As the Covid days of isolation become less imposing, the wondrous plans of parties are finally back in play, and while entertaining guests can be brilliant fun, the inevitable is clear – spillages occur and you’re left trying to remove red wine from your brand-new carpet (probably renovated during that long lockdown!). The dreaded red wine stain, we’ve all had one somewhere. However, this doesn’t mean you can only stock white wines and sparkling to avoid a disaster! We have some great tips on how to get those carpets back to their glory days.
1) Club Soda
The most ancient trick of them all, dating back to the 1700s. This simple remedy requires drying the spot (or puddle) of the red wine pouring over club soda, blotting it and repeating this cycle until voila – no more red wine on your gorgeous Persian rug.
2) Dish Soap and White Vinegar
This red wine remover creates a cleaning potion using a tablespoon of dish soap and a tablespoon of white vinegar, plus a cup or two of warm water. Use a light-coloured towel (so the colour of the towel doesn’t bleed onto your beloved carpet), pour the potion onto the stain and blot/scrub it until it’s clean.
3) Hydrogen Peroxide
This isn’t as fool-proof as the above two options as it can sometimes lead to discolouration of the carpet – so make sure you test a small patch before using this method on any red wine stain. If no discolouration appears, dry the red wine stain as best you can, then mix one part dish soap with two parts hydrogen peroxide. It’s best to blot rather than scrub – keep doing this until you’ve successfully removed the culprit.