We’ve all experienced that horror moment as you feel your foot connect with a glass of red wine on the floor. Hello, red wine stain! This is every homeowner’s worst nightmare, particularly for those with neutral or light-colored carpets and an ingrained fear of stains.

If this is you right now, take a deep breath. Runrug is here to restore calm to your life with some of the best ways to remove red wine from carpets. The best news is you’ll probably have most of the essential household ingredients already to hand, meaning you can remove red wine stains as soon as possible.

OK, now try these five easy home remedy tips to discover how to get red wine out of carpets.

Table of contents

• The salt and vinegar trick
• The baking soda trick
• The washing up liquid trick
• The ‘add more alcohol’ trick
• The carpet cleaners trick
• A summary of how to clean red wine stains from carpet

1. The salt & vinegar trick

Every household has salt and vinegar on standby in the cupboard, so reach for these quickly and start removing red wine from rugs and carpets.

Salt on a red wine stain

While the red wine carpet stain is still wet, use paper towels or a cloth to soak up as much of the liquid as you can. Then tip on enough salt to cover the stain completely and leave it on all day or overnight. The salt will start to draw out the remaining moisture and wine from the carpet, turning it a faint pink color. Then scoop up the salt and vacuum the carpet – the stain should now be gone.

Vinegar on a red wine stain

Out of salt? Try mixing a tablespoon of white vinegar (make sure it’s white and not malt!) with a tablespoon of washing up liquid and two cups of warm water. Stir it up, dip a clean cloth into it and begin dabbing the stain to loosen it. Alternate between the solution cloth and a dry cloth to soak up excess moisture along the way, and finish off by pouring cold water over the area and dabbing this up with another clean cloth. Repeat until the stain is gone.

2. The baking soda trick

No guide that discusses how to clean red wine off carpets would be complete without mentioning this life hack. Another store cupboard staple, baking soda (also known as bicarbonate of soda) can be highly effective for getting red wine out of carpet even after it has dried. If the stain has begun to dry out, tip some water over it and soak up as much of the stain as possible with paper towels. Then tip a small amount of baking soda onto the stain, but don’t go overboard with this.

The stain will gradually change from red to a pale gray – this is normal so don’t worry – and you should leave it on overnight. The next day, dab the area with a clean cloth soaked in white vinegar and then vacuum. You should now be stain-free.

3. The washing up liquid trick

This method is only going to work if you happen to have some hydrogen peroxide (a common household disinfectant and hair bleaching product) to hand. If you haven’t, skip to the next tip.

Mix plenty of washing up liquid with a few drops of hydrogen peroxide and soak the corner of a clean cloth in your solution. Use this corner to gently dab at the stain until the entire area has some solution on it and leave it for a short while to soak up the stain. Then spray a mixture of cold soapy water over the stain and dap with a dry cloth before blotting with warm water as a final rinse.

Remember, though, Hydrogen Peroxide is a bleaching agent, so always handle it with care and make sure you don’t leave it soaking into your carpet for hours on end. Remember to patch test on an inconspicuous area first.

4. The ‘add more alcohol’ trick

Did you think the method of using white wine to remove red wine stains was an urban myth? Not so!

Dab up as much of the stain as you can with paper towels first, then simply tip a small amount of white wine onto the stained area and dab with a clean cloth. Alternate pouring and dabbing until the stain is gone.

No white wine? If you’ve got some gin to hand this can work just as well. Again, dab with a dry cloth or paper towel to lift as much of the stain and moisture as you can and then carry out the same process as with the white wine. Pour, dab, pour dab. The stain should be gone in no time.

5. The carpet cleaners trick

If none of the above methods have worked, or your house is out of alcohol, salt and baking items, you can always turn to the reliable solution of carpet cleaning products. Things like carpet shampoo and carpet area cleaner sprays can be used in conjunction with suction cleaners to lift stains without damaging carpets.

If you don’t have a suction carpet cleaner, you can also use spot cleaners and carpet stain removal sprays to remove even the most stubborn red wine stains from carpets. Make sure you read the instructions carefully before applying. You will then know how to get red wine out of the carpet without fear of damaging its fibers.

A summary of how to clean red wine stains from carpet

Sometimes the best way to remove red wine from carpet is to try using everyday items found at home. Whether you reach for the salt and/or vinegar, baking soda, washing up liquid, alcohol or a branded carpet cleaner, we can’t wait for you to realize the results of removing red wine from carpets.

Do you have other carpet stains to remove but don’t know where to start? Scroll down to visit our related articles, with further stain-removal tips available on our blog.

Now you know how to get red wine out of a carpet, you can enjoy your next glass of the red stuff without the anxiety. There’s only one more thing to say … Cheers!

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