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How to Get Gum Off Shorts

May 24, 2011 / By Kimbry Parker

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Salvage your shorts by removing gum carefully.

Photo: Jupiterimages/Goodshoot/Getty Images

Finding a big wad of gum on your favorite shorts is enough to make you want to just toss them out. But don't do it, girl! Sure, gum on shorts looks impossible to remove without making a huge mess on the rest of the shorts, but in fact, it's really not that bad. Just get the gum off the right way and you'll be strutting your stuff in your daisy dukes with no traces of gum anywhere.

If the gum is fresh and still sticky, don't try to remove it or you'll have a bigger problem on your hands. Instead, pop the shorts in the freezer for a couple of hours to harden the gum.

Scrape off as much of the hardened gum as you can. Use a butter knife or even your fingernail to gently chip away at the gum. If all the gum comes off, just spray the spot with a laundry pretreatment spray and wash the shorts as usual.

Pour ¼ cup white vinegar into a bowl and microwave it for 30 seconds so it's warm. Dip an old toothbrush into the warm vinegar and scrub away any remaining gum. Treat with a laundry pretreatment spray and wash as usual.

If all else fails and there are still traces of gum, sponge dry-cleaning solvent onto the spot using a clean rag. Let it sit for a few minutes, treat with a laundry pretreatment spray and wash as usual.

1.Butter knife

3.¼ cup white vinegar

5.Old toothbrush

7.Dry-cleaning solvent

2.Laundry pretreatment spray

4.Bowl

6.Rag

Make sure all the gum is off before putting the shorts in the dryer. If there's still gum on the shorts, the heat from the dryer will make the problem worse.