Spillages are always a worry for people who own carpets, whether it’s a coke spill or a tomato sauce spill. There’s always the worry the spillage may stain. Fortunately, we’ve created some handy guides covering how to treat the aforementioned spillages. Today we’re taking things a step further and we’ll be looking at how to treat a wine spillage.

Wine imbibers seem to have a love-hate relationship with red wine: we enjoy the strong, fruity flavor despite the fact that the scarlet pigment stains everything when spilled. Once the dreaded accident occurs, it is imperative to respond swiftly, or you will face a herculean task to remove the stains once the pigments dry and set into the fibers.

Start the cleanup by soaking up (without rubbing!) as much of the red wine as possible with an absorbent towel. Then use this tutorial to attempt removal of the red wine stains out of your clothing, furniture, or carpeting.

There are numerous methods available to assist you in attempting to save your carpets before ringing your local carpet cleaner. Before getting into those, you should start with the following steps:

1. Immediately Soak Up Spilled Wine

The longer red wine stains are allowed to sit, the more difficult they will be to remove. Act quickly!

Take a clean absorbent, towel, cloth or sponge and soak up as much wine as possible before it has a chance to set. Let the red wine be absorbed – do not wipe your carpet.

Dab with an upward and downward motion, rather than rubbing from side to side. Rubbing may remove some of the wine from carpet strands, but it will also push some of it deeper into the carpeting, making it much more difficult to eliminate the stains. It may also enlarge the stained area by spreading the wine to the sides of the damaged region.

Work your way in from the outside in, starting with the borders and working your way into the middle. This will also help to keep the stain from becoming bigger.

2. Dilute With Cold Water

Gradually, it will become harder to soak up the wine. At this stage, use a tiny amount of cold water to re-wet the stain. This aids in diluting residual wine in the carpet and will assist to soak up more of the red wine.

Once you are done with these two steps, select one or more of the following methods to assist you in removing the remaining red wine stains.

A. Method 1- Salt

Step 1 – Use Salt to Absorb Excess Liquid

A thorough dabbing will remove the majority of the red wine but is unlikely remove it all. Try coating the stained area for a few hours with a generous sprinkling of salt to aid in the removal of the remnants of the red wine. The salt crystals should work their way through the stains to extract the moisture from the carpeting. IF salt is not available, try any ‘wicking (moisture absorbing)’ material such as baking powder, soap powder and kitty litter

As salt helps by removing the moisture from the stains, this method works best whilst the affected area is still moist. It is significantly less effective for dry stains. If your stains are beginning to dry out, sprinkle a little water over the affected area before applying the salt.

Step 2 – Allow Salt to Rest

The salt will over a few hours become reddish in color as it soaks up the red wine. Once the stain appears to be almost fully dried, you are ready to move to the next step. Prolonged treatments should not make matters worse, so if you have the luxury of time, try to leave the salt overnight.

Step 3 – Remove Salt

Gently scoop up the salt and discard it. Remove the fine particles that remain with a vacuum and your carpeting should appear as good. The stain should be significantly reduced, if not completely removed.

After the initial vacuuming, if there is still a salt residue, simply wet the area with a little cool water and vacuum it again. This will return the area to its original texture.

B. Method 2 – Vinegar

Step 1 – Prepare Vinegar Solution.

In a large mixing basin, whisk together 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) dishwashing liquid, 1 tablespoon white vinegar, and 2 cups (235 milliliters) warm water until well combined.

Only use white vinegar as different vinegars (such as apple cider vinegar or balsamic vinegar) might generate stains of their own.

Step 2 – Moisten the Stain

Apply the vinegar solution to the stained area by gently dabbing it on to the stained area with a clean, dry towel. This will allow the solution to permeate into the carpet fibers, loosening the stain.

Allow the vinegar solution to dry completely.

Step 3 – Soak the Stains with Cold Water

Wet a clean cloth with cold water and wet the stained area to dilute the red wine further. A small amount of water can be poured directly onto the stain. Wipe the water away with the “drying” towel to absorb it as much as possible.

Repeat the process as many times as necessary. It is possible that you will need to repeat the instructions above numerous times in order to get maximum effectiveness. If you like, you can combine this strategy with one of the other methods described in this post.

C. Method 3 – Hydrogen Peroxide

Step 1 – Mix Dishwashing Liquid with Hydrogen Peroxide

Add a big dab of soap to the hydrogen peroxide and blend them together. The total amount you’ll use will vary according to the severity of your stains, although you shouldn’t need more than a half cup (125 milliliters) for any stain.

Keep in mind that hydrogen peroxide is a light bleaching agent. As such, this treatment is best suited for fabrics with a lighter coloration. Test the mixture on a small area of the carpeting before applying to the whole of the stained area. If the carpeting becomes lighter in color or if you see dye transfer, you should avoid this method.

Lower concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (such as 3 percent) should have no effect on the majority of carpeting.

Step 2 – Dab the Stain With Peroxide Solution

Soak the edge of a clean towel in your peroxide mixture for a couple of minutes. Using a gentle dabbing motion, dab the stained area to allow the mixture to permeate into the carpet fibers.

Allow the mixture to rest for a few minutes when you’re finished. This enables it to permeate into deeper fibers and into the more difficult-to-reach stains.

Step 3 – Spray Affected Area with Cold Water

Fill a clean spray bottle halfway with cold water, then add a few drops of normal dish soap to the mixture. Spritz a small mist of the soapy water over the whole stain. When you’re finished, dab the surface with a dry absorbent towel.

If you don’t have access to a spray bottle, you can use a fresh towel to repeat the blotting process described above.

Step 4 – Remove Remaining Residue

By now, the stain should have lightened considerably. If you stop now, the cleaning solution will leave behind a soapy, sticky residue. This should be removed from the by first wetting it with a clean, soapless towel using lukewarm water. Finish by dabbing with a dry cloth to remove as much moisture as possible.

D. Method 4 – White Wine and Baking Soda

Step 1 – Pour White Wine over the Affected Area

As an alternative to water, you can use clear-colored white wine could come in handy in an emergency – it’s not as crazy as it sounds. When combined with white wine, the stain’s crimson hue is diluted, just like when combined with water, thus reducing its impact.

In the absence of white wine, some sources advise using clear, plain vodka.

Step 2 – Remove the White Wine

Gently dab the stained area with a dry absorbent dry cloth. Gentle dabbing will avoid pushing the wine into the carpeting strands.

If your sponge is already wet, dry it out thoroughly before using it again.

E. Method 5 – Baking Powder

Step 1 – Apply Baking Soda Paste

Baking soda can be used to eliminate a “loosened-up” stain in a manner similar to how salt was used in Method A. Rather than using dry baking soda, many experts suggest creating a paste and then applying it evenly over the stain. A ratio of three parts water to one part baking soda should be enough.

Step 2 – Cover Stained Area

Cover the moist area with a clean dry cloth and leave overnight.

While the fabric is sitting, place a hefty weight on top of it. Continuous, moderate pressure forces the baking soda deeper into the stain, allowing it to clean more thoroughly.

Step 3 – Vacuum Off Baking Soda

Once the baking soda paste has dried out, it should be removed by vacuuming it off.

The baking soda should have absorbed the moisture from the discolored area and clump together to produce solid clumps on the surface of the stained region.

Using a vacuum, you can easily remove these clumps (and, with them, the stain) from your carpet.

Should your carpeting still have a powdered remnant after the initial vacuuming, repeat the process with a little cold water to dissolve the baking soda. This should be followed by another vacuuming when dry to remove the remaining powdery residue.

If all else fails and if you have nothing to lose in relation to your carpet, you could give the following a try.

F. Method 6 – Club Soda

If the other methods do not work, allow the stained area dry completely and then pour a bottle of club soda over the stained area and allow to soak for 10 to 20 minutes. Apparently, the carbonation effect breaks free the red pigments from the carpet fibers.
Use a clean absorbent cloth and dab up the club soda as in the other methods. Most likely, you will need to give the affected area a good shampoo to remove any residue or stickiness.

G. Method 7 – Alcohol

Give the stained area a good clean and rinse and then try dabbing some rubbing alcohol to see if it has any effect – You never know unless you try!

As you can see, should the worst happen, there are numerous options available to save your carpet from red wine stains. The key factors are to:

React quickly before the red wine has a chance to soak into the deep fibers of your carpet; and

Do not under any circumstance drag your cleaning cloth along the carpet in an attempt to wipe off the spilt red wine – this will only compound the problem. Gentle dabbing is far more effective.