Maybe you fell asleep with a piece of gum still in your mouth; maybe a bubble you blew went awry. Whatever the case, many of us have experienced that dreadful moment when we realize a wad of gum is stuck in our hair. And when ice and peanut butter fail, our moms often resigned (with a sigh) to whacking the offending piece of gum out of its nest of hair with sharp scissors. A trip to the hairdresser normally ensued after such an episode.
Professor Terence Cosgrove of the University of Bristol has made a discovery that might mean Mom can wash the gum out of your hair with soap and water. No cutting, no peanut butter and no ice. His motivation was to save Britain the £325 million spent yearly on cleaning up gum, so he came up with a chewing gum that tastes the same but doesn’t have as many sticky components as your everyday gum. The new gum is made from a polymer that, unlike regular gum, will dissolve in water.
The additive that makes this gum so special hasn’t been approved yet, but Cosgrove and his crew say they expect to see it launch in 2008.
It’s about time somebody tackled this sticky subject.
What a great article! I heard about this on a featured clip on CNN, and I thought it was the greatest thing since sliced bread! LOL I sure do hate stepping on gum in a parking lot…nothing is worse than stepping in a stranger’s chewed up gum! Yuck!
October 3rd, 2007 at 12:19 pm