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How to remove wine stains from couch


How to - Easy Ways to Remove Red Wine Stains from Sofas

It’s a Friday night and, naturally, you’re cuddled up on the sofa with a glass of red wine. You hastily reach out to grab the bottle until – whoops! – the unthinkable happens.

It’s a scenario which many of us have experienced (trust us, we’ve seen plenty of sofas ruined by red wine), yet few really know how to tackle. Thankfully, we’re here to help.

Want to know how to get red wine out of sofas? Here are a few of our favourite red wine sofa stain hacks.

Our top tips for removing red wine:

The initial method

As red wine stains gradually seep deeper into fabric, it is a good idea to act quickly when spillages come about.

What you need:

How to get rid of red wine stains quickly:

Step 1: To tackle the initial red wine stain on your sofa, you will need to quickly grab a clean cloth or some paper towels (avoid coloured or patterned types) and clothing stain remover.

Step 2 (optional): If you don’t have clothing stain remover, sparkling water will do a similar job.

Step 3 (optional): If you have neither, then it is a good idea to sprinkle salt on the stain until you have the means to remove it (salt prevents the stain from setting). The cloth and salt will help to soak up any excess liquid, while the spray with help to remove the red wine stain before it seeps into the fabric.

TOP TIP: You want to dab, not rub, red wine stains, to avoid forcing the stain further into the fabric. It is also a good idea to work from the outside in, to prevent the stain from spreading.

The white wine method

What better way to remove wine than to throw more wine at it? No, seriously. White wine works by stripping the dark pigment from the red wine stain, leaving you with a lovely mark-free sofa. But don’t just take our word for it, try it for yourself…

What you need:

How to remove red wine stains with white wine:

Step 1: Gently pour white wine over the stain and leave to sit.

Step 2: After a few minutes, blot the liquid with a cloth. If you can still see the stain, add a little baking soda to further lift pigment.

TOP TIP: To get the best results, add white wine onto the stain before it sets.

The washing-up liquid method

Washing-up liquid is useful for more than pots and pans – it’s also a pretty robust red wine stain remover.

What you need:

How to remove red wine stains with washing-up liquid:

Step 1: Simply mix one-part washing-up liquid with two parts cold water.

Step 2: Sponge the stain with the solution and blot until the liquid is absorbed.

TOP TIP: You can also use this method on clothes and carpets.

The vinegar and soda method

White vinegar and baking soda is a versatile cleaning hack and is particularly good for tackling tough stains on delicate fabrics.

What you need:

How to remove red wine stains with vinegar and soda:

Step 1: To remove red wine stains from your sofa, pour baking soda over the stain and coat with vinegar.

Step 2: Wait a few minutes for it to soak in (it will bubble up quite a lot – this means it’s working), then rinse with a damp cloth. Repeat steps until the red wine is removed.

The hydrogen peroxide method

If, like us, you’re partial to a glass of red wine and want a quick clean-up solution (should spillages occur), hydrogen peroxide is your silver bullet. Don’t worry if you can’t find it in your kitchen cupboards right now – it’s often not available in UK supermarkets, but can be found online and in specialist cleaning retailers.

What you need:

How to remove red wine stains with hydrogen peroxide:

Step 1: Once you have your hydrogen peroxide, it’s advisable to test a patch of it on a hidden area of your upholstery – this helps to see whether the fabric runs or fades when treated with the chemical. (Always be careful when handling corrosive liquids in the home).

Step 2: Once you’re all clear, spray enough hydrogen peroxide over the red wine stain so that it is covered.

Step 3: Sprinkle baking soda over the top of the hydrogen peroxide.

Step 4: Leave to sit for a few minutes, then rinse with cold water.

Remember, while these are common DIY hacks, the methods may not be effective on every sofa, so it’s worth speaking to a professional upholstery cleaner before you remove red wine stains yourself.  

For information about quick cover-up solutions, see Plumbs’ sofa covers and reupholstery selection.

Removing Red Wine Stains From Anything


We’ve all been there with the inevitable red wine spills that turns into red wine stains. We watch it happen in slow motion as it unfolds in front of us with our eyes bulging in horror. It doesn’t matter when or where it occurs – you may have been a bit too comfortable and lethargic on the couch with a glass in-hand, or were a little too vigorous with the hand gestures while explaining a story. At the end of the day, it happens, but it doesn’t have to be a colossal tragedy.

There are a couple of things you could do when you realize your red wine is everywhere except in your glass. First, of course, is to panic. Don’t panic! Even if red wine is all over your favorite shirt, it can be saved!

The second thing you might do is to start trying to scrub the stain off, fail miserably, and walk off frustrated, leaving the stain for tomorrow. Don’t scrub and don’t procrastinate! We know, red wine stains often occur when we’re far too tired or distracted to worry about how to clean them up properly or immediately. But, it’s in your best interest to face the stain head on without delay, which brings us to our third point:

Employ a tried and true method to beat the stain before it gets you down. So instead of fretting over those red wine stains staring at you, take a few deep breaths and walk with us as we help you through the cleaning process.

Anatomy of a Red Wine Stain | General Tips | Carpet & Couch Specific Tips

 Tough or Dried Stains | For Specific Items | Infographic

The Anatomy of a Red Wine Stain

Although you can take care of a red wine stain in the morning, attending to it immediately is always the best solution.

With the exception of a few types of fabrics, most fabrics are highly porous. When liquid matter gets into the fibers, they become immersed into the fabric’s pores. Unlike many of the other drinks we enjoy, red wine’s color is completely natural. The grape-based beverage contains chromogens, the primary substance in many colorful plants that are responsible for dyes. Yes, dyes. Red wine is essentially a giant bottle of dye molecules. Combine this with red wine’s naturally occurring tannins, an organic substance also used in many ink productions, and your red wine stain is essentially a DIY tie-dye experiment gone wrong.



Once red wine hits a fabric, it begins to sink into the fibers, with the liquid moving throughout the fiber’s pores wherever it can find space. Red wine, like all liquids, will move in two directions: down and outward.

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Tips on Getting Out Red Wine Stains

The science behind why and how red wine absorbs into fabrics leads us to our first set of pro tips for cleaning red wine stains:

Tip #1: Do NOT scrub the stain!
Scrubbing will help pull some of the red wine out, but actually negatively impacts the stain as it causes it to spread outward even more. And, if you’re applying too much pressure, you’re actually pushing more red wine down into the fabric. This is especially true if you’re dealing with a red wine stain on the couch or on the carpet.

Tip #2: Don’t wait too long

While it’s tedious to deal with a red wine stain immediately, we wouldn’t recommend waiting until the next day to take care of it. Red wine will sink and settle into those fibers the longer they’re there. Eventually, they’ll “set” and become more difficult to remove. Not forgetting, of course, that red wine is basically a dye waiting to happen.

Tip #3: Do NOT apply heat

The last thing you want is for the stain to dry, but even worse is if the stain dries when hot air is applied. Heat will actually change the chemical process the stain undergoes when it dries. If you apply heat, you can expect a permanent or nearly permanent stain. So, put the hair dryer down, and for goodness sake, don’t put any stained clothes in the dryer before you apply any pre-wash cleaning methods.

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Proper Steps to Remove Stains from Carpets and Couches

So you’ve got a red wine stained carpet and a nice splash of red wine on the couch. You’re taking care of it right now, and you didn’t start scrubbing away like a mad man (or woman). Now what?

Tip #4: Apply a dry material that will “lift” the red wine out

Like any liquid, red wine will move toward anything dry that it comes into contact with. Your best move right after you get a red wine stain is to grab a dry, powdery material and apply it generously on the red wine stain. These include:

Table salt
Baking soda
Sodium percarbonate, a.k.a. a granulated form of hydrogen peroxide
Dry soap powder
Talcum powder, which is used for baby powder
Kitty litter

These dry materials will “pull” the red wine out of the carpet, but don’t just start rubbing them in. Remember, you never want to rub (or scrub) the stain, regardless of what you’ve applied to it. Always apply the blotting method, even when it comes to cleaning up the salt or powder.

Let the salt (your best option), or any other dry, powdery material you use, settle for a few minutes. In some cases, this may be enough to actually remove the stain completely, especially if you acted fast enough. Otherwise, you may need to apply additional methods.

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Additional Methods for Tough or Dry Stains

If your salt treatment didn’t quite work, or you need something a little extra to address the stain, applying some liquid measures may solve your problem, with some guidance of course.

Tips #5: Never apply white wine to red wine as a cleaning solution

We’re not sure who started this silly rumor, but don’t believe it. White wine is not a cleaning agent, nor will it counteract the dyeing agents in red wine. In fact, white wine may just cause your red wine stain to spread out even further. For your own sanity, and to avoid wasting precious white wine on a red wine stain, seek better, alternative methods.

Tip #6: Apply boiling water and blot the stain

Dry heat is very different from, well, wet heat. Hot water is a wonderful substance, especially when applied to other materials as a cleaning agent. It may cause the red wine to dilute and spread out a bit, but the hot water will also cause the molecules in the red wine to lose a bit of cohesion with the fabric, making it easier to clean. If this completely doesn’t work, you can try other methods.

Tip #7: Milk may do a fabric’s body good

Milk has absorption qualities to it. You can try pouring milk on the stain liberally, letting it sit for a few minutes, then blotting it up with a sponge or dry rag.

Tip #8: Beat the stain on the head with club soda and white vinegar

The minerals added to club soda may actually make it a better alternative than water. These will actually help absorb and break up the red wine molecules, which you can then blot up more easily. You can also apply club soda with white vinegar to help improve the result.

Tip #9: Grab the oxi cleaner

“Oxi” cleaners are an almost magical way to help remove stains early as well as already dried stains. These cleaners use sodium percarbonate which, when combined with water, breaks down into hydrogen peroxide. They’re great at breaking up stains, so if you have any, apply it to the stain, wait a while (20 minutes to an hour) while it does its job, and then blot the stain away.

Tip #10: Dishwashing liquid and hydrogen peroxide for those without an oxi cleaner

If you don’t have an oxi cleaner, chances are you do at least have dishwashing liquid and hydrogen peroxide somewhere in the house. Mix about 3 parts hydrogen peroxide and 1 part dishwashing liquid, then apply to your red wine stain. Let it sit for a while (think 20 minutes to an hour) to do its magic. Then, blot clean before attempting to fully wash out the mixture.

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Specialized Red Wine Stain Removal Tips

Every stain is different. You may find yourself with a fresh stain on a piece of clothing, or a dried red wine stain on a couch. For different types of materials and different types of stains, you may find success with one method over another.

For clothing, try these options:

For carpets, try these options:

For couches, try these options:

For dry red wine stains, try these options:

Even after all methods are applied, you may still find your red wine stains just aren’t going away completely. You may be struggling to figure out how to get red wine out of clothes after washing, for example, as those stains may still exist if you put the clothes in the wash without applying a pre-wash method. If your red wine stained carpet dried for far too long, your stain may sit there even after you apply an entire bottle of an oxi cleaner and hot water.

So just remember, time is of the essence! If you wait too long, that red wine stain may end up being impossible to remove. Therefore, act fast, make sure you have at least two of the solutions mentioned above on hand, and get to work.

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Check out our inforgraphic that illustrates how to get a red wine stain out of anything and share this with fellow red wine lovers:

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How to get rid of a wine or juice stain from a sofa

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3 minutes

Contents

What makes the carpet dirty?

Basic care instructions

How to clean carpets?

Do-It-Yourself Carpet Cleaning at Home

Chemicals and Equipment

Using Vinegar, Baking Soda, and Powder

Citric Acid

Snow Cleaning

Stain Removal with Glycerin

Laundry detergent

Peroxide

Cleaning tips

Cleaning carpets made of natural and synthetic fibers sofas at home, restaurants, hotels, wine and juice are most often affected. Parties, corporate events, banquets are not complete without these drinks. In the festive turmoil, they often spill onto the sofas, covering the upholstery with sloppy stains that are difficult to remove. The most difficult pollution of sofas, armchairs, chairs include:

All the above drinks are water soluble. Upholstery damaged by them should be cleaned immediately, until the stains have dried. The chances that they will disappear without a trace will be much greater.

It is more difficult to remove dried and old stains, the result is not always pleasing. With such contamination, it is better to contact the CLEAN VSE company, which specializes in dry cleaning of sofas and any other home and office furniture. Otherwise, the stains may remain in their places, despite all the efforts, nerves and time spent.

Why are wine and juice stains difficult to remove from upholstery? Their color is due to the peculiarities of the chemical composition of the berries, and the difficulty in removing stains is due to the structure of fibers and tissues.

Do you want to calculate the cost of dry cleaning sofas? 30% discount for you now!

Getting on textiles with high hygroscopicity (wool, silk, cotton fabrics), the liquid is quickly absorbed into the fibers. In this case, the pigment colors them from the inside. As long as the liquid has not dried, it can be washed with water. Although in the case of furniture upholstery, this is not easy to do.

IMPORTANT! If you notice that juice or wine has been spilled on the sofa, immediately take dry cloth or disposable paper towels. Blot the upholstery as best you can to prevent the liquid from seeping into the interior. The movements should be from top to bottom and from the edges of the spot to the center. So you do not spread the liquid over an even larger area.

It is difficult to remove traces of juice or wine from tufted or embossed fabrics (jacquard, tapestry, flock, velor, velvet). A flock with a glued pile cannot be wetted at all. Invite professional dry cleaners to clean it. The rest of the fabrics must be handled with care so as not to wrinkle the pile, not spoil the relief, and at the same time remove stains from wines and juices.

How to remove stains from red wine

We give several ways to choose from:

  • White table wine neutralizes red. Place a paper towel soaked in white wine over the stain. After 2 minutes, wash the red wine with clean water and a sponge, cover the affected upholstery area with table salt. After a quarter of an hour, sweep the salt with a brush, wipe the place where the stain was with a damp cloth.
  • Apply a cloth dampened with mineral water to the stain. Hold for 5 minutes. Take the Vanish stain remover spray, treat the stain according to the instructions on the package.
  • Place a cloth moistened with ammonia on the stain of red wine. After 15 minutes, wipe the area with a damp sponge.

How to remove stains from berries and juices

Stains should be rinsed well with clean cool water. You can pour a layer of salt and soak for 15-30 minutes. Wipe the salt mark with a damp cloth.

If the water fails, prepare a mixture of vinegar and ammonia (1:1). The trace of the stain can be washed with laundry soap foam (spread the upholstery, beat the foam with a sponge), hold for 10 minutes, rinse with a damp cloth.

Innovative technology

The patented Aquaclean® technology for protecting furniture upholstery from stains is unique. Molecules of the agent that impregnates the fabric protects the fibers from the penetration of foreign substances inside. As a result, all stains, regardless of the consistency and type of pollutant, are removed in three simple steps without household chemicals and improvised means:

  • moisten the stain with a well-wrung wet cloth;
  • After a few seconds, press a cloth against the upholstery and remove the stain in a circular motion. Sometimes 2-3 sets are needed.

    • The technology removes all stains, but it is not yet widely used. In the meantime, call us, we will carry out professional dry cleaning of upholstered furniture.

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    How to remove red wine from a sofa and stains

    Carpets are often stained by food, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Such contaminants are the most difficult to remove, because they include sweeteners, fats, dyes. Professional cleaning of the sofa at home will help get rid of any kind of dirt, but you can try using folk remedies. Today we have prepared instructions on how to remove red wine from the sofa and remove stains using simple improvised means that every housewife has in her arsenal.

    General rules for removing wine stains from upholstered furniture

    Red wine contains a high percentage of sugar, so after contact with the carpet it forms a dense sticky film, as well as a bright scarlet stain. It is recommended to deal with the consequences of this small disaster immediately, because removing the old stain will be much more difficult. When cleaning, here are a few helpful tips:

    • use cool mineral water. It contains active air bubbles that effectively break down impurities. By the way, the method can be used to purify dried blood from any kind of base;
    • collect as much liquid as possible with a dry cloth before cleaning;
    • any composition must be tested on a small area of ​​upholstery. For example, citric acid, hydrogen peroxide or alcohol can discolor the pile, and hot liquids have a detrimental effect on products made from wool;
    • never use white wine to remove red wine - this method will only aggravate the situation;
    • do not try to quickly scrub the stain, otherwise it may increase. During cleansing, move from the edges to the center.

    A fresh trace of wine can be covered with soda, because the absorbent will quickly absorb the liquid. Another good option is table salt, which should also be used to cover the stain. You can also prepare a thick slurry from salt and water, which must be removed 5-10 minutes after application.

    How to clean red wine from a sofa using hydrogen peroxide?

    Hydrogen peroxide is the best cleaner for any kind of stain, but it can discolor the material. If you are removing an old stain, you can treat it with undiluted peroxide:

    • apply the product to a sponge or cloth;
    • treat the trace of wine;
    • Wipe the cleaned area with a damp sponge.

    If the stain is fresh, you can get rid of it using the following method:

    • combine 2 tbsp. l. colorless liquid soap with 1 tbsp. l. peroxides;
    • mix the components, treat the contaminated area, moving from the edges to the center;
    • wash the upholstery with water, if the trace has not disappeared, then the procedure can be repeated.

    Remember that after applying any type of product, the upholstery must be wet-cleaned to remove the chemicals and the sugar in the wine.

    How to get wine out of a sofa with alcohol?

    If you need to clean matting, cotton, other types of synthetic and natural materials from wine, then ordinary medical alcohol will come to the rescue. Combine it with water in equal proportions, apply to pollution using a spray bottle. Wait 5-10 minutes, wipe the upholstery with a damp sponge or napkins.

    How to remove wine stains from a sofa with citric acid and juice?

    Citric acid and freshly squeezed lemon juice are excellent at removing stains from red wine upholstery. A solution made with citric acid is less aggressive than undiluted citrus juice:

    • add 1 tsp. citric acid in 100 ml of water at room temperature;
    • mix the solution, pour it into a spray bottle;
    • Apply the product to the upholstery, leave for 5-7 minutes, then remove with a soft damp sponge.

    Stubborn stains can be wiped with undiluted lemon juice, but this method is more suitable for light-coloured upholstery, because the juice discolors the material.

    How to get rid of red wine smell and dry furniture?

    If after cleaning the furniture exudes an unpleasant smell of wine, then the treated area can be covered with a layer of soda. Soda must be left for 12 hours, it can be removed with a vacuum cleaner. Please note that you can remove the smell of vomit, wine, urine with a solution of vinegar (do not mix with soda!): combine 50 ml of vinegar and the same amount of water, apply to the upholstery from a spray bottle, do not forget to wet clean.

    Wet material needs proper drying, otherwise it may become covered with mold, fungus. To dry, use natural ventilation (open windows, creating a draft), you can also turn on the air conditioner, fan or dehumidifier. Do not use irons, hair dryers, heaters, because they can have a negative effect on the upholstery.

    If you are unable to wash red wine yourself, contact a cleaning company. Specialists will determine the composition of the material, after which they will perform the correct cleaning and subsequent drying.

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