How to remove wine stains

Whether it is a barbeque party or a wine-tasting event involving your close friends and family, wine stains are bound to occur. There will always be a beautiful party dress, a table cloth or a carpet that may get spoiled by the red wine stains. Wine stains are common but you need not panic as it isn’t really impossible to remove these stains. The key to effectively removing these stains is to act as quickly as possible. Removing fresh stains is a lot easier than working on old wine stains. Here are a few home remedies that can help your restore back the allure of the fabric that got stained with red wine.

Complexity level: Moderate:

Time required: 15 minutes to half an hour

Estimated cost: $ 2 to $ 5 in case of a professional cleaner being used

Resources required:

1. Blotting paper / Dry paper towel

2. White wine

3. Salt

4. Club soda

5. Baking soda

6. Talcum powder

7. Boiling water

8. Hydrogen peroxide

9. Cream of tartar

10. Towel

11. Water

12. Non-alkali dish detergent

Instructions:

1. Blot the stain and apply white wine:

Essentially, fresh red wine stains can be easily removed than those stains that have gone old. To remove a fresh red wine stain, start with blotting over the stain with a clean cloth to remove as much wine as is possible. You can then add a dab of white wine and again blot off the excess. This should remove the stain.

2. Use club soda or baking soda or salt:

If white wine doesn’t work, you can try some club soda on the stain. After rinsing the stain with club soda, you should again blot over. If the stain still persists, cover the stain with baking soda, talcum powder or salt. These substances soak up the red wine and help in removing the stain.

3. Using boiling water:

If the fabric can resist boiling water, lay the stained part of the fabric in a bowl and add boiling water to it. This will help in washing off the stain. However, not all fabrics can tolerate the heat of the boiling water and may get damaged.

4. Washing the fabric:

After removing the stain, wash the fabric with a detergent following the specific cleaning instructions on the fabric tag. Let the fabric air-dry. The use of dryer might set the stain and may make it difficult to remove.

5. Removing old red wine stain:

Place a towel from inside of the garment so that the stain does not spread to the other side. Now treat it with a solution of one part dish detergent and two parts hydrogen peroxide. If the stain persists, apply a paste made of cream of tartar and water. Let it dry and then blot off with a clean damp towel.

Frequently Asked Questions:

What causes the red wine to stain fabrics?

Red wines contain a natural food colouring pigment – anthocyanins. This pigment is very similar to fabric dyes and is found in the skin of the grapes. Just like the fabric dyes, anthocyanins quickly attaches itself to any fibre or fabric and tends to cause the stain.

Quick tips:

1. If you are on the go, try applying some white toothpaste on the stain. This will not let the stain to set in and you can rinse off or blot it later.

2. Wine away is a water based wine cleaner that works well on various fabrics to remove the wine stains.

Things to watch out for:

1. Before using any method for stain removal, always check on the tag attached to the fabric to verify if the fabric will resist any of the substances that are used to clean off the stains.

2. Always blot over the stain. Scrubbing the stain will do more harm as it will spread the stain all over.

3. Avoid using warm water initially as it will make the stain to set in.

4. If the garment can only be dry cleaned then do not attempt to treat the stain. Take it to a professional cleaner.

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