Viewers Astonished by Woman's Hack to Remove Gum From Hair: 'I Gasped'

A hair expert offered a helpful tip to remove gum from hair in a viral video viewed nearly 5 million times, but viewers were shocked when she put gum in her own hair for the demonstration.

Melissa, or @mabrowsandhair as she's known on TikTok, posted the clip on April 7 to share that while there are some well-known products to remove gum from hair, hair mousse can be just as effective.

There are several techniques to get rid of gum that is stuck in someone's hair, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.

The organization noted that products like creamy peanut butter or vegetable oil can be used.

"Cover the gum completely with peanut butter or oil using your fingers or an old toothbrush," the piece stated. "With peanut butter, the oils in the product make the chewing gum base stiffer and less sticky."

After a few minutes, the product can be washed out.

However, Melissa's video showed a new trick to consider.

She starts the video chewing two sticks of gum before—much to the surprise of viewers—sticking it to the bottom of her hair.

Melissa then twisted strands around the wad of gum for good measure.

"It's in there good," she said. "Forget peanut butter, forget oil, forget ice. Use mousse. Any kind will work."

With that, Melissa began massaging the product into her hair.

"Mousse breaks down gum," she explained as she continued working the product into the strands. "It disintegrates the gum. Gum will come right out."

She proceeded to comb through her hair with ease.

Many TikTokers were impressed with the hack, but some expressed their disbelief after seeing Melissa put the gum in her own hair.

"Even though I trusted the process I still cringed when you just casually squished the gum in your hair," a viewer commented.

"Girl you cannot do that without warning," wrote another. "I think we all just had a heart attack."

Commented one TikTok user, "The way I gasped."

One viewer joked that as a mother, she wanted to yell at Melissa for putting gum in her hair.

Another commenter said they planned to purchase some mousse to keep in their classroom.

"Wow!! Great tip," a comment read.

Newsweek reached out to Melissa for comment.

Other hacks have gone viral on TikTok, including a video that showed an easy way to completely remove price stickers from a product.

One video shared on Reddit gave viewers insight into how they can prevent tick bites while gardening.

Another clip shared on TikTok revealed a simple trick that requires common items to tailor a too-large piece of clothing.