When it comes to the littering and defacing of our public spaces, one of the most common and unsightly problems, is the sight of discarded chewing gum on our streets. Over 25 million people chew gum and many feel it is perfectly fine to spit unwanted gum out onto the floor without regard for just how hard it is to remove. Over 90% of councils admit that it is a significant and costly problem for them and they can be spending anything up to 200,000 every year getting rid of the stuff. We have all seen it, ugly white, sticky stains on tarmac, pavements, tiles and carpets and we all probably at some stage have had to remove it! Chewing gum removal using conventional scrubbing methods is nearly impossible and time consuming and leaving it means it just encourages people to do it all the more. So what is the solution? Well firstly, it is important to try and encourage behavioural change. Encouraging people to bin it instead of throwing it on the streets would go a long way towards eliminated this unnecessary problem.
In the meantime, for the gum that is already stuck, superb results can be obtained by the use of pressure steam cleaners. These handy devices offer a real world solution and are kind to the environment too. They work by heating water in an onboard reservoir to around 180 degrees and at this point it is mixed with an eco friendly detergent and fired under pressure through a nozzle. The combination of heat, power, steam and detergent are powerful enough to lift and destroy the gum in an instant. Not only that, but pressure steam cleaners leave no residue or mess behind, just a slightly damp area which will quickly dry. Many companies hire out these machines or alternatively, they will provide a steam cleaning and gum removal service.