How to remove red wine on carpet

Oh no! Not on the carpet!

You will be familiar with that phrase if you have ever spilt something, especially red wine on carpet. It is a question we get asked quite often. Read on to find out how we showed Nicole from Canterbury how to remove red wine on carpet.

Unfortunately for her, Nicole is all too familiar with the above scenario.  Yesterday when I went to steam clean her carpets, she showed me a red wine stain, that had happened about a year ago.  She had come home from a hard day at the office and sat down at the computer after dinner with a nice glass of Merlot in hand.  Next thing you know, she got a little too exuberant with the mouse and knocked the half full glass of red wine off the desk. Red wine on carpet – Disaster! Or so she thought! Sound familiar?

Luckily for me, Nicole hadn’t tried to remove the stain with any chemicals, she had just blotted it with water and a cloth.  If she had used an over the counter product, then I might of had a bit more of a fight on my hands to remove the stain.  The fact that her carpets are synthetic rather than made from wool, also helped.  Woolen carpets tend to absorb liquid into the fibre and are less stain resistant then man made carpet fibres like polypropylene or nylon.

Nicole was sure I wouldn’t have much success removing the stain as it had been there for quite sometime.  I told her to stand back and watch a magician at work.  I treated the red wine stain with “magic potion” I concocted for such stains, then cleaned the carpet with my magic wand.  Before you could say abracadabra, the stain was all but gone! You would be amazed, just like Nicole!

“Yasser manged to remove a red wine stain on our carpet that was 12 months old. FANTASTIC! Would use Black Gold Carpet Cleaning again and I have recommended them to my friends.” Nicole, Canterbury, Vic, July 2013

It is important to remember that although I can make most stains disappear as if by magic, successful stain removal depends on many factors including;

1. The age of the stain – most fresh stains can be removed by using the appropriate chemical or stain remover.  Unfortunately however, it is more often the case that the stain is left untreated for an extended periods before a carpet technician is called to resolve the problem.  This gives the liquid time to be absorbed into the carpet fibre and it sets on the fibre. Whatever you do, do not leave a stain unattended for long periods of time.
2. The type of fibre and the construction of the carpet – natural fibres tend to absorb more liquid than synthetic fibres and are more prone to pile damage when cleaned too vigorously.
3. The type of stain – It is very important to identify the type of stain in order to determine the best treatment. Trained technicians should be able to identify a variety of stains by sight, touch and smell if the stains are of unknown origins.
4. Other removal attempts – Stain removal is a chemical process and all stains have different Ph levels.  A professional carpet cleaner will know the correct stain remover for each Ph level and situation.  Remember, whatever you put on the stain will alter the Ph level. Sometimes this makes stain removal almost impossible to remove, as the cleaner will have to estimate the altered Ph level and adjust his removal process accordingly.

Just remember, it is important to act quickly, you can blot up the excess liquid and dab with a clean damp cloth but do not rub. Please call Black Gold Carpet Cleaning soon as possible if the stain remains.  Our technicians will be able to discuss and identify the stain with you and give you a fairly good idea of the expected outcome.  If we believe we can remove the stain, however fail to do so, we do not charge extra for the stain removal.

The video below shows more examples of our successful red wine stain removal jobs. Please contact us on 0403 254 080 if you need advice on removing red wine stains on carpet.