots. Simply having patience with the chewing gum will allow for enough of it to be removed naturally that you won’t have any issues on your hands when trying to get rid of the residue of gum.

Here are some tips that will hopefully work to get gum off shoes.

Peanut Butter Rubbing

Peanut butter lifts gum off from the surfaces. It is simply a matter of smearing the peanut butter onto the gum and letting it work for several minutes, allowing the oils in the peanut butter to dissolve and break down the adhesive that holds on both pieces together. Once enough time has passed, the gum will wipe clean.

Using Ice Packs

Use ice cubes or an ice pack to freeze the gum away from your shoes. This method is effective because the coldness of ice helps freeze and solidify gum. With a steady hand, start scraping off as much as you can with your fingernail or plastic card. If there’s any remaining residue after this process, grab an eraser and rub it on top of where the gum was until it comes off.

Using Cooking Oil

A small amount of cooking oil to help release the gum is another method that will work well. Applying it with an old toothbrush and letting it work for up to 15 minutes may be worth looking into as long as you don’t mind getting your fingers dirty.

Using Hair Dryer

Another quick and efficient way of getting gum off shoes is using a hairdryer and blasting it onto the stuck-on gum for about 20 seconds or so. It helps melt the hardened substance, making it easier to wipe away with a paper towel than ever.

Ironing

If you don’t have access to a hairdryer, you can also try using an iron. Just make sure to keep the heat on medium-low because high heat may damage your shoes even more. Once you’ve gotten as much of the gum off as possible by one of these two methods, grab some soft cloth or paper towel and wipe away any remaining residue.

Applying water-displacing spray

This is a quick and easy way to remove gum from shoes. One of the best water-displacing sprays is WD-40. You can use it for removing gum. Let it work there for about 30 seconds. Scrape off with a plastic card or butter knife. The gum should come right up. Just spray a small amount of WD-40 onto the gum and let the magic happen.

Using Olive Oil

Olive oil to absorb excess oil. You can apply it to the gum piece. Leave the olive oil on for about thirty minutes. This trick is handy if you find yourself with an olive-oily shoe after cooking, but it can also be used for other sticky substances like honey. Note that the steps below assume your boots are made of leather. If your boots are made entirely of different materials, you can still use this trick to remove the sticky substance; however, it may take a bit longer for the olive oil to soak through and do its work.

Rubbing Alcohol

Rubbing alcohol to dissolve the gum is another helpful method. Suppose you need something a bit more potent than just plain old water to get rid of your sticky problem. Apply alcohol onto the gum piece and allow it to sit for a few minutes. After a few minutes, take a clean rag and wipe away the alcohol residue from your boots. The gum should come with it! If not, repeat it again and again until you have successfully removed all of the gum from your boots.

Get gum off suede shoes

When you drop a piece of gum on your suede or work boots, it can be a real pain to get them clean again. Suede is a lot more delicate than other leather types, so when something like chewing gum gets stuck in the material, it becomes challenging to remove without causing any damage. The following steps will show you how to remove gum from suede boots without leaving any marks behind.

1. Use a spoon to help lift as much of the gum off as possible. If there is still some left, soak it with water until saturated, and then use clean fingers or tongs to rub away what remains.

2. If the area is still wet, use a blow dryer to make it completely dry before continuing.

3. Do not attempt to wipe away any gum residue with a cloth or paper towel, as this will only smear and spread what remains across your boots. The more you clean the boot in one go, the harder it becomes because the gum will stick to the material and spread across it.

Final Words

We have mentioned a few simple household items to remove gum from shoes, and now you have the answer of how to get gum off shoes? For best results, use the following method to get rid of pesky chewing gum on your favorite pair of boots. First, try peanut butter. Dab some onto the offending sticky glob and let it sit for a few minutes before wiping off. If that doesn’t work, pick some WD-40. Spray liberally over the area, then wait about half an hour before rubbing in circles until all traces are gone. 

Finally, try ice cubes instead if you want something less messy than gooey peanut butter and oily WD-40. Put them into a plastic baggie and tightly seal, so they don’t melt. Now rub away at those stubborn pieces of gum until they dissolve. Whatever you want to try, just keep in mind that do not rub harshly or apply too much quantity of the substance to avoid any mishap.

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