Whether it's a 5,000 year old piece of gum made of brick bark tar or a wad of synthetic materials combined with flavorings and glycerin used in today's gum, it is still a sticky product that wreaks havoc when not disposed of correctly. 

Gum Category

Most stains fall into easy to organize categories that have specific cleaning solutions that effectively pull the stain from the carpet.  As an example, wine is a tannin that requires detergent and is adversely affected by soap.  Stains with an oil base, such as mayonnaise require a solvent with a de-greaser.

Gum is unique to other carpet stains and requires special treatment.

Carpet Gum Removal Methods

If you have gum stuck in your carpet, you have a few options to attempt before cutting into the pile. Unlike many other stain solutions, embedded gum does not require immediate blotting of the spot.  Hardening the soft sticky substance to a frozen state generally does the trick. 

Steps to Gum Removal:

1. Fill a freezer bag with ice cubes and place on top of the embedded gum.
   
   
2. Once it hardens, use a butter knife to scrape it from the carpet.
   
   
3. Vacuum up any loose pieces while they are still hard.
   
   
4. Blot any excess with a commercial spot remover or dry cleaning solvent.