How to get red wine out of carpet: what to do right now

5 minutes now. Costs nothing.

Try this first (costs nothing): grab a clean white cloth or kitchen paper and blot the spill. Press down, lift, and use a fresh part of the cloth each time. Do not rub. Rubbing spreads the stain and pushes it into the fibres.

Do it in this order

1. Blot until the cloth comes up almost dry.
2. Dab with cold water. Use a damp cloth, working from the outer edge of the stain toward the middle.
3. Mix a mild solution. A teaspoon of washing-up liquid in a cup of cool water.
4. Dab it on, then blot. Repeat a few times.
5. Rinse by dabbing with plain cold water, then blot dry. Soap left in a carpet attracts dirt.
6. Press a dry towel on the patch under a weight for an hour.

Use one product at a time. Do not mix cleaners or add bleach or vinegar to a soap solution. Some combinations give off harmful gases. Test anything you use on a hidden patch of carpet first, such as inside a cupboard.

If that does not work

• Dried stain. Dab with the mild soap mix and leave it for 10 minutes, then blot. Repeat.
• Still pink. A carpet stain remover made for red wine is the next step. Follow the label, and test first.
• A large or old stain, or a wool carpet. Call a professional cleaner. Wool and delicate carpets can be damaged by the wrong product.

Some people use salt or sparkling water. These may help soak up wet wine, but they are not clearly better than blotting and cold water. Skip them if you do not have them handy.

What not to do

• Do not use hot water. Heat sets the stain.
• Do not scrub. It frays the pile.
• Do not soak the carpet. Water can seep to the backing and cause damp and smell.
• Do not use a steam cleaner on the stain until it is gone.

Fix it, replace it or live with it

• Fix it: a fresh spill, blotted straight away.
• Replace it: nothing. Call a professional for a bad stain.
• Live with it: a faint pink shadow on a busy pattern. It fades to the eye.

If wine ended up on a shirt, see how to get sweat stains out of white shirts. The same blot-first logic works on fabric.

To see how mild acids like vinegar act on stains and scale, and why to use one product at a time, see vinegar vs citric acid for limescale.