How To Remove A Red Wine Stain From Carpet

The nightmare situation is a full wine glass mistakenly tipped over onto your cream carpet.

Whether you have suffered this problem, or else are worried and want to be prepared, the following tips should put you in good stead if the problem ever occurs.

Using Salt to Remove Red Wine Stains

1. Lightly dab the stain with kitchen towel. Do this to soak up the liquid. Do not wipe or scrub as this may cause the stain to settle deeper into the carpet fibres.
2. Salt. Pour over the red wine stain, with a good covering and leave to soak up the liquid for 2 or 3 minutes. You should notice that the salt becomes a red / pink colouring.
3. Hoover up the salt with the nozzle attachment, and repeat the process.

Using White Wine to Remove Red Wine Stains

Adding white wine to a fresh red wine stain is an Old Wife’s Tale from yesteryear. For the best results do not do it.

Whilst the white wine may counteract the red wine staining initially, once the stain has dried, the sugars inside white wine will actually interact with the carpet fibres. This in itself can cause a dull / darkened stain to remain, defeating the object of stain removal.

Using Carbonated Water or Sparkling Water to Remove Red Wine Stains

The low acid value of fizzy water lends itself to diluting the red wine stain. Equally, the bubbles enable the stain to lift off of the fibres easier.

1. Lightly dab the stain with kitchen towel. Be careful not to rub or scrub as this can cause greater the stain to have a greater effect.
2. Pour over a small amount of sparkling water also known as Club Soda, and leave it to react with the red wine stain in the carpet. If you listen closely, it should fizz lightly.
3. After 3 – 5 minutes lightly blot the carbonated water away until the carpet feels slightly damp.
4. Apply some warm water with a weak mixture of washing up liquid. Dab this and then leave to dry.

Professional Carpet Cleaning to Remove Red Wine Stains

A professional carpet cleaner will be available for a one off job, so contact your local reputable carpet cleaner. Check with friends, or online customer feedback to make sure they’re legitimate and insured. The professional will advise you on how to prepare the area, perhaps suggesting you move furniture out of the way.

The carpet cleaner will attend to the stain using their approved methods. Their experience in the industry will mean they are familiar with the more powerful cleaning agents and the suitability with your carpet. Plus, using an insured technicians mean you should be safe if anything further was to go wrong following their work.

Using powerful chemicals yourself could damage the carpet, or pose a risk to your health and safety, so avoid using the harsh chemicals. If in doubt about any stage of the cleaning processes mentioned above, consult a professional!