Red Wine Stains On Your Carpet: How To Deal With It

It’s like a nightmare just to think about the deadly and notorious red wine stains on your favourite carpet. And it’s a common mishappening which can occur in any home. If your rug is placed in a high traffic area, it is prone to spills of foods and liquids. Even a lot of families tend to place their rug underneath the dining table and make their carpets highly prone to such accidents like liquid spills.

The biggest problem is you just can’t do anything about it. The carpets are meant to be placed in these areas as they look best and enhance the visual appeal of that area.

So, for all the rug lovers, here is a list of the solutions to deal with the red wine stains. These are few simple steps and major ingredients are already available in your kitchen pantry. But before moving towards the key methods, here are some basic rules which you need to know.

The faster you react, the better will be the result

Well, in this case, it is indeed the sooner the better. As soon as you witness the spill, react instantly with a clean white paper towel to blot the stained area.

Remember to blot, not to rub

The most important thing to keep in mind is the cleaning technique. You need to blot the stained area instead of rubbing. Rubbing will spread the liquid to nearby fibres and enlarge the affected area.

Now let’s discuss the cleaning methods in detail.

1. Using salt

The easiest and most common method of all. First soak up all the wine using a clean white rag. After all the soaking, sprinkle the generous amount of salt over stained area. Let the salt sit to absorb all the moisture in the stain out of the carpet. Once the salt turns pinkish, you can remove them with a spoon. Now dampen the area using little cold water to remove any salt residue and vacuum again properly.

2. Using vinegar solution

Create a solution in a bowl with 1 tablespoon of white vinegar, 1 tablespoon of dishwashing liquid, 2 cups of warm water and stir it well.

Now a good dabbing job is required to allow the mixture to seep into the fibres. Alternatively in between the dabs, you need to pick second dry rag to soak up all the liquids. Continue the process multiple times until you see the stain getting diminished.

Use a third rag soaked in cold water to press on to the stains and dilute the wine. Once you are done, soak up all the water by dabbing with your dry towel again. Again, you might need to continue the process until you see the desire outcome.

3. Using hydrogen peroxide and dish soap

Combine generous squirt of soap and hydrogen peroxide and stir it properly. The size of the stain will determine the amount of the solution you’ll need but it shouldn’t be more than half a cup (118 ml).

Use a rag to dab the stains gently allowing the mixture to penetrate into the fibres. Continue working on the stains until the solution is properly applied over it.

Now spray on the stains with a cold soapy water. If you don’t have the spray bottle, you can do the blotting technique as mentioned above. Now soak up the soapy residue with a clean rag dipped in cold water. Blot it until you achieve the desired outcome.

NOTE: Since hydrogen peroxide is a bleaching agent, so it might not be suitable for some rugs. You should first check if this doesn’t have any side effects like discoloring your fibres. You can do it on an area which is less visible to test its compatibility with your rug.