Bubble yuck: Crews melt chewed gum off famed Seattle wall

A wall covered in chewing gum which became a tourist attraction in the U.S. has been cleaned up after it began attracting rats.

An estimated 1 million pieces of gum hang on the walls of the dark alley.

The gum wall, in an alleyway underneath the more visible market famous for its fish, fresh produce, and crafts, was started by audience members waiting in line for the nearby Market Theater, said Kent Whipple, a theater spokesman.

The process of cleaning the wall, which will last a number of days, began on Tuesday.

David Fulmer, 37, from Pittsburgh, USA took these pictures of the gum wall while on holiday with his girlfriend in Seattle, USA.

She also described the power of the steam hoses used to shower the gum wall as being able to “melt the gum with 280-degree steam” and that the gum “will fall to the ground, and a two- to three-man crew will collect the gum in five-gallon buckets”.

The wall, which was once named the second-germiest tourist attraction in the world, is cleaned regularly with a steamer.

SEATTLE (AP) – A piece of Seattle history is coming down – or rather, 1 million little pieces.

One local tweeted: “What?! they can’t get rid of the pike place gum wall!”. Since then, the colorful “gum wall” has expanded to other brick walls in the alley, pipes and even the theater’s box office window. “But it also draws rats”, an onlooker says. After it’s removed, the gum will be weighed to determine just how much was stuck to the walls.

Three workers from Cascadian Building Maintenance started the three-day task of stripping 20 years worth of accumulated chew back down to the brick on Tuesday.

They estimate the gum’s total weight could be nearly a tonne.