Spilled red wine can wreak havoc on your fabrics.
Wine stains are some of the most difficult stains to treat. There are many methods of treatment that have been tested extensively to see what techniques are the most effective. A 2001 study at the University of California, Davis tested eight wine stain removers. The remover that worked the best on natural plant was a mixture of hydrogen peroxide and Dawn liquid soap. Animal fibers often are more difficult to clean and might require several attempts before a wine stain is removed.
Instructions
1. Treat the stain as soon as possible. The longer you wait to treat the stain, the harder it will be to remove. Wine stains younger than three months can be treated without too much difficulty or special effort.
2. Prepare a mixture of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide blended equally with Dawn liquid soap. Soak the stained fabric in cool water before lubricating the material with the mixture. Rinse the fabric with cool water. Keep repeating this process until the stain is removed. If the stain does not come out with this treatment, work liquid detergent deep into the stain and wash it with the warmest water possible. Keep doing this until the stain is removed. Do not let the fabric dry until the stain is gone; otherwise, the stain will set. This treatment is most effective on cotton and natural plant fibers.
3. Treat silk, wool and hair fibers with a tannin spotter. Apply the spotter to the stain before rinsing it with cool water. Keep repeating this until the stain is gone. You can try applying a 10 percent acetic acid to the stain if the tannin spotter does not work. Consider taking stained difficult-to-clean fabrics to a dry cleaner. These places have equipment and chemicals specially designed to handle bad stains and problematic fabric.
4. Synthetic fibers such as polyester and acrylic are designed to be moisture resistant. Spilled wine should not be able to bind to these materials' fibers to create stains. Rinse synthetic fabric to wash off excess liquid then launder it normally.
Tags: until stain, cool water, stain removed, cool water Keep, Dawn liquid, Dawn liquid soap