Using public transport comes with its own headaches, apart from the passenger drama, the condition of the taxi can be enough to cause a 'morning breakdown'.
Chewing gum can be enjoyable until the day you find gum stuck on your clothes. Always have a backup plan for such an 'incident'.
The old leather seats of taxis are often so worn out that you end up crossing your fingers the whole way, hoping your favourite pair of jeans won’t get torn or ruined before the journey's end.
The first thing you do as you get off the taxi is check that no permanent damage has been done to your precious jeans. “Thank goodness all is still well,” until a stranger comes up to you and says you have something stuck on your behind - bubble gum!
This can ruin your whole day, but it doesn’t mean you have to throw your jeans away.
Here are a few easy tips on how to remove gum from your clothes:
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Ice cubes - You can rub ice cubes on top of the gum until it is frozen, then simply peel it off. This may take a few hours to work, but patience will reward you in the end.
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Put the item in the freezer - The best way to do this is to place the item in a plastic bag and leave it in the fridge for few hours. Once it’s frozen enough, peel the gum off.
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Use transparent tape - When removing gum from leather items such as your leather bags, car seats or leather sofas, this tape strategy can work wonders. Simply press the tape into the gum and pull it off. You can repeat this process with a couple of strips to remove the gum entirely.
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Boil vinegar - Pour a fair amount of vinegar into a pot and boil it on the stove or you can just boil it in the microwave. Then pour the boiling vinegar over the gum to melt it.
- Newspaper and iron - This was one of my grandmother’s favourite gum removal strategies, when I had overslept with gum in my mouth and it ended up on the sheets in the morning. This strategy will work well on your darker items because the newspaper could leave prints on the item, unless you use plain white paper. Put newspaper or white paper on top of the item and iron through it until the gum sticks on the paper and peels off.
So now you can have peace of mind knowing your clothes can be taken care of by using these simple home tips to quickly remove the offending gum. - Lyndt Mavimbela
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