We’ve all done it: knocked over a glass of red wine on the living room carpet and stared in horror as the bright purpley red stain creeps out along the floor. But is it the end of the world (or your carpet)? Definitely not! There are plenty of ways to treat this stain – here are some of the most popular:
White wine & salt
If you thought chucking white wine on the stain was a bit of a myth, think again – I’ve done it on a beautiful white carpet (at someone else’s house, gulp) with great results and plenty of people use this as their number one method. Certain tannins in both the red and white wine cancel each other out, neutralising the stain. The key to it working is to get the white wine on there straight away. So if you’re hosting a party at the time, here’s what you do:
- Grab the nearest guest’s glass and pour it on. Leave it for a few moments and then add some water and start to dab lightly at the stain using white paper towels or a white dry cloth. Don’t rub or scrub, and don’t blot too hard as you don’t want to push the stain into the carpet.
- After blotting, try pouring salt over the stain, adding enough to soak into the stain, and then another layer on top of that. If you think you’ve used enough salt, add a bit more – it won’t hurt.
- After that, you need to let the magic work for up to eight hours. The salt will draw out the liquid and absorb what’s left of the stain.
- After the time is up, scoop up any excess salt and vacuum the carpet. If there’s any salty residue, just dampen it with some cool water and vacuum again to give the carpet back its normal look.
- Should you still see the stain, try a stain remover or carpet cleaner, but you’ll likely find this step unnecessary.
You’ll be surprised at just how effective this old trick is, but it does depend on you having a glass of white wine handy whenever you’re drinking red.
Vinegar
If you’ve got no red wine handy, vinegar also works. Here’s what you need to do:
- Mix up a tablespoon (15 g) of dishwasher liquid, a tablespoon of white vinegar (15 g), and 16 ounces of warm water in a bowl. Make sure everything’s mixed well.
- Blot at the stain with the mixture using a white cloth soaked in the mixture, and alternate with blotting at it with a dry white cloth.
- When you’re happy that the stain is gone, blot at the area with cold water using a different, clean rag to get rid of the cleaning solution, and then blot dry.
This method works best with smaller, less dramatic stains. There’s really no substitute for white wine when you’ve knocked an entire large glass of red wine over a light carpet.
Baking soda
Baking soda is another alternative that a lot of people swear by, and is worth a try as an alternative to sloshing on white wine if you have none. Here’s what you need to do:
- Blot at the stain as much as you can, very gently, using white paper towels or a white cloth. The idea is that you want as little red wine to deal with as possible but you don’t want to push it further into the carpet.
- Pour plenty of cold water onto the stain to dilute it which will allow more to lift out of the carpet. Using new white paper towels or a white cloth, carry on blotting to lift up the stain as much as you can.
- Now for the baking soda magic. Make up a paste using one part baking soda to three parts water, mixing it together well. Apply your paste to the stain generously, getting around the edges, and leave it to dry.
- Once dry, vacuum the carpet and the stain should have vanished. If there’s a little baking soda residue, apply some cold water or carpet cleaner, allow to dry again and give it another vacuum.
Like the salt in our first method, the acidic powers of baking soda should work well at lifting the stain out of the carpet. But once you’ve lathered on your paste, you can’t see it working and you just have to cross your fingers and hope for the best.
Have you got your own tips for getting red wine out of a carpet? Let us know below!