How to Remove Chewing Gum from Concrete

Chewing gum has to be one of the most annoying inventions ever made. It sticks to everything that you wish it wouldn't, including concrete, and then is very difficult to take up. Spying a piece of dirty chewing gum on your path can make you grind your teeth in fury, but once it is there, there's nothing that you can do except try your best to get rid of it. However, taking chewing gum off of a concrete path or driveway does not have to be a day-long chore. You need to do a little bit of scrubbing, and have some patience, but you will soon be able to get rid of the gum with a few household utensils and some helpful guidelines.

Step 1 - Dry up the Gum

Before you can get rid of the gum, you need to make it harder and dryer. While the gum is still soft, it can stick to almost anything with great force, so you will have to begin by freezing it. Use an ice cube to make it cold, or try one of those freeze-dry aerosol cans which can be bought from mechanics shops. This will keep the parts of the gum solid for long enough to take up the gum quickly. You may have to freeze the gum more than once in order to get all of it off.

Step 2 - Scrape the Top

You can now start to remove the gum using an old putty knife. You should saw at the chewing gum until it starts to come loose, and then you can get rid of it fairly easily. You may need to repeat the first step a few times in order to allow the putty knife to get rid of all of it. If you are unlucky, you may find that the gum snaps off leaving you with a small piece of itself left on the concrete.

Step 3 - Wipe up the Rest

You can then add a little bit of WD-40 to your mix. Spray this directly onto the gum, and allow it to sink through for one or two minutes. Once this has happened, you should be able to use the putty knife to get rid of the remaining pieces of the gum. Be sure to dispose of the gum carefully once it has all been removed.

Step 4 - Clean off the Concrete

In order to remove any gum which may be stuck in the tiny pores of your concrete, you should take a small pot of vinegar, and cover the area where the concrete was. You can then dissolve the gum by scrubbing it with a toothbrush. Leave for about 5 minutes, and then scrub over again using some water. When this has been done, you can clear off the rest by using a pressure washer to hose down the area.