How Does One Remove Baked-In Gum From the Drier?

So, some chewing gum made it into the drier and there are now colorful streaks of spearmint baked onto the “wall” or whatever it is that you call that cylinder thing that spins around and around. I’ve been informed that it probably won’t scrub out and that it’s possible to damage the drier by trying. I’ve also been told that if I just leave things alone, the gum will probably melt in the next drying cycle and potentially ruin whatever clothes are in there at the time. So, how does one go about getting rid of the gum? Alcohol? Some other household cleaning product? Any particular things to try or to stay away from? Do they make “gum-dissolver?”

Any help would be very much appreciated . . .

especially since the gum came from one of my pockets and I’m in trouble . . .

dry some peanut butter…

no, seriously, there are many gum-removing products out there. i believe there is actually one called Gum-Off. but this might not be cool for inside the drier (the drum may have a coating which the solvent could damage). even if it is, you should allow the drier to air out completely (read: maybe at least a day) before you use it, to reduce the risk of explosion or fire.
have you tried the ice-cube-and-butter-knife gambit?

jb

wowee zowee! sorry bout the lack of clear antecedents in that last post.

jb

Isopropyl alcohol works just fine, costs little, can be applied with a rag or with cotton balls, and evaporates quickly.

Thanks for the advise! As it turns out, it was the anti-gum properties of peanut butter which saved the day. My wife remembered that’s how somebody got a bunch of gum out of my niece’s hair one time.

you really did dry peanut butter? ha!

jb

Well, you didn’t expect him to wet peanut butter, did you?

haha, no, just applied and wiped. :slight_smile: