Get gum out of your carpet with peanut butter
- by Francesca Clarke on Jan 7th 2008 8:00AM
- Filed under household hacks, cleaning
I was searching for ways to get peanut butter out of carpet and found these instructions claiming that peanut butter can actually be just the thing you need to get gum out of your carpet. I was just as shocked as you, but reading through the reasoning it sounds like a great solution. Scrape off as much gum as you can, then rub on some creamy peanut butter. The peanut butter will take the stick out of the gum. It should wipe away easily. Reading trough the instructions I thought "that's great, but what about my original problem of having peanut butter in the carpet?" Well, it turns out that isn't quite the problem I imagined it to be. A simple, homemade solution will wash way the peanut butter and your carpet will be as stunning as it started (or in our house, will only have the stains that existed before the gum and peanut butter).
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
1-07-2008 @ 1:11PM
Crosius said...
If you don't enjoy the prospect of getting peanut-butter out of your carpet, you can use this slightly geekier method - Canned Air.
Those cans of "air" used to blast dust off your electronics are actually full of a fluid with a very high vapour pressure. If you invert a can of this product, it will spray an icy stream of this fluid out of the nozzle. The liquid gets so cold as it evaporates that it will burn skin like dry-ice.
If you spray the wad of gum with this fluid, it will freeze as hard as a rock. You can then whack the gum (with a hammer, stapler or whatever) and it will shatter off the carpet fibres. While it's still frozen, you can easily vacuum or sweep the little bits of gum "gravel" up.
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1-07-2008 @ 1:33PM
Francesca Clarke said...
That's a great idea. Thanks!
1-12-2008 @ 6:34PM
JoAnn Melton said...
Those cans of pressure air are harmful to the environment. But there are a lot of other good suggestions here.
1-07-2008 @ 5:35PM
Anna S. said...
Thanks for the wonderful tip, Francesca. My two year old is always making a mess of the carpet, and peanut butter is no exception!
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1-07-2008 @ 8:33PM
jim said...
or.......... the same idea but with an ice cube or two.
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1-14-2008 @ 1:47AM
Zac the Hoople said...
actually have other uses for ice cubes...
1-07-2008 @ 9:05PM
mariday1 said...
Actually, all you need is Avon Skin So Soft Bath Oil. It will get gum out of the carpet and furniture and will not stain. It also is good for lots of other things, like fleas on dogs & cats, removing those stickers from picture frames and mirrors, etc.
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1-07-2008 @ 11:41PM
Michelle said...
I have heard of the avon skin so soft. I thought it was the lotion. How does the oil not leave a residue?
1-10-2008 @ 12:38PM
Francesca Clarke said...
I've tried the lotion but haven't tried the bath oil.
1-14-2008 @ 9:05PM
lashell said...
how do you use s o s oil for fleas
1-07-2008 @ 9:18PM
GLYNNA said...
ANY NEW AND GOOD SOLUTIONS ON HOW TO GET CANDLE WAX OFF CARPET? I NEED HELP!
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1-07-2008 @ 9:40PM
Sherryl said...
Yes -- I didn't believe this either, until I had a RED candle drip all over my sand colored carpet... So, thought I'd give it a try... Some people say that ice works well -- but, not if the wax is inside the carpet fibers... Here's the trick -- try this: First get those old grocery (brown paper bags) Make sure you use the side that doesn't have any writing on it from the grocery store. Heat up your iron (without the steam feature engaged) -- put the paper right over the candle wax and iron the paper. As the wax melts and gets on the paper, move the paper bag to a clean spot and continue to do the same thing. Sometimes it takes several bags to get it all up -- But, IT ALL COMES UP!!! Any wax residue that is on your iron, just wipe off with a clean terry cloth (while it's still hot) -- Good luck and I swear this works... :)
1-07-2008 @ 10:29PM
Susan DiMatteo said...
Once you have scraped off as much of the was as possible, place a paper towel over the wax area and iron it. The heat from the iron will melt the wax as the paper towel absorbs it. Repeat until the wax is all absorbed. I recently did this on a melted crayon on an upholstered car seat. Good Luck!
1-08-2008 @ 5:03PM
Francesca Clarke said...
The iron has worked for me too.
1-13-2008 @ 2:15AM
Bobby G said...
Absolutely the iron method! My roomate left a candle to melt off a hall table and make a dinner plate sized puddle of hardened red wax on the carpeting. After I yelled at him for being so careless, he assured me he could get it out. Sure enough, he pulled out an old t-shirt and the iron and working carefully and thoroughly, he got it all up! 100%! I couldn't believe it. It was a medium pile carpet too!
1-07-2008 @ 9:20PM
Lou said...
WD-40 works, too, and is not as messy.
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1-07-2008 @ 11:11PM
sue said...
you can use rubbing achol also to get gum out and grease and it's not as messey
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1-07-2008 @ 11:13PM
karen said...
Carbona Stain Devil products work really well. I've used both the ink one and also the gum one.
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1-07-2008 @ 11:14PM
karen said...
http://www.wardrobesupplies.com/store/m2_stainrem.html
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1-07-2008 @ 11:55PM
leslie dubin said...
Actually, the best thing to remove ink is hairspray! Spray a small amount on the surface, then use a clean toothbrush to remove the ink. I have used this numerous times to remove ink from my leather car seats and from leather handbags!
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