Yesterday one of my children, a mystery child actually, got silly putty in the white living room carpet. One large round spot about 2 inches in diameter, and a multitude of miniature spots to go with it. Has this ever happened to you? Raises your anxiety level, doesn’t it? A thick, bubblegum-like mess, and you’re left wondering how in the world you’ll ever get it out.

Googling it didn’t help much. Most of the tips I read were rather time and labor-intensive, and I wondered when in the world I’d have the time to do it!

I decided to look in my cleaning cabinet to see what I had, and start there. God is good for many reasons, but once more, he showed his kindness and attention to the little things by pointing me directly to this nearly depleted can of Blue Coral:

I have no idea when or why I bought this stuff, and although it is specifically made for upholstery rather than carpet, I had faint hopes that it might actually work for silly putty. The key is in these scrubby bristles built into the lid.

I tackled the biggest blob of ground-in, gummy, silly putty first, and it was out in less than a minute. At that point I called Happy to bring in the video camera so I could demonstrate the next spot for any of you wonderful people who may, at some point, get silly putty (or bubblegum) in your carpet.

After loosening up all the gummy mess, we swept the residue right up with a vacuum cleaner. Easy peasy, isn’t it?

Don’t run out and buy a can right away. Any carpet or upholstery cleaner you have on hand at your home might work just as well. I think the key is finding something with a bunch of firm scrubbing bristles to loosen up the mess. A hard toothbrush, perhaps? If nothing else, however, the Blue Coral worked wonderfully for me!