Gum On Shoe? Here's How To Remove It

by Taylor
(Stain-Removal-101.com)

Have you ever gotten gum on your shoe? I know I have, and it can be quite annoying, plus a bit gross to deal with.

Here are some tips to make the process easier for you.

When you first notice that first sticky step, try to stop and act as quickly as possible, if you can.

If you have a flat soled shoe try to scrape off as much gum as possible on another surface, like a street curb, if possible. Then, you can deal with the rest when you get home.

If you've got shoes which have ridges in the sole think carefully before you start scraping, however. Once you begin this process there will be gum shoved deep into the ridges of the shoe, which will be much more difficult to remove later. However, depending on where you are and how much more you need to walk that may be the best thing to do anyway.

Ideally, you would take the shoe off and continue on with the next steps so more gum doesn't get down into the shoe ridges, but real life doesn't always allow you to do things in the ideal way.

The next step for gum on shoe removal should take place once you're home. You want to get the gum as cold as possible, so it gets hard and loses its stickiness, which will help you remove it. You can do this in one of two ways.


First, you can place your shoe in a plastic bag and place it in your freezer for about 15 minutes. The second alternative is to chill the gum with an ice cube. Either way, once the gum is nice and hard use a dull knife to scrape and pry the gum off. If you've got flat soled shoes that is generally all that is needed (although if you still have some sticky residue continue on to the next step below).

However, if you've got ridged soles, and there is still gum stuck in there, you next want to use a chewing gum remover to loosen up the rest of that gum for removal.

For shoes, I typically suggest rubbing alcohol, WD-40 or Goo Gone. Apply a small amount of one of these products onto the remaining gum, and then scrape away all traces of the gum.


Have you dealt with gum on your shoe, and have a tip to share? If so, you can share your chewing gum stain removal tips here, for shoes or for removing gum from any other surface, or read other tips already submitted.

Photo by andy_tyler

Related Links At Stain-Removal-101.com

House Cleaning Tips And Tricks

Helpful Household Hints For Your Home

Gum Stain Removal From Clothing, Upholstery And Carpet

How To Remove Scuff Marks From Shoes With Toothpaste

How To Make Shoe Polish Using Olive Oil

Go From Gum On Shoe? Here's How To Remove It To Stain-Removal-101.com Home Page