It’s not uncommon for a glass, or two, of Merlot to spill over a carpet in the living room as you entertain some guests.
The difficult part is to remain calm throughout this time, especially when you know an army of tiny red droplets are invading your carpet’s fibres as you stand there. Plus, you can’t show your wine-tipping guest that you’re livid with them!
So, how do you get red wine out of a carpet without causing chaos? Keep on reading to find out.
Always…
- Act as fast as possible! Don’t wait around for the stain to dry on your carpet. Grab a cloth and soak up the liquid as fast as you can.
- Test! Always test your method and products out on an unnoticeable part of your carpet. Don’t assume that all methods will work for you.
- Dab/blot! If you rub gently or vigorously at the stain, you’ll just be pushing the red wine deeper and deeper into your carpet’s fibres. This will just result in you having a stain that is harder to remove.
- Keep kids and animals away from the stain! When there’s a lovely liquid stain on your carpet the last thing you want is for children and pets to run through it and to drag the stain around the house. Plus, not all products mentioned below should be used around kids and animals.
- Soak up the liquid! If you’ve managed to get to the stain in time, you’ll be able to soak a lot of the liquid up with paper towels. This’ll stop the stain from embedding itself in your carpet.
- Start removing the stain from the outside! To prevent the red wine stain from spreading any further work from the outside of the stain in.
- Gather your supplies! The last thing you want is to be midway through cleaning your stain before realising you’ve forgotten to grab some essential supplies. Plan what you need and take it over to the stain with you, that way you won’t waste precious time rushing back and forth to get goodies.
- Keep the carpet as dry as possible! You don’t want to start dumping gallons of liquid onto your carpet to remove your wine stain. Wet carpets are not really a good thing because they don’t dry all that fast and they can start to smell. So, if you are going to use liquids, use them sparingly—less is best.
- Use white cloths to clean! If you soak, blot and clean the red wine stain away with white cloths you won’t be risking dying the carpet any further. In addition to this, you’ll actually be able to see the red wine on the cloth more clearly.
- Wear protective gear! While red wine isn’t going to be too lethal for you, some methods below use products that are dangerous. So, when you use them, you should wear protective gear. Gloves should be worn at a minimum.
How to Get Red Wine Out of a Carpet
Below you’ll find a number of methods that can help you to remove red wine from a carpet. You can try one method at a time, or combine a few of them together to get the desired end result.
Method 1: White vinegar
What you need:
- White vinegar
- Warm water
- Washing up liquid
- Cloths
- Teaspoon
- Bowl
- Cup
- Paper towels
- Cold water
Steps you need to take:
- Grab a cloth/paper towel and soak up as much red wine as you can.
- Add tiny amounts of water to the stained area to try and dilute the red wine.
- Continue to soak up the liquid.
- Put a small amount of white vinegar onto a clean cloth, go over to a hidden piece of carpet, and test out what happens to the carpet when vinegar is added to it.
- If no dye comes off and the carpet looks fine, continue with this method.
- Pop half a teaspoon of white vinegar into a bowl.
- Add half a teaspoon of washing up liquid to the bowl.
- Add two cups of warm water to the bowl.
- Mix the ingredients together.
- Dip a clean cloth into the watery mixture.
- Start blotting the red wine stain with the damp cloth.
- Repeat this over and over until the stain has disappeared.
- Dry the stained area with more paper towels.
- Add a small amount of cold water to the area and soak it up with more paper towels, if need be.
Method 2: Hydrogen peroxide
NOTE: Hydrogen peroxide is a very strong chemical that is likely to cause some discoloration on your carpet. This product should be used with caution and care. Always wear protective gear.
What you need:
- Cloths
- Paper towels
- Hydrogen peroxide
- Washing up liquid
- Bowl
- Cold water
Steps you need to take:
- Grab a cloth/paper towel and soak up as much red wine as you can.
- Add tiny amounts of water to the stained area to try and dilute the red wine.
- Continue to soak up the liquid.
- Keep kids and pets out of the room.
- Put two parts of hydrogen peroxide in a bowl.
- Add one part washing up liquid into the bowl.
- Grab a damp cloth that’s been soaked in the mixture, and test it out on a hidden patch of carpet.
- If all is well, continue.
- Grab a cloth and dab the mixture in the bowl onto the red wine stain.
- Continue to do this until the stain has been removed.
- Quirt the area with some cold water when you are done and soak up the remaining liquid.
Method 3: Salt
What you need:
- Cloths
- Paper towels
- Salt
- Hoover
- Cold water
Steps you need to take:
- Grab a cloth/paper towel and soak up as much red wine as you can.
- Add tiny amounts of water to the stained area to try and dilute the red wine.
- Continue to soak up the liquid.
- Cover the entire area with salt.
- Leave the salt to sit on the stain like this for some time.
- The salt will eventually absorb the red wine.
- Dampen the salt with a little cold water and blot the area.
- Hoover away the salt.
- Repeat if necessary.
Method 4: Bicarbonate of soda
What you need:
- Cloths
- Paper towels
- Bowl
- Bicarbonate of soda
- Water
- Hoover
Steps you need to take:
- Grab a cloth/paper towel and soak up as much red wine as you can.
- Add tiny amounts of water to the stained area to try and dilute the red wine.
- Continue to soak up the liquid.
- In a bowl add three parts of bicarbonate of soda to one part of water.
- Mix the ingredients up so that you end up with a paste.
- Spread this paste onto the entire stained area.
- Allow it to rest like this for a few minutes.
- Grab a damp cloth and start blotting at the area.
- Repeat the steps above until the stain has been removed entirely.
- When the stain has been removed, create one final bicarbonate of soda and water paste and spread it evenly over where the stain was.
- Allow the paste to dry and then hoover it away.
Method 5: Soda water
What you need:
- Paper towels
- Cloths
- Soda water
- Bowl
Steps you need to take:
- Grab a cloth/paper towel and soak up as much red wine as you can.
- Add tiny amounts of water to the stained area to try and dilute the red wine.
- Continue to soak up the liquid.
- Pour the soda water into a bowl.
- Get a cloth and soak it in the soda water.
- Start blotting the red wine stain with the damp cloth.
- Keep repeating these steps until the stain has gone.
- Soak up as much liquid as possible as you work.
Method 6: Specialised stain removers
If you’re not interested in making a homemade recipe to remove your red wine stain, you could pop to your local supermarket, or hop online, to buy an actual stain remover.
Plus, you can buy specialised red wine stain removers. They aren’t difficult to use, and they may contain special chemicals that are designed to remove red wine stains, rather than just being your regular everyday stain remover.
Stain removers for carpets usually have mixed results, and it all depends on what material your carpet is made out of, what colour it is and how old the stain is.
Here are a couple of options that you could try out.
- Lakeland Wine No More! – If you’re concerned about using harsh chemicals and bleach in your home, then this bleach-free product is worth a try. It’s very simple to use and you can see some results within five minutes of use – Check it out on Amazon.co.uk.
- Dirtbusters Stain Remover – If you’re looking for a stain remover that packs some punch then the Dirtbusters Stain Remover might be what you’re after. This professional standard carpet cleaner, that is sometimes used by cleaning companies, also comes in a 1 litre bottle, so you’ll have plenty of use out of it – Check it out on Amazon.co.uk.
- Vanish Carpet and Upholstery Stain Remover – If you’d prefer to go with a bigger and a more well-known brand then try Vanish Carpet and Upholstery Stain Remover. It’s very easy to use this product, you just spray the product onto the stain and then you wipe the area down – Check it out on Amazon.co.uk.
Keep in mind that not all carpet cleaners will give you brilliant results. And you may need to try a few different products before your red wine stain is completely removed from your carpet.
Method 7: Professional carpet cleaners
When it comes to professional help you have two options: find a suitable carpet cleaning company and ask them for help, or rent a carpet cleaning machine. I’ll go into more detail about both options below.
Contact a company that cleans carpets
If you’ve really not had any luck with the methods above, then you need to call in some pros!
Professional carpet cleaners can be found throughout the UK, and many offer various carpet cleaning services and solutions that can help you out. They’ll get rid of your tough, dried on red wine stain in no time!
Things to look out for when hiring a carpet cleaning service:
- Pick a suitable and reputable company.
- Make sure you read the small print before signing any contracts.
- Ask questions.
- Find out what solutions and techniques they will use.
- Find out the price before you agree to the session.
- Prices and services may vary depending on your location.
Machine rentals
If you feel confident enough to clean your red wine stain away yourself, but you just need a little more machine power, then you could rent a carpet cleaning machine.
Carpet cleaning machines can be hired out for days at a time, they usually do a very good clean and they’re simple to use.
When picking a machine to rent, consider the following options:
- Rug Doctor Standard (ideal for homes)
- Rug Doctor Wide Track (good for larger-scale cleaning sessions)
- Karcher Domestic Cleaner (ideal for home use)
- Truvox Hydromist (better for bigger areas)
Things to look out for when renting a carpet cleaning machine:
- Read up on the machine before you rent it.
- Make sure you know how to use the machine.
- Look up the dos and don’ts.
- Prices usually vary depending on when/where/how long you have the machine for.
- Read up on any potential extra costs.
Read our guide on hiring a carpet cleaning machine if you decide this option is right for you.
Bethan has a passion for exploring, reading, cooking and gardening! When she’s not creating culinary delights for her family, she’s concocting potions to keep her house clean!
