by Elizabeth Morrison

Created on: March 16, 2009

Have you ever had gum stuck in your or your child's hair and thought "oh no!"? Well fear no more, because believe it or not, peanut butter removes gum from hair! It may sound strange, but it does work! I don't exactly know who or where this trick originated from, but all I know is that it is quite effective in this sticky situation.

When I was a little girl, I fell asleep with gum in my mouth. By morning, I had a knotted up mess of gum stuck in my long beautiful hair. I thought I had to chop all my hair off that morning before school, and be embarrassed in front of everyone in my class. My mom, of course, came to the rescue with a jar of peanut butter. She massaged it really well into the gum, then combed the gum out like it was butter! To my surprise, I was able to keep all of my hair without cutting one single strand off. Not to mention, I didn't have to go through the embarrassment of being made fun of by a class full of third graders. Thank goodness for my mother and this quick on-the-spot home remedy.

Almost everyone has a jar of peanut butter in their cupboard. In this time of hair crisis, simply massage a blob of peanut butter into the gum, working it in with your fingertips. Yes, it may be a little weird putting food in your hair, but having gum stuck and embedded in your hair is no fun either. The natural oils in the peanut butter will soften and separate the gum from your hair. Then, using a comb, just comb out the gum. It is virtually that easy and painless. Next, just wash your hair with shampoo, like you would normally do, to get the remainder of the peanut butter out of your hair. If you are in a hurry and have no time to wash your whole head of hair, just wash the area that was remedied with peanut butter, then dry and you are good to go.

There happened to have been a few other occasions where gum was either stuck in mine or my daughter's hair. The old peanut butter trick has worked every time and has not failed for me or anyone I have mentioned it to. Whether the peanut butter is creamy or crunchy has not seemed to be a factor either. I have used them both and had the same results. So next time your hair is in this sticky situation, do not panic. This odd but simple trick will be sure to work.

Who would of thought that a natural treat like peanut butter, originally discovered by George W. Carver would be used as a remedy for gum removal from hair?

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