How to Remove Red Wine from a Carpet

Depending on the carpet’s material and how quickly you act – red wine stains can be removed from your carpet – it just may take patience and a little extra elbow grease. Several household solutions can help get rid of the spill, or you can call a professional carpet cleaner like Carpet Tech. Removing the spot will depend on the type of carpet and how long the wine has sat on the surface. 

Whether you’ve got a relatively fresh stain to deal with or the stain has been sitting for quite some time, here are some helpful tips to try to remove red wine from carpets by yourself.

Are Red Wine Stains Permanent?

Before jumping into how to remove red wine stains from carpets, it’s essential to address one of the most asked questions regarding red wine spills:

Are red wine stains permanent?

Unfortunately, red wine can become a permanent stain if it sits for too long. Another lesser-known fact: if the stain is exposed to high temperatures, it can affect your ability to lift the stain – resulting in a ruined carpet. 

That’s why you must act immediately. You can try to use laundry detergent to dilute the stain. It’s important to note that you do not want to scrub the stain, as it could end up spreading the red wine and making the stained area much more prominent. Instead, take a dry towel and blot the stain. Since the towel is dry, it will help lift the stain up and away from the carpet, and the sooner you can get started, the less likely the stain will set and permanently ruin the carpet. 

Do You Wash Red Wine Stains in Hot or Cold Water? 

Another frequently asked question regarding red wine stains is whether you should use hot or cold water. The good news is that both options have their benefits. 

Cold water is excellent for removing stains and is one of the simplest methods if you are attempting to remove a red wine stain right after it happens. For this method, you need to pour cold water gradually over the affected area. This will help to dilute the color of the wine. While you are pouring the water, make sure you are dabbing the spot with a dry towel to lift the red wine and prevent the liquid from spreading further, as this can result in the stain spreading as well. 

If you choose to use hot water, you want to make sure it’s nice and hot. Once the water is ready, you want to follow the procedure above, making sure to blot the stain with a clean towel as you add the water. Remember – do not scrub the stain! This will only make matters more complicated. 

Be careful not to get the carpet excessively wet. Excess liquid in your carpet when trying to clean it yourself can degrade the backing system of your carpet and/or cause mold.

Unfortunately, stains can happen without our knowledge, and sometimes, we simply forget to return to them after the fact. Does that mean your carpet is done for? Not entirely. When addressing the question, “How to remove red wine from a carpet,” there are a few approaches you can attempt To try to remove or lessen the stain yourself before calling in a professional carpet cleaner. 

How to Remove Red Wine from a Carpet: 5 Methods Worth Trying

Whether you’re the red wine connoisseur of your home or you have clumsy company, having some DIY tips for cleaning up wine stains on your carpet can come in handy. If you’re not quite sure where to start, why not give one of these five methods a try?

1. Vinegar 

If you have a dried-in red wine stain on your carpet, you may want to give white vinegar a try, but first, be sure to test a hidden patch of carpet. While vinegar can be an effective solution to treat carpet spills, it can also damage the carpet fibers’ appearance and condition. You’ll want to use cleaning vinegar, which is approximately 20% more acidic than your standard food vinegar, which means it will be more effective at dissolving the red pigment found in the wine. You’ll also want to be sure you are using white vinegar to ensure no additional dye is added to the stain during the cleaning process. 

Before you get started, you’re going to need a few things, including:

2 tablespoons of white distilled vinegar

1/4 cup of either salt or baking soda 

Once you have everything ready, you can go ahead and mix the ingredients in a small bowl or cup until it makes a paste-like substance. Before you apply the paste, take a dry towel, and soak up as much of the red wine as possible. From there, you simply apply the cleaning solution to the remaining stain and let it dry. The final step is simply vacuuming up the remaining salt or baking soda left on the spot. 

2. Hydrogen Peroxide

If you don’t have vinegar on hand, then another excellent method for removing red wine stains from a carpet is using hydrogen peroxide to bleach it out. This method is excellent for white carpets since the risk of bleaching the color of the carpet is less likely. That said, you’ll still want to perform a test spot on a small portion of the rug to ensure that the material won’t be affected.

It’s crucial to note that since hydrogen peroxide is a bleaching agent, you never want to apply it directly to the surface of your carpet. You always need to dilute it with water or a detergent/dishwashing soap. One common mixture is to combine half a cup of 3% part hydrogen peroxide with a quarter cup of liquid soap such as Dawn dish soap.

Once the solution is prepared, you should gently blot the stain with a dry rag again to lift any remaining wine. If it’s an old tough stain, then you may begin by dipping a clean cloth into the hydrogen peroxide mix and gently blotting it directly on the spot. Once satisfied, you’ll want to let the solution sit and soak into the carpet.

To rinse the solution out of your carpet, you simply need to blot the area with a rag that has been soaked in warm water and/or a water and dish soap mix. Using a spray bottle, you can spray the spot and start blotting it with another dry cloth to lift the stain and any remaining liquid. Once the area is dry, go ahead and vacuum the spot as usual.

3. Baking Soda

Baking Soda is another option for homeowners who need to remove a red wine stain from their carpet because it’s one of those staple items you’ll likely have on hand in the laundry room. While it is considered nature’s deodorizer, it can be harmful to carpets and vacuums, so use it carefully and sparingly. 

There are two options you can choose from when attempting to lift a red wine stain from your carpet using baking soda:

Blot the area with water, then apply a mixture of baking soda and water (which should have a paste-like consistency) to the site. You’ll then want to let the mixture dry and then vacuum the remaining baking soda up. 

Mix a quarter cup of baking soda with a tablespoon of white vinegar until it reaches a pasty consistency. Use the paste to cover the entire stain and let dry before vacuuming up the leftover baking soda. 

Either method should be effective, though more stubborn stains may need additional treatment to ensure the spot is lifted completely. 

4. Salt

Another excellent household necessity that can be used to remove red wine stains from carpets is table salt. That’s because the grains of salt absorb the wine, sucking the color away from the carpet. It can also help clean the surface by gently scrubbing the area in tiny circles, ensuring you aren’t spreading the stain further. Be careful to use table salt only, as rock salt is corrosive and can damage your carpets.

Once you’ve blotted the stained area with a clean, dry rag, you’ll want to sprinkle salt on the stained area and let it sit there for 2-3 minutes. The salt should start absorbing the red wine. If the stain isn’t lifting as you would like, you can leave the salt on the spot overnight. Once you’re ready to rinse the site out, you’ll want to use warm water if possible. If the stain has lifted, you can simply let the area dry and vacuum as usual. However, if the spot is still there, you can attempt the removal process until you reach the desired outcome.

5. OxiClean

If you’re not quite sure about these home remedies for removing red wine from your carpet, then you can head to the store and check out what they have to help you remove stains. One popular choice that you’ve likely come across is the product OxiClean.

This product is a mixture of washing soda sodium percarbonate, and several other ingredients. Sodium percarbonate is not only an excellent disinfectant but is also used as a replacement for traditional chlorine bleach. That’s because this ingredient is much more color-safe compared to bleach – although you still need to perform a test cleaning on a small area to determine just how color-safe it will be.   If you have a wool, silk leather, or dry clean-only carpet, do not use OxiClean, as it may damage it!

If you choose to use the dry OxiClean formula, you’ll want to create a mixture of 1 part OxiClean to 16 ounces of water. Apply the mixture directly to the stain, again, completely saturating it. Let it stand for anywhere between 1 and 5 minutes before blotting it with a dry towel to soak up the access liquid. Let dry and vacuum as usual. 

Get Rid of Stubborn Red Wine Stains with Help from Carpet Tech

Enjoying a glass of red wine is meant to be a relaxing moment. Unfortunately, things happen, and sometimes that results in red wine stains on our favorite carpet. While there are many options worth exploring regarding wine stain removal, red wine stains can sometimes prove to be more challenging than expected, especially if you don’t act fast. 

Whether you’ve tried any of the methods above, or simply want to have the problem taken care of by a trusted professional, then let the Carpet Tech team help Our professional truck-mounted steam cleaning equipment gets the job done right the first time, without fear or worry of damaging your rugs, carpets or upholstery. 

If you’ve got stubborn wine stains on your carpets, call our expert carpet technicians, and we’ll come to assess the situation!