How to Remove Red Wine Stains: Homemade and Commercial Solutions

Author: Alan Boehmer
Published on: Feb 2, 2000

Wherever wine lovers gather, and the pinot noir is flowing, a spill or stain is sure to follow. Commercially available stain removers do the trick - but what if you don't have a miracle product on hand?

Stain Removal with Salt or White Wine

To remove red wine from a tablecloth, cover the stain immediately with a mound of salt. Harvey Steiman, editor of Wine Spectator, writes, “Salt is our first response to a wine stain.” He further advises the use of white tablecloths at dinners where wine is served, “so [you] can bleach it to death.”

Wine expert Robin Garr, of the Wine Lovers' Pages, douses stains with white wine as the first resort, but admonishes that it only works when the original stain is still wet.

Home-Made Stain Removers: Soda Water, Shaving Cream, Bubble Bath

To remove red wine from clothing, some use liquid detergent and hydrogen peroxide, others swear by plain soda water (immediately after spilling, use a paper towel to blot as much red wine as possible, then pour soda water onto the stain, leave for 10-30 seconds, blot, and repeat). Household ammonia, shaving cream, and bubble bath have also been recommended anecdotally as effective red wine stain removers.

Commercial Stain Removers: Dri-Clean, Resolve, Wine Away

There are some excellent products on the market that may not be as simple, cheap, or handy, but they have a track record. On writer recommends an automotive product called Dri-Clean. “I have personally removed an entire bottle of red wine from a white carpet,” he says. Resolve is another product that is often recommended for carpets in particular.

But the most enthusiastic reviews are for a product called Wine Away (around $9.49 for 12 oz.). Originally developed as a cleaner for the paint industry, this spray makes red wine stains disappear, even from white linens. Made from fruit & vegetable extracts, it contains no bleach and is safe around children and pets. It is also very effective on grape juice, berry, & tomato stains. You can probably find Wine Away at your local wine merchant, or on the Wine Away website.