Red Wine On The Carpet? Don't Panic – Try These Removal Methods

It's the quintessential carpet disaster. One second you're sipping red wine, and the next second, you're staring in shock at a puddle of red liquid on the carpet. Before you devolve into worries about having to forever cover the spot with a plant or needing to replace the carpet entirely, take a deep breath – and then try one of these methods to remove the stain using items you probably already have at home.

Method 1: Club Soda and Dish Soap

This method works well if you really need the stain cleaned up right away. It works well for short- and long-fiber carpets alike.

Steps:

1. Place a thick stack of towels over the spill, and press down to soak up as much of the wine as possible. DO NOT rub the stain; this will just drive the wine deeper into the carpet. Repeat this step several times with clean stacks of towels.
2. Pour a generous portion of club soda onto the stain. The bubbly soda will keep the stain from setting into the fibers. Let this sit for about 10 minutes, and then blot it up with towels as instructed above.
3. At this point, there should only be a faint stain left. You should be able to remove the rest of it by pouring a mixture of dish soap and water onto the stain. Let it sit for 10 minutes, and then blot it up as well as you can.

Method 2: Salt and Baking Soda

If you have a very delicate carpet that you do not want to fray or mat down with lot of blotting, try this method. Note that it takes a couple of days, so you'll need to be patient.

Steps:

1. Blot up as much of the liquid as possible by placing a thick stack of towels on top of the spill and pressing down firmly. Again, do not rub at all. Repeat until you're no longer soaking up any more wine.
2. Prepare a mixture of half baking soda and half salt. About 1 cup of each should be sufficient for most spills.
3. Pour the baking soda and salt mixture over the spill. Let it sit for about 2 days. During this time, the baking soda and salt should suck the remaining liquid out of the carpet.
4. Vacuum up the salt and baking soda.

If you still have a stain remaining after trying these methods, consider hiring a professional carpet cleaning service to address it. They will be able to choose a product and method that's compatible with your carpet so it does not end up damaged.