Repairing Damaged Items with Cewing Gum

 A few years ago, a friend told me her mother used chewing gum on various items that needed repair. It took me several years to make up my mind to experiment with it, but I tried it for the first time two years ago  

I used it on a wood frame that had a large chip in it a few years ago. I chewed a stick of gum and when it lost its flavor, I smoothed it into the crack. Then I painted it over with acrylic paint, adjusting the color with each layer to get a perfect match. The final step was to seal it. 

Last year I repaired an ornamental resin lid that had a sizable hole in it. That one took several sticks of gum and several different colors of acrylic paint. I had to carefully mold it into a shape that matched the lid. Again, I used several coats of paint, but since it had a relatively matte finish, I didn’t seal it  

 
I also repaired an Angel who was missing a hand. 



DISCLAIMER: The experts say that chewing gum won’t last, that it will dry and pull away from the edges you fill. However, it has lasted over two years on my frame with no sign of pulling away. Maybe that’s because I painted it several times and then sealed it. However, the resin lid, which was never sealed, does show some signs of drying and shrinking, as does the angel’s hand.   

My Latest Chewing Gun Repair



My latest chewing gum repair was this pretty elongated Madonna I found at the thrift store. One of her hands was broken off at the wrist. There were also a couple of round chips under her broken hand so possibly there was something else affixed to here there  she also had a couple of long cracks in her torso where the Tera cotta chowed through  



I chewed a stick of gum and molded it into the shape of her other hand. I have been painting it and have not matched the color perfectly yet, but I went ahead and sealed it for this photo. I also painted all the cracks and chips with acrylic paint. That didn’t fill the cracks, but now the color blends, and I applied sealer over the entire piece, so the cracks are definitely smaller and blend in now  


Her hands work well enough to hold the Baby Jesus now, making her an interesting addition to my Christmas decor. 

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