Revolymer Develops Non-Stick Chewing Gum

Removing chewing gum is a problem for janitors everywhere. Solutions to the problem have been proposed. Peanut butter and ice are known to be effective in removing chewing gum from hair. One company has another solution, making the poplar chewed item less sticky.

The Revolymer company based in the United Kingdom is waiting for the non-stick gum to be approved by European equivalents of the Food and Drug administration. The Revolymer company that will make the new non-stick chewing gum claims that its gum will make the task of removing chewing gum from pavements, carpets, and sidewalks easier. The cost of cleaning up after people who spit out the sticky substance can be high. In the city of London, the cost for removing chewing gum from the city's streets can top 100,000 pounds and in Oxford the tab can be nearly 45,000 pounds a year. The United Kingdom based company hopes that their new non-stick gum will eliminate it completely

Researchers have been working on the problem of how to remove chewing gum for decades. The tactic of making it gum less sticky by developing a non-stick chewing gum formula that degrades when exposed to water is Revolymer's solution. The companay's tests of their new formula showed that when Rev7 was stuck to surfaces, the non-stick chewing gum dissolved within twenty-four hours of being applied to the surface of a pavement.

Film noir and hard boiled detective fans who worry that the gumshoe might disappear because chewing gum will no longer get stuck to the soles of the private detective's feet, there is little cause for alarm. While Rev7, as the product is currently dubbed, came easily off of some shoe soles, removing the new chewing gum for others was just as difficult as removing more traditional types of chewing gum. The good news is that if the product gets approved, it comes out of hair easily with a little soap and water. The commercially available chewing gum still needs to be cut out of hair it has gotten into.

Since the new non-stick chewing gum is not approved for use in Europe yet, it will be even longer before Rev7, whatever it turns out to be marketed as will be available in the United States. In the meantime, other ways of removing chewing gum will have to be sought by janitors around the world. Scientists working elsewhere in the world are working on creating a supersolvent that will make removing chewing gum easier.

Sources:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6993719.stm