If you've ever spilt a glass of red wine on the carpet or sofa, you'll know how much of a nightmare it can be to remove the stain - but it turns out there's one household product that can help Get the latest top news stories sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter We have more newsletters Get the latest top news stories sent straight to your inbox with our daily newsletter We have more newsletters Spilling a glass of red wine on cream carpets, rugs or sofas can indeed cause quite the frenzy. However, while it might seem sensible to immediately start scrubbing at the stain, wine connoisseurs from La Crema have advised against this, cautioning that it could make the stain permanent. The experts explain that red wine stains can be successfully removed "from anything" if you act swiftly and use the right technique.
The tannins in red wine, which are natural compounds found in grape skins, seeds, and stems, are what make the dark colour adhere to fabrics. It's the chromogens in red wine, also found in other staining liquids like coffee and tea, that give the wine its rich, deep red hue, making spills particularly noticeable, reports the Express . "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," they explained. They also caution against using dry heat, such as from a hairdryer, warning it will result in "a permanent or nearly permanent stain.
" Instead, the wine specialists suggest employing a dry, powdery substance to absorb the spillage. "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," they said.
Act quickly once a glass of red wine has been spilled on any surface. Look in your store cupboards for a porous powder such as table salt. You can use: Apply the salt, or other powder, to the stain and allow it to settle for a few minutes.
According to the experts, this should remove the stain if you've acted fast enough. You should "never" scrub the stain, according to the wine gurus. Instead apply a blotting method with a paper towel or tea towel to clean up any excess salt or powder.
If your salt treatment didn't quite work, try an oxi cleaner which uses sodium percarbonate. When combined with water, this breaks down into hydrogen peroxide. If you don't have an oxi cleaner, try washing up liquid mixed with hydrogen peroxide.
Mix three parts hydrogen peroxide and one part washing up liquid and apply it to your red wine stain. Let it sit for around 20 minutes to an hour before blotting clean. Get the latest news sent straight to your messages by joining our WhatsApp community today.
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