How To Get Gum Out Of Hair

Lucky me!  The other day my four year old came to me with a huge glob of gum in her hair...right. behind. her. ear. 

After I gathered my bearings I calmly anxiously googled "How to get gum out of hair."  Lots of different suggestions came up, and as I suspected, the best method seemed to be a pantry staple.  Olive oil. 

The problem was, all of the "directions" I found for how to get it out included crappy photos of pretend gum and someone trying to go through the steps, which for them was probably a great thing, because clearly they were never in a position where they could really document the icky step-by-step photos for how to get gum out of hair!  

How To Get Gum Out Of Hair

You are going to need a few things:

- Olive Oil (or any oil you have laying around your house)
- Fine tooth comb
- Baby wipes, or wet paper towels
- Towel for draping over shoulders
- a bit lot of patience!

**This can be a messy process!**

Step 1:
Drape your lucky "client" with a towel so you don't dribble olive oil all over them or get the sticky-icky gum all over their clothes.  Pull the hair without gum in it up in a pony tail to keep it out of the way!

Step 2:
Rub olive oil on and around the mass of gum and hair. 

Step 3:
Let it set for a few minutes.

Step 4:
Begin slowly pulling the strands apart, as if you were trying to get out ratted hair.  The gum will want to pull with it, so you will want to make sure you begin working the hair apart, but not the gum.  The oil will help the hair pull away from the gum, strand by strand.  

**As you begin working the hair out of the gum, be sure to keep it out of your way by flipping it up over the head or using a small clip.**

Step 5:
After a bit of working, the gum will start to get, well, gummy again.  You will need to add more oil at this point.

**Notice the differences in each picture below, the first is "gummy" and the second was after I added more oil.**

Step 6:
Continue to pull the hair slowly out of the gum.  The oil will help break down the gum into smaller parts and it will start to look like this...
Also, as I get the gum out of the hair, I used a baby wipe to get it off of my comb.  I also used a baby wipe to keep one of my hands remotely oil free through the process. 

Step 7:
At this point, you will be able to use your fine tooth comb to comb the gum out of the hair. You will have to do this in small pieces until it is all out. Here is where you will need to whip out your patience!  In the below photo, I had removed about half of the gum.

 I was then left with this...

Step 8:
Add more oil and let it set for a few minutes!  

Step 9:
Finally, I was able to slowly pull out as many strands as possible, and the gum began breaking down and releasing from the hair.  I was able to slowly and gently come the rest of the gum out of the hair, and as I did it came out in one big clump! 

FINALLY all of the gum was out!  It really didn't take as long as I thought it would, either!  No scissors, peanut butter, or ice cubes required!  

Last and final step -- bath time! Keira was definitely happy that I didn't have to cut any of her hair off and I was happy at how easy the process was! For now, we have banned her from chewing gum, although I doubt that will last long!  So when that moment comes, at least I know how to get gum out of hair!  Ha! 

I'd love to hear suggestions or more tips!  Please share your secrets on how to get gum out of hair in the comments section below! 

xoxo
Dani