How To Remove Red Wine Stains

How many times have you accidently spilled some red wine on a favorite dress or on the carpet and then rushed around to try and ensure that you haven’t permanently damaged it? Well don’t panic because red wine stain removal is actually pretty easy and generally, if you can catch the spill fairly quickly, you’ll do no damage what-so-ever to the fabric, carpet or dress!

Removing Red Wine Stains from Clothing

I’s sure you’ve been in a restaurant and bar and been horrified when you’ve spilt some wine on your best clothes. Do you now avoid drinking red wine when out? Do fret, there are plenty of options you have to remove the stain – go out and enjoy that full bodied glass of wine with the knowledge that red wine stains can be removed from clothing!

Firstly, if the clothing item is dry-clean only, then sadly you can only get it professional cleaned.

If you are in a restaurant, then ask the waiter for a glass of club soda, or milk and a cloth – moisten the cloth with the club soda or milk and then blot the stain – the red wine stain will normally be removed.

If you are at home you also have the option of sprinkling a little cornstarch on the stain as the red wine will be absorbed by the powder – you can use a soft bristle brush to get the powder off the clothes. If you don’t have powder, then placing the fabric in some boiling water should also remove the stain.

One final solutions (thanks Breakfastpop) is to quickly pour some white wine over the stain - it quickly neutralizes the pigmant in the red wine - you will have to get the clothes washed though as you still have wine in them, but it does work!

What if I didn’t see the red wine stain on my clothes until I got home?

Often you won’t notice that you’ve spilt red wine on clothes until you get home – don’t despair, red wine stain removal is still relatively easy. Soak the stain with a lemon or vinegar solution mixed one part with one part of water – leave it soaking for a few minutes and then rinse – wash as usual and the stain should be removed – you may have to repeat the process for tough stains.

Getting Red Wine Stains out of Carpet

Start out by blotting the spill with paper towel to remove as much of the wine as possible first – some of the methods above may work, but as it’s hard to actually stop the stain from soaking through, they are not as effective unless you have a vacuum that also cleans with water and thus can suck up the red wine solution

For lighter carpets, after blotting the red wine stain, try diluting one tablespoon of ammonia with one cup of warm water – apply to the red wine stain and leave for 10 minutes. Blot with a clean cloth or some paper towel – this should remove the stain.

If you don’t have ammonia in the house, then sprinkle some table salt onto the stain – this takes longer, and you’ll have to leave the salt on the stain overnight to absorb the liquid – vacuuming the stain after this should then remove the stain.

What about commercial products?

There are plenty of products available in your local supermarket that do an exceptional job of removing red wine stains from your carpet. Shout is one of the best – blot and dilute the stain as much as possible, then spray the red wine stain with Shout. Blot the stain up using a damp cloth.

Another great product is Wine Away – this is designed for wine stains and works on fresh stains as well as older stains that you may not have seen before!