How To Remove Red Wine From Carpet: Effective Guides For 2024

Worrying about how to remove red wine from the carpet will ruin any party you plan to host. Do not let such worries keep you from planning parties with friends. Instead, learn some tricks to quickly rid of the stains, even those you discover a day later.

The trick is to react as soon as you spot such a mishap, and have some things handy to remove the stain from the carpet right away. Of course, do not panic in the middle of the party as your friends, and you will not enjoy the party anymore. Stay calm and know that your stains will disappear with some tricks up your sleeve.

How To Remove Red Wine From Carpet?

So, you have spilled the wine and the stain starts spreading around. Make sure to act fast, because the longer you wait, it is harder to remove the wine stain. The first thing you should do is not to panic. Rather remember the following steps and start working on wine stain removal.

• Step 1: Use the paper towel to soak up the wine from the carpet as much as possible
• Step 2: Add water to the spot to dilute the stain further
• Step 3: Repeat the first step and soak up again using a clean paper towel
• Step 4: Make baking soda paste and spread it generously over the stain
• Step 5: Allow the spot to dry thoroughly, even over the night
• Step 6: Vacuum the carpet to remove the baking soda
• Step 7: Use stain removal products if nothing else works

The Quick Overview

When tackling tannin-based stains it is vital to know some things in advance. For example, you should always use cold water for fresh stains and hot for dried ones. You can use commercial stain removers or homemade. It would take you up to an hour to complete the entire cleaning process.

Wine Stain Removal Overview
Work Time:	15 minutes
Overall Time:	One hour
Stain Type:	Tannin-based stains (wine, coffee, tea)
Fabric Type:	Carpet
Remover Type:	The home-made solution, commercial stain remover
Water Temperature:	Warm for fresh stains, cold for dried stains

7 Essential Things To Prepare

Several things could help you get rid of the wine stains easily. Many of them you already have at your home, but for some, consider buying them and keeping them for when the situation calls for it. Here are some essential things you should prepare in advance.

Paper Towels

Paper towels are the first ones you should use for wine stains. They will be useful to soak up as much wine as possible from your carpet or clothes. And they are always readily available in most homes so when such a wine stain accident happens, go and grab the paper towels from your kitchen.

Club Soda

Some sorts of spills and carpet stains can be easily cleaned with club soda. Club soda may be used to remove colored drinks, red wine, and grease stains. The carbonation in club soda is what makes it so effective at preventing stain development.

The aeration helps to remove stains and keep them from settling into carpet fibers. Because it is just carbonated water and not something else sticky or acidic, there is minimal risk in using it right after a spill.

Dish Soap

You can always find dish soap in your kitchen and use it in combination to create a powerful solution to remove a wine stain from your carpet. It will help dissolve the stain and help you remove it from the carpet or your clothes much easier.

White Vinegar

Vinegar is widely known not only for preparing tasty salads but also for removing various stains from clothes and also carpets. With vinegar used in combination with some other products, those unappealing red stains will become just a bad memory that faded away with a little bit of the help of vinegar.

Hydrogen Peroxide

Hydrogen peroxide is an efficient cleanser for red wine stains in addition to sterilizing skin wounds and scrapes. Remember that it is also a moderate bleaching agent, it should not be used on black carpets or furniture, but rather on lighter materials such as white carpet.

Salt

Food tastes better with a pinch of salt, and putting some on the red wine stain together with some other cleaning materials will soak up all the wine from your carpet and clean it perfectly. Even the slight discoloration on your carpet will disappear thanks to salt.

Stain Remover

If nothing helps, commercial stain remover can also help. They are often packed in a spray bottle for easier application. However, as with most homemade removers, these commercial ones also work best with fresh stains rather than with dried ones.

7 Simple Steps To Remove Red Wine Stains From Carpet

The most reliable way to remove red wine stains for me is by using baking soda and water. The reason for that is that you probably already have baking soda handy, and it is a cheap way that is also a very effective method that will not ruin your carpet.

Step 1: Soak Up Wine From the Carpet

The first thing to do is to blot as much of the red wine stain as possible using a clean cloth or a paper towel. Soaking up the wine will prevent the liquid from spreading further and making the stain even bigger than it is. Keep soaking up until your paper towel does not pick up wine anymore.

Step 2: Spray Water on the Stain

After you have finished blotting, apply some water to the discolored area. This helps to dilute the stain and makes blotting a little easier. It is better to spray the water as other methods of adding water can spread the stain further. By spraying it will only dilute the stain and help you with the soaking up.

Step 3: Keep Soaking Up

This step should be repeated as many times as possible along with the second step. Continue blotting until there is no more liquid to come out. Then spray the water again and repeat the process until most of the stain comes out.

Step 4: Add Baking Soda and Water Paste

Make a paste out of one part of water and three parts baking soda and apply it to the stain. Make sure to spread the paste generously over the stain and allow it to cover the stain completely.

Step 5: Dry the Spot

Finally, allow the paste to dry before vacuuming the carpet. This step can take up the whole night, so if you doing it during the party, you should return to your guests and allow the baking soda to work over the night.

Step 6: Vacuum Up

After the stain covered with the baking soda paste has dried up completely, it is time to see the final cleaning result. Vacuum the carpet thoroughly and make sure not to leave traces of the baking soda between the carpet fibers.

Step 7: Apply Wine Stain Removal Product For Persistent Stains

If the baking soda method did not help you remove the stain completely, or you missed the stain and allow it to dry without soaking up, maybe you should try the professional wine stain removal product that can deal with old and persistent wine stains.

How To Remove Red Wine Stains From White Carpet?

The first rule of thumb is to think fast and start cleaning the stain even faster. Any stain is easier to remove when they are fresh. Dried stains sometimes require professional help because they are much harder to remove. Here are some methods that are considered effective with red wine stains on white carpets.

The Hydrogen Peroxide Method

Removing red wine stains from white carpet is best done with the Hydrogen Peroxide method. Of course, you should test even white carpet for hydrogen peroxide as it works as a bleach. Even white carpet can be discolored, leaving a yellowish trace on your white carpet.

While you check that the hydrogen peroxide does not affect your white carpet, blot up as much wine from your carpet as possible by using a white cloth or a paper towel. After you made sure hydrogen peroxide will not damage your white carpet, apply hydrogen peroxide and soap solution to the stain.

Soak up the solution to help faster stain removal. Repeat the process if necessary until your carpet restores snow-white color.

The White Wine Method

Sometimes the only thing you need for a spilled glass of red wine is another glass of wine, but the white one. White wine contains an enzyme that can minimize the red wine stain and make it simpler to eliminate.

Drizzle some white wine over the red wine stain together with some dish soap and gently wipe it with a clean, moist towel. Blot the leftover detergent and stain with a clean wet towel.

If necessary, repeat the process but make sure to soak up any leftover wine and detergent. When using this solution does not help, it is best to try out some commercial red wine stain remover. Follow the precautions and instructions on the bottle for the best results.

The Salt Method

When the wine stain accident happens, the fastest solution is right on the dining table – the salt. Blot up the wine from the carpet using a paper towel, and try to collect it as much as possible. Use some lukewarm water to dilute the stain further, but make sure to soak up the excess liquid as fast as possible.

After you soaked the paper towels with spilled wine, take the salt and pour on the stain. You will need more than a pinch of salt, so be generous and make a small heap over the stain. Leave it overnight for best results and vacuum it in the morning. The stain should be gone together with the pink salt crystals.

Watch this video to see more about how to remove red wine stains from the carpet.

The Club Soda Method

Another thing that is often found on the dining table is club soda. Club soda, fortunately, works just as effectively to clean any red wine spill on the white carpet. To discover how to remove red wine from the carpet using club soda, follow these instructions.

Blot the discoloration as thoroughly as possible with a clean, dry towel. Pour on some club soda. Blot the stain once again until you soak most up. Pour in some more club soda. Blot once more, and so on, until the stain is removed.

How To Remove Red Wine Stains On Wool Carpet?

Removing wine stains from wool carpet works similarly to any other carpet. The easiest way is to act fast, as soon as the stain happens. Blot up the stain as fast as possible and then apply any of the aforementioned methods.

The Hydrogen Peroxide Method

If you are going to try the hydrogen peroxide, make sure to test it out on some hidden parts before starting on the stain to avoid making even a bigger mess and have a discolored patch on your wool carpet. If the stain sets in and dries, consider calling in professional help.

Hydrogen peroxide is a must-have thing for those nasty little cuts. It will disinfect your wound but did you know it could also get rid of the ugly red stains. First, combine a little dish detergent and half a cup of hydrogen peroxide.

Before accidentally generating an undesired bleach stain, test a little amount of the solution in an unnoticeable place on the carpet or furniture. If the area bleaches or there is color transfer, dilute the area with water, blot away the moisture, and stop using this procedure.

If there is no discoloration, blot the stain with a clean cloth soaked in the soapy peroxide solution. Allow the mixture to sink into the fibers by blotting gently. Repeat until the solution has been applied to the whole stain, and leave the mixture to rest for a few minutes for the best effects.

The Vinegar And Dish Soap Method

If you do not have club soda near, you can quickly prepare the homemade cleaner from the vinegar and dish soap. Make a wine stain remover by following these steps. Prepare two cups of warm water, combine with one spoon of dish detergent and one spoon of vinegar.

Apply a tiny pour into the stain, blotting regularly until the stain disappears, using just a white cloth or a paper towel — so that the pigment from the cloth does not bleed into your carpet. Repeat the process until the stain is removed.

How To Remove Dried Red Wine Stain From The Carpet?

You should use lukewarm water with fresh stains and cold water with dried stains. So, the first thing you should do is to apply some water to the stain to help loosen it up. Blot up as much wine from the stain as possible using paper towels.

When you feel that the most wine from the stain is removed, you can apply any of the methods for wine stain removal. Of course, make sure to test hydrogen peroxide on the hidden spot first. If this does not work, you should call professionals who can remove the stain by using special products.

Watch this video to see more about removing old wine stains from the carpet.

The Commercial Stain Remover Method

If nothing from above works well with the stain, or it is not until the next day when you discover red wine stains, then maybe the commercial stain remover is what you need. It can help those homemade remedies to finish the job.

The best part with the commercial stain remover is that they can help with the dried stains too. Spray it on the stain and follow the instructions on the bottle. You should have your carpet clean and stain-free in a matter of minutes.

Always test stain removal products on the least visible spots to find out how the carpet would react to the solution. Sometimes dyed carpets will change the color if you apply such a solution. Even white carpets may turn the color because of the stain and product combination.

Homemade Removers Vs. Commercial Removers

Homemade removers can be quite efficient, especially when you apply them right after the wine is spilled on your favorite carpet. Using things that you already have at home will give you a good shot when it comes to removing the stain as fast as possible.

However, sometimes the combination of the carpet material and the size of the stain can require you to use some of the commercial wine stain removers that can do the trick and leave your carpet as it was before the wine was spilled on it.

FAQs

It is sometimes difficult to choose between having a perfect carpet and having a glass of red wine. So, why choose when you can have both. However, accidents happen and that is the moment you ask many questions about how it will affect your carpet, furniture, or even clothes.

DIY Or Call The Pros?

When a wine stain accident happens, it is already too late to call in the professional unless you have one attending the party. The thing you can do is to try one of your homemade recipes to remove as much stain as possible.

Sometimes you notice the stain much later when it is completely dried and soaked into the carpet. Home remedies might not help and that is the moment when it is wise to call the pros. That is also true for materials that are too sensitive and need a careful professional hand to help you get rid of the stain.

Did you have the wine stain situation at your party? How did you deal with it? Do you find some of these tips worth trying out? Share your thoughts with me in the comments below.