Have you dropped a glass of red wine on your clothes? Act quickly! Removing red wine stains from clothes is easy if you know what products and tricks to use.
The most important thing is that you clean the stain quickly to prevent the wine from settling into the fibers of the fabric. Let’s see how to remove wine from clothes and other home textiles.
Drinking wine is a pleasure. Staining your clothes with it, not so much, especially when the liquid falls on a white garment, on delicate fabrics or on that new shirt you just wore.
In fact, red wine stains can be very stubborn if not treated in time. For this same reason, it is very important that you use kitchen paper to absorb excess wine and that you treat the stain as soon as possible.
Next, we show you the easiest tricks to remove wine stains from clothes, carpets and tablecloths.
Prevents the wine stain from spreading
But before knowing them, you need to know how to act when red wine has been spilled on your clothes:
- Do not rub the garment. When we spill wine on our clothes, most of the time we run out and try to “clean” the affected part with water. Try not to do this! You will only make the stain bigger.
- Use absorbent paper. It is best to use absorbent paper (kitchen paper) to remove the excess so that the wine does not spread further across the garment.
- Check the garment label. Silk, thread or any polyamide, polyester and lycra fabrics should be washed according to the manufacturer’s specifications. Subjecting them to high temperatures or washing them with certain types of chemicals could easily damage them. Therefore, it is advisable that you consult the garment label to know exactly how to wash, dry and iron a wine-stained garment, if applicable.
- Do not let the wine dry on the garment. Wine stains are very complicated. Imagine if you let the wine dry and remain on the garment for days? Not only will it smell bad, but the stain will be harder to clean. So you know, act quickly.
Products such as cleaning vinegar or milk are excellent for removing wine stains easily.
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How to remove wine stains from clothes
Next, we show you 8 effective methods to remove wine stains from clothes and other fabrics :
1. Use milk to remove wine from clothes
Milk is a great food and will also be one of your best allies to remove wine from clothes quickly. This is because it acts like an acid. Therefore, to remove wine stains with milk, you only have to heat 2 to 3 cups of milk in a container and place the wine-stained garment in it. The garment is then left to soak until the wine has diluted.
Finally, you can finish cleaning the garment in the washing machine (or by hand). The best thing about this trick? You can use milk to remove wine stains from delicate fabrics.
2. Use talcum powder to prevent the wine from spreading
If the wine stains are recent and the garment is still damp, we recommend using talcum powder, as it prevents the wine from spreading through the garment and making it larger.
All you have to do is sprinkle a generous amount of talcum powder on the wine stain and let it dry. When a minimum of six hours have passed, remove the talcum powder, shake the garment and wash it with water and liquid or powder detergent.
This trick does not eliminate the wine stain, but it does help remove it and prevent, as we say, its spread.
If you don’t have talcum powder on hand, you can substitute it with cornstarch.
Also read: 9 Tricks To Always Keep Your Clothes Looking New!
3. Use table salt to prevent the wine from spreading
Using salt is the simplest trick to prevent wine stains from spreading quickly throughout the fabric. That is, it is a way to absorb the wine more quickly.
To do this, you just have to cover the wine stain with a generous amount of salt and let it sit for about 20 or 30 minutes. At this point it is very important that you remove the salt after one or two hours. Otherwise, the stain could set even further into the fibers of the fabric.
4. Use vinegar or lemon for dried wine stains
As we know, cleaning vinegar and lemon are excellent natural cleaners and disinfectants. The best thing is that they not only clean surfaces but also fabrics! For example, both products are very effective at removing yellow stains from white clothing and the stains left by deodorants in the armpits of clothing.
In the case of wine stains that have dried, apply a mixture of white vinegar and water in equal parts to the affected area (What the vinegar does is neutralize the red and violet pigments). After doing so, enhance the mixture with a splash of liquid detergent and begin to rub gently. We advise you to do this wash with warm or cold water.
For your part, you can also use the natural juice of 1 lemon to remove dried wine stains. To do this, you will only have to pour the juice on the stain and wait for it to take effect. That is what the Marqués del Atrio wine blog indicates.
This trick is perfect for wine stains that appear on delicate fabrics and white clothing.
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5. Use white wine to remove recent wine stains
As incredible as it may seem, one of the best solutions to recent wine stains is another wine, in this case, white wine. Therefore, what you should do to remove a recent wine stain is to apply white wine to the stained area, but not directly. Always apply it with a clean cloth and gently pat the stained area.
After application, wait at least 10 minutes for the white wine to do its job, before washing the garment with soap and water. If you use this method, avoid rubbing or scrubbing the cloth, as this could spread the stain and make it larger.
- This trick is very effective because the tannins in white wine help neutralize the staining caused by the tannins in red wine.
6. Use hydrogen peroxide for wine stains on the carpet
Did you know that one of the best products to remove wine stains from carpet is hydrogen peroxide? For example, if you spot a stain on your carpet, quickly apply a generous amount of hydrogen peroxide to the affected area and let the product do its work. After 30 minutes you will see how the red wine has evaporated.
If you want to see a video tutorial on how we put this trick into practice, click on this link: How to remove wine stains from rugs and carpets.
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7. Use baking soda for dry stains
Baking soda has excellent properties for cleaning complicated stains on clothing, such as blood stains. It is also used daily in cleaning windows, bathrooms, kitchens, floors, and walls and to unclog sinks, sinks or traps.
If you want to remove wine stains with baking soda, you should follow these steps:
- Sprinkle baking soda on the red wine stain until it is covered and spray white vinegar or red wine on it. You will immediately notice a foamy reaction that you should leave until it dries.
- Dampen the stain from time to time to enhance its effect on the garment. This mixture will be effective if you leave it on the garment for several hours.
- Finally, wash the garment normally.
According to the wine website, Vivanco, this trick works thanks to the great adsorption property of the sodium present in sodium bicarbonate. That is, some sodium compounds can attract and retain different gaseous, liquid or dissolved solid particles.
In other words, baking soda captures red wine particles from the stained fabric and leaves the garment clean.
8. Use boiling water for recent stains
Next, we show you a trick that will be perfect for removing wine stains from tablecloths: Place the tablecloth over the sink and then pour a generous amount of boiling water on the stain. If the stain is recent you will notice how the stain dissipates immediately.
If you see that the wine stain does not disappear, apply the vinegar or hydrogen peroxide trick. And, if your tablecloth has yellow stains, you can use an active oxygen stain remover or bleach.
