How to Remove Red Wine Stains from You Carpet
How Do I Remove Red Wine Stains? – The Sun Dry Guide to Cleaning Carpets
First things First – The general rule
Blot up the spilt red wine as soon as possible. The longer you let the red wine sit on your carpet, the harder it will be to remove the stain. As soon as you see the grab a cloth or paper & start to blot the stain, this is to pick up as much liquid as possible before it has had a chance to set.
Dab the stain, never rub it! As rubbing will just force the red wine further into the carpets fibres, that’ll make it harder to remove later. Also, it may increase the size of the stain spreading it into a larger surface area. Instead, work from the outside inwards, blotting away at the edges & then moving to the centre of the stain.
Start to apply cold water to the stained area & keep on blotting away. As time progress, it will get harder to blot more of the wine stain out. At this stage, try to get the stain wet again with a small amount of cold water, this will help to dilute the remaining wine in the carpet. Keep on blotting ways (not rubbing) until the carpet is dry again.
Using Salt to Remove Red Wine from Carpet
Firstly pour some salt over the stain while it’s still wet. Dabbing will soak up most of the red wine out of the carpet, but not always all of it. To help get the rest of the wine out of your carpet, try covering the stained spot with another generous portion of salt & leave for a few hours. Salt granules will gradually draw the remaining moisture in the stain; out of the carpet over the next few hours.
As the salt method works by absorbing a stain’s moisture, it’s less efficient for dried in stains, for dry stains – pour a some water on the stain first before adding the salt.
Let the salt sit for a short while, as it starts to absorb the wine; the salt will gradually turn a pinkish colour. As leaving the salt on the stain for as long as possible is a good thing using this method, if you can; leave the salt sitting on the stain overnight.
The next day, discard the excess salt by scooping it up with a dustpan then use a vacuum cleaner to remove the smaller particles of salt.
If a salty residue remains after the first vacuuming, just dampen the area again with a little cold water, then use a vacuum cleaner to restore the carpets natural texture.
Using a White Wine Vinegar & Water Solution
How to make the cleaning solution.
- In a large bowl, mix 1 tablespoon (15 millilitres) of dishwashing liquid,
- 1 tablespoon of white vinegar, &
- 2 cups (236 millilitres) of warm water.
- Stir to combine the three ingredients.
Note: Only use white vinegar for this method. Other types of vinegar can cause their own stains.
Apply the vinegar mixture to the red wine stain with a clean rag, then begin to dab it onto the stained part of the carpet. The mixture will seep into the carpet fibres, & start to loosen the stain.
Use another [dry] cloth to blot the liquid as you proceed to clean up the stain. Alternate between applying the vinegar solution & drying up the stained area.
The next step is to wet the whole stain with some cold water. Now, soak another rag in cold water, then press it into to stain to dilute the wine stain further. Alternatively, you can pour a little water directly onto the stain & soak-up by dabbing with your drying cloth once again.
Repeat this process as required as you may not completely remove the stain in one go.
Using Hydrogen Peroxide & Dish Soap to Remove Red Wine from Carpet
Note: Hydrogen peroxide is a mild bleaching agent, so only use this method is best for light-colored fabrics. If you’re worried about discoloring your carpet, try putting a small amount of the solution on a small part of the carpet that can’t be seen, first.
First, mix some hydrogen peroxide with a generous squirt of soap to the & stir to combine. The exact amount of the mixture you require will depend on the size of your red wine stain, but you shouldn’t need much more than a half cup (118 millilitres) or so, for most stains.
To begin, blot the stain with the solution by soaking the corner of a clean rag in your peroxide solution & dabbing the stain gently, allowing the mixture to seep into the carpet fibres. Repeat this process as needed, until you’ve applied the solution to the stain affected area.
As always, don’t rub — blot.
When you’ve finished, let the leave things alone for a few minutes., this allows it to penetrate deeper into the carpet fibers, & reach deep into the stain.
Next, you need to spray the area with cold soapy water using a separate water & liquid soap solution – this is made by using a clean spray bottle, filled with cold water, with adding a few drops of st&ard liquid dishwashing soap. Screw the cap back on – & shake to combine.
If you don’t have a spray bottle at h&, you can jusr repeat the blotting technique above with a fresh towel. Finally, blot the whole area with some lukewarm water to rinse. By now, the stain should be looking a lot better.
Finish the whole process off by blotting with a clean, dry towel.
Using Baking Soda & White Wine
Start by pouring a small amount of white wine onto the stain. It may seem like an odd thing to do, but white wine can be a lifesaver if you don’t have water at h&. This works because white wine dilutes the colour of the red stain, very much like water.
Some people recommend using vodka if you don’t have white wine, it does work. Whatever, try to avoid Moscato & sweet dessert wines for this method as they’ll leave a sticky, sugary mess.
Blot the stain with a clean, dry sponge. Do this process quite lightly, just enough to soak up some of the stain, avoiding pressing the stain further into the carpet.
Apply a baking soda paste to the stained area, the paste (itself) is made by combining 3 parts of water to 1 part of baking soda. Make enough to this mixture so you can apply a generous mixture to the stain.
Leave the stain overnight, cover it with a clean damp cloth with heavy weight on top of the cloth. This gentle pressure pushes the baking soda down into the stain so that it can work on the stain; more deeply.
In the morning use a vacuum cleaner up the dried baking soda compound. As with the salt method above, if your carpet still has a powdery residue after vacuuming, pour a small amount of cold water over it to dissolve the baking soda, leave, & vacuum once again.
Know When to Call us, Sun Dry Professional Carpet Cleaners
Regardless of what you do, red wine stains simply won’t completely come out. All of the methods in this article just stop your carpet from being too badly stained. As professional carpet cleaners, we have experience, tools & techniques to do the job properly.
Don’t waste any more time, call Sun Dry Carpet Cleaning now on (07) 3889 0300, email info@sundry.com.au or fill out the Online Quote Form (Click here).
