Do you need to remove gum from a smartphone screen? Here’s how …
I am the go-to person among my friends and family with smartphone troubleshooting questions. Last night was definitely a first, though, as someone (who has requested to remain anonymous) managed to stick their iPhone in a pocket with a piece of used chewing gum. The result was a sticky mess all over the iPhone screen, but with some quick searching and a common household solvent, I figured out how to remove the gum from the screen safely!
Apparently this isn’t as uncommon as it seems, as there was a whole discussion thread on the Apple support forums about it. Consensus was that Goo Gone was the safest choice, with the warning that too much would make the screen very slippery. So I very carefully sprayed a small amount of Goo Gone on a paper towel, and nervously approached the sticky iPhone.
Goo Gone to the rescue!
Luckily, the Goo Gone tip worked perfectly. Within a few seconds, the gum started to come right up, and after a moment it was gone completely. This could have been far worse. After all, it only took $4 worth of a simple cleaner that most people have lying around to fix it. If we hadn’t gotten to it immediately, and the gum had dried onto the screen, or worse, it got into the headset jack or the volume keys, we probably would have been looking at replacing the entire phone. I’ll take a run to Home Depot over a run to the Apple store any day!
As it turns out, this is too much Goo Gone.
Unfortunately, even a light spritz of Goo Gone on a paper towel was enough to make the screen ridiculously slimy. It did get better with a very slightly damp paper towel and some patience, but it was an important lesson: have a very, very light hand with Goo Gone while using it on your iPhone. Or, you know, don’t store your smartphone with ABC gum!
Figuring out how to remove gum from a smartphone screen was a first for me. What’s the weirdest substance you’ve ever gotten on a smartphone or computer? How did you fix it? Share your best tips below!
