When gum sticks in your brand new outfit or your favorite black fabric sofa, you can get by without much hassle. The real trouble arises when it finds its way to your precious hair.
It is downright frustrating! Not only will that bring along the risk of the gum sticking to other surfaces like your clothes, those of your little ones or your head scarf but it is simply uncomfortable.
Out of being desperate, you might resort to pulling the gum, shaving the strands of hair stuck by the gum or worse still, cleaning the head full of hair altogether. These methods will only do more harm than good.
Gum is made from certain synthetic resins and rubbers that give it its chewy and sticky characteristic. The chemical bonds in gum make it hard to separate it from objects such as fabric and hair.
Rather than using your hands or scissors to rid your hair of gum, try these effective methods instead:
Peanut Butter
Peanut butter comes in handy when you want to remove gum from your hair. Both peanut butter and gum have hydrophobic properties meaning they stick to each easier than they would dry hair.
For effective results, cover the entire area containing the gum with a generous amount of the peanut butter and work it through the hair for a few minutes.
You will soon notice the gum becoming stiffer and easily detachable from your hair.
Ice
The second effective method for removing gum from your hair is freezing it. What better way to freeze the gum other than using ice cubes?
The principle is simple really; ice hardens the gum and makes it easy to break it into pieces which can be easily picked and disposed of.
To get rid of the gum, hold a piece of ice and rub it over the gum. Run it around the entire area covered in gum and wait for approximately 10-15 minutes.
Once you notice the gum has become hard, use your hands to break it off into pieces and take the pieces out into the disposal bin.
Cooking oil
Cooking oil is another great ingredient that you can use to get rid of gum from your hair. The American Academy of Dermatology actually claims that oil is useful when removing gum from eyelashes and eyebrows.
Certain substances in the oil reduce the stickiness of the gum and break it down so it can be easily removed without damage to the hair.
Apply coconut, canola or olive oil on the gum area. Using your fingers, comb the hair to remove the gum from your hair.
Vinegar
Vinegar is yet another effective solution for removing gum from hair. It breaks down the chemical bond between your hair and the gum.
Begin by saturating the gum area with vinegar. You can do this by using a cloth soaked in vinegar or actually dipping your hair in vinegar.
Let it soak for some minutes. The longer you let the gum soak in vinegar, the easier it will be to remove it. As the gum begins to soften, comb your hair out gently using a wide-tooth comb.
Conclusion
There are a few more natural solutions for removing gum from hair but these are our absolute favorites. The next time your toddler sticks gum on his cute hair, you know what to do.