12 Tricks to Get Gum Out of Your Hair
Accidents happen more often than you might think. After all, who hasn’t gotten gum in their hair at some point? However, going to the hairdresser and getting it cut should be your last option. Before doing this, try these tricks to get gum out of your hair!
How to get gum out of your hair
Children love to blow bubble gum bubbles. The bigger, the better! However, this can lead to accidents because they can get stuck to their hair (or yours) once they pop. Below, we’ll share some tricks to get gum out without damaging your hair or cutting it.
1. Separate the affected strand
The first step is to separate the affected strands from the rest. Use a scrunchie, a piece of aluminum foil, or whatever you have on hand to make sure it doesn’t spread to other areas.
2. Use ice to get gum out of your hair
This trick is as simple as it is practical. Freeze the gum with ice. You need to keep the ice on the gum for several minutes to achieve this. Just keep at it until the gum hardens.
Then, remove it piece by piece with your fingers.
3. Apply olive oil
- Firstly, wet your hair with olive oil (you can use another cooking oil as well) until it’s completely soaked. The oil’s oiliness will help the gum slide down the strands of your hair.
- After that, use a fine-tooth comb to remove it little by little.
- Finally, wash your hair to remove traces of olive oil.
Read on to learn more: 6 Ways to Use Olive Oil for Your Hair
4. Petroleum jelly
Just like olive oil, petroleum jelly is a lubricant that can help detach gum from your hair little by little. First, coat your hair with petroleum jelly. Then, leave it on for a few minutes. Finally, remove the chewing gum very slowly to avoid accidentally pulling your hair.
5. Toothpaste
Although you may have never thought about it before, toothpaste can help you remove gum from your hair. Its creaminess may be exactly what you need to loosen the gum and gently remove it.
6. Combing cream
We already discussed the usefulness of lubricants to help get this sticky substance out of your hair. In this case, we suggest you use a combing cream. To apply it, simply follow the same steps as with olive oil or petroleum jelly.
7. Hair silicone
If you have hair silicone at home, don’t hesitate to use it to try to solve this problem. This is because it’s a strong lubricant that could help you get gum out of your hair. If you opt for it, follow the same steps as point three.
8. Get gum out with alcohol
Although this is a very common trick, it’s a little less effective than the previous ones. We recommend trying it as a last resort since alcohol can dry your hair out a lot.
The treatment is similar to the previous trick. Simply soak the affected strands with alcohol. Then, leave it on for a couple of minutes and remove it little by little.
9. White vinegar
In this case, the idea isn’t to remove the gum but to dissolve it. To do this, soak the affected strand with white vinegar, leave it on for a couple of minutes, and remove the gum with your fingers little by little.
If you don’t get all of it out, repeat the procedure. Wash your hair after you finish.
This article may interest you: Apple Cider Vinegar As a Natural Conditioner to Strengthen Hair
10. Lemon juice to remove gum from your hair
Lemon is another natural solvent that can help you. For starters, squeeze a lemon and use the juice in the same way as the white vinegar. It should dissolve slowly, allowing you to remove it from your hair.
11. Mayonnaise
Another fairly common trick to remove gum from your hair is to put some mayonnaise on it. This is because mayonnaise is considered a solvent and should act in the same way as the two substances we described in the previous points.
12. Baking soda
We’ve talked countless times about the benefits of baking soda in household cleaning. In this case, we suggest mixing two tablespoons of baking soda in half a glass of water and applying it to your hair to slowly dissolve the gum. Repeat as many times as necessary.
In short, although getting gum out of your hair may seem like an impossible mission, as you can see, you can try many tricks before going to your hairdresser. We hope they allow you to solve this problem without the need to cut your hair!
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- MedlinePlus. Bicarbonato de sodio. https://medlineplus.gov/spanish/druginfo/meds/a682001-es.html
- Limpieza, P. D. E. (2012). Limpieza y desinfección Cap.7. Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-84-458-1898-5.50007-9
- Casanova, V. (2011). Métodos de limpieza , desinfección y esterilización.