The party went crazy and left you with a dreadful red mark on the favorite carpet? Or maybe you were enjoying a peaceful evening when the glass lost its balance and the worst has happened? Incidents happen to the best of us. Their consequences can be not dealt with if you know what to do and act fast. In the previous post, we have written about how to remove coffee from a rug. Today, we will share tips and tricks on how to remove red wine from carpet.
Before you start removing wine out of carpet, there are a few steps to prepare the rug for the most effective stain removal.
- Act fast. You have most chances of removing the rug if you deal with it as soon as a spillage has happened.
- Blot up whatever was spilled. The more wine you blot, the easier it will b for the cleaning solution to remove it from the rug fibers. For blotting, use a clean paper towel or a clean cloth, better of white color, so that you can see when the blotting doesn’t leave more liquid on the cloth. Blot in an up-to-down motion, try not to rub the rug, because it will only help the wine to penetrate the fibers deeper. Start blotting from the sides and move to the center of the stain, to avoid spreading it.
- Put some cold water on the rug. It will dilute the stain. Keep blotting until the water changes its color to lighter, and the rug is dry again.
Method 1: How to Get Red Wine Out of Carpet Using Salt
This is a very popular and budget-friendly method, which doesn’t require any extra equipment and skills. You can clean the rug with what every house has.
For this, you’ll need the usual kitchen salt. Apply a fair amount of it onto the stain while it’s still moist, The salt will absorb the wine, that’s why this method works best for the new and wet stains, not the old ones. Leave the salt on the stain for a while, so that it absorbs enough liquid, and turns into a pinkish color. It’s even a good idea to leave salt on the stain overnight.
Remove the salt with a spoon, and vacuum clean the rug to get rid of any salt residue. You’ll see that the stain is greatly diminished or has even disappeared. If the rug is salty and contains salt residue, pour some water on it, let it dry, and vacuum clean it to make the fibers fluffy again.
Method 2: How to Remove a Wine Stain Using Vinegar
Start with preparing a cleaning solution that you will use. To mix it, you will need:
- 1 tablespoon (15 milliliters) of dishwashing liquid
- 1 tablespoon of white vinegar
- 2 cups (236 milliliters) of warm water
Mix the ingredients together well with a spoon, and apply the mixture to the stain with a clean rug. Blot it well with a second cloth, repeat the process until the stain disappears. Usually, the process requires at least a few repetitions. Wet the stain with cold water, and blot the area again.
Method 3: How to Remove a Stain Using Dish Soap and Hydrogen Peroxide
This is another popular method of wine stain removal, that can be easily done at home. This method is good for light-colored rugs because hydrogen peroxide has mild bleaching properties. To prepare the cleaning mixture, you will need:
- 100 milliliters of hydrogen peroxide (might need more, depending on the size of your stain)
- 50 milliliters of dish soap
Mix the ingredients well, until the dish soap completely dissolves in the peroxide. Blot the cleaning solution onto the stain, dab the rug gently to make sure it gets into the fibers. Once you apply the solution to the stain, let it sit there for a few minutes. This will help to remove even the deep stains.
Blot the spot with lukewarm water, to remove the sticky residue from the rug. After that, blot the spot with a dry towel. If needed, vacuum clean the carpet to make the fibers fluffy and give your rug a fresh look.
See, cleaning is not that difficult when you know how to remove a wine stain from a carpet in a few easy steps. Save our guide and share it with your friends who might be looking for the same solution.
What NOT to DO When You Are Trying to Get Red Wine Out of Carpet
- Apply heat
Even if the stain does not dry, you do not want hot air to be introduced to hasten the drying process. When a stain dries, the chemical process it goes through changes because of the heat. A persistent or virtually permanent stain might be expected if heat is applied to the area. Put the hair drier away and don’t put any discolored items in the dryer before using any pre-wash cleaning procedures, for the love of god. Put down the hairdryer.
- Attempt to remove the stain by scrubbing it
Scrubbing will help remove a bit of the red wine, but it will have the opposite effect on the stain, causing it to spread even further afield. Too much pressure will just force the red wine deeper into the cloth, so go easy on the pressing. A red wine spill on the sofa or on the carpeting is a particular problem.
- Wait for the stain to dry
While trying to remove red wine from carpet right away might be difficult, waiting till the next day is not a good idea. The more time red wine spends in your system, the deeper it sinks into your fibers. As time passes, they’ll “set” it and will be harder to get rid of. Not to mention that red wine is essentially a pigment waiting to happen.
- Use white wine as a stain remover on red wine
Whoever made this ridiculous story, don’t listen to them. Red wine’s coloring ingredients cannot be neutralized by white wine, nor will white wine work as a cleaner. White wine, on the other hand, may exacerbate the problem by encouraging the development of your red wine staining even further. Avoid squandering white wine on the red wine spill for the sake of your own mental health and your own sanity.