While there’s no going back in time to prevent the spill, you can indeed get your carpet to look good as new once again.
If you act fast and follow these simple steps, that red wine stain won’t stand a chance against you and your carpet.
1. Act fast and blot away
Using a clean cloth or paper towels, gently dab the wine spill to soak up whatever liquid hasn’t yet absorbed into the carpet fibers. Be careful not to rub the stain– you could actually push the wine pigments further into the fabric, making it even more difficult to fully remove the stain.
Complete this step as quickly as possible to prevent more wine from being absorbed into the carpet.
2. Use household absorbents
After you’re done blotting away any excess wine, use an absorbent powder to pull the stain from the carpet fibers. While simple table salt usually works best, you can also use baking soda, talcum powder or even kitty litter if you don’t have extra salt lying around.
Let the salt or other powder sit for several minutes. 10-20 usually does the trick, depending on how large the stain is and how long it sat before you began cleanup.
3. Keep blotting
After the salt has sat for a while, you’ll see it has turned a pinkish-red color – a good sign, because it means the salt is doing its job soaking up the wine. Use a clean cloth to blot the salt and wine off the carpet.
Again, be sure not to rub as it can further damage the stained area. Allow the area to dry before using a vacuum to remove the rest of the salt granules from your carpet.
Other helpful hacks to remove wine stains
- 1:1 mixture of club soda and vinegar: If the salt-and-blot method isn’t enough to fully remove the wine spill from your carpet, you may want to try blotting out the stain with a 1:1 mixture of club soda and white vinegar. Just make sure the vinegar is white vinegar, as other types will only add fuel to the fire and worsen the stain.
- Oxi cleaner or a 3:1 mixture of hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing liquid: If you have a white carpet, you can apply an oxi cleaner or a 3:1 mixture of hydrogen peroxide and dishwashing liquid directly to the stain. Let the mixture sit for at least 20 minutes and up to an hour before using a clean cloth to blot the cleaner up. After you’re done blotting the mixture, dampen a clean cloth with warm water to clean the soap and peroxide from the carpet. Peroxide is a bleaching agent, so do not use this mixture on colored carpets!
