One of the most useful things I ever found on-line was called 'A Mother's guide to Gick'. A recent twitter message about lighter fuel, labels and a lap-top reminded me that 'Gick' is an ever-present danger through the holiday season, so here is my up-dated edition.
What is 'Gick'? Well, in my world it is anything that combines gooey and sticky in some place it didn't ought'er be. This does not include the mysterious thin layer of jammy stuff that coats toddlers by 4pm; I don't know what causes this natural phenomenon, but bath time fixes it. No. Gick is crayons, markers and worse on carpets, toffee in zippers, and the defining incident for me; silly putty smushed into the mesh pockets of a brand-new Lands End back pack.
Silly Putty has relations too: Slime, Aliens or Lizards in Putty and Sticky Tack. Also chewing and bubble gum. These horrors abound during the festive season, and sometimes even come home from school or parties disguised as 'Science'. Silly Putty fascinated me as a child but I now realise that these toys exist only to torment parents.
When disaster strikes and the Gick hits the ottoman, remember first that all this stuff sticks best to itself. Grab another gob of the offending goop and use it to 'dab' off whatever is embedded in the carpet, comforter or upholstery. This is surprisingly effective. Solvents and other stain removers can be used on whatever remains.
Most goopy stuff can be hardened in the fridge or with ice cubes. Where the sticks-to-itself dabbing method fails this can help to remove large 'chunks', before resorting to solvents, which tend to spread the problem around. Silly putty, sticky tack and gum can also be dissolved with WD40, but the smell lingers. Vodka is my favourite solvents for stain removal. It has no smell and works on several aspects of the same problem.
The opposite of freezing Gick - heating it - is a horrible shock when you open the tumble dryer. On a good day the bubble gum has stayed inside the snow suit and it may still be possible to pry the whole thing apart with pliers. On a bad day the silly putty has escaped from the jeans pocket and welded all your underwear into a sticky pink knot. See Vodka above.
If the Gick is in someone's hair neither sticks-to-itself nor solvents will work safely. This is why we hear about peanut butter removing chewing gum from hair. Peanut butter apparently does work, and so does mayonnaise and baby oil. Silly putty can be also be dissolved with baby oil, Pam spray oil or alcohol based hand sanitizer. I'm guessing that a heavy duty hair conditioner could also help.
I found references to using nail varnish remover (acetone), lighter fluid and rubbing alcohol on hair, but I would reach for the scissors before using any of this on a child. Most 'slime' type stuff is water soluble and will wash out. Eventually. While on the subject, beware of a particularly evil, pointless item this year called Slimecano. A bit like hot wheels with red, staining slime but no cars.
Icky Poo and other goopy stretchy things, which also arrive in encased in slime for double the fun. These yucky artifacts stretch a seemingly infinite distance when 'flung', before making contact with a wall, ceiling, sibling or breakable heirloom. The sibling will just squeal, but the gicky creatures leave stains on light coloured walls, ceilings and other surfaces. Never leave one stuck to anything. If left in pockets or beds they get wonderfully coated in fuzz which makes them less dangerous, but even nastier. Have not yet met one in the dryer but watch this space.
Labels, sticky tape etc. Safe removal of these varmints, and the sticky bits they leave behind depends on the surface. Goo-gone and/or a sharp blade are excellent on a hard surface. Gentle heat can soften some - but again it depends on the surface. From personal experience sticky tape in a child's hair calls for scissors; problem solved quickly with least grief. I think solvents are dangerous round kids and ungumming is virtually impossible.
Markers and crayons are not strictly 'Gick' but can be equally dangerous. My 3 year old's first recognizable drawing was a large, red 'Mr Sun' on the dining room wall. It was only crayon but the wall was porous and the house was rented, so we had to redecorate. This useful article on crayons and markers suggests that baby oil can help here too.
Washable Markers sometimes live up to their name if you spot the damage early. Some colours are less washable: blue and purple have been the worst in our household. If Santa has not removed these from the box you might want to 'lose' them quickly. Most online advice suggests that solvents are needed for removing stains made with these markers - so why are they called washable?
Permanent Markers eg Sharpies, should be kept in a gun-safe. When they escape you will be able to follow their distinctive tracks right through the house until you find them, leaking to death on an absorbent surface. Solvents are needed here. Goo-gone gets mixed reviews, hand sanitizer also seems to work - what is in that stuff? Lighter fluid will always be the best, if it can be used safely on your surface. Ventilate well and blot vigorously to prevent spreading.
The golden rule for any stain removal on fabric is do not use hot water or a dryer until the the stain has gone. Heat will 'set' stains so get rid of as much as possible before hotting things up.
Useful websites for more on Gick, stains and related aggravations:
The helpful Crayola folks have stain removal tips at the back-end of their website. They discuss 2 sorts of silly putty but I saw no mention of farting slime. Guess it must be made by someone else?
Essortment seems to have a lot of useful how-to stuff for sticky situations. I even noticed one on "How to tan small hides", but I'm sure it's not intended for parents.
Wishing you a gick-free holiday season.
As a mother of three boys under seven, I have bookmarked this site as potentially life-saving. Thank you!!
Wishing you and yours a gick-free Christmas!
Posted by: DaniGirl | December 24, 2008 at 05:54 AM
I laughed out loud! I have a 5 year old boy who loves all things gooey.
Posted by: Brenda Hollingsworth | January 02, 2009 at 11:08 PM
You must be imaginative, strong hearted. You must try things that may not work. And you must not let anyone define your limits because of where you come from.
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