Wine Stain Removal Tips And Tricks You Can Use

Below I've collected some of the best home remedies you can use for wine stain removal, specifically focused on what to do when you spill that wine on clothes or other fabrics.


You won't find any suggestions for specific commercial stain removers in this article, since it's focused on home remedies, but you will find my favorite homemade wine stain remover recipe!

In addition, you'll notice that I've included several different home remedies in this article. The reason for that is because there is often more than one way to remove a stain.

So check out the ideas below, and then use the one that sounds the best to you, or where you've already got the ingredients or supplies for removal available to you in your home.

Always remember, you can also check out my personal red wine stain removal guide here, which is part of the A to Z Stain Removal Guide here on the site.

In addition, if you decide you want to use a commercial stain removal product instead of one of the home remedies you can check out these wine stain remover reviews to see what worked, or didn't, for other readers.

Finally, since there is almost always more than one way to remove stains, if you know of another home remedy that has worked for you, I'd love to hear about it. You can share your tip for how to remove a red wine stain here, and I'll share the best ones here on the site.

I hope these wine stain removal tips help you out! Enjoy!

Top photo by gromgull

Simple Homemade Red Wine Stain Remover Recipe That Actually Works!

by Taylor

I'm always looking for more ways to help everyone remove red wine stains, which are some of the most stubborn stains around.

That's why when I came across this simple but effective recipe when reviewing the results of a study by the University of California - Davis (link opens into PDF in new window) for red wine stain removal, which passed many of the tests with flying colors, and out performed wine stain remover products I had to share it with you.

Are you ready for something simple? The recipe is equal parts 3% hydrogen peroxide (like the kind you buy at the store for first aid) and Dawn dish soap. That's it!

What they did in the study was stain different types of white fabric (cotton, a polyester/cotton blend, nylon and silk) with red wine, and then treated some of the swatches two minutes after the stain occurred, and others 24 hours after the stain occurred, with various stain removers that have been suggested for removing these types of stains.

They then let the treatment sit for approximately 3 hours, and then washed the swatches in cold water. After drying them they then measured the darkness of any residual stain with a Minolta Colorimeter to scientifically compare the stain removal effectiveness of various treatments.

The clear winner in all but the nylon fabric category, for both 2 minute and 24 hour tests was the hydrogen peroxide and Dawn mixture. (It didn't work that well on silk, but honestly nothing did!)

I love the fact that this recipe is something you can easily whip up in your own home from ingredients you most likely already have on hand! Please note that the scientists conducting the study used Dawn, but I have every reason to believe any brand of dish soap would be just as effective.

As with all recipes using hydrogen peroxide, make sure to test your colored fabric in an inconspicuous area before applying it to make sure it is colorfast (but most will be, if it is color fast with oxygen or color-safe bleach).

***Update: Since posting this recipe many readers have used it successfully. Here was a reader, Carol's experience:

Wow! Rescued a tablecloth I thought was a goner. Thanks!

I mixed the dish soap and peroxide and applied to stained areas only (did not rub in). I let soak overnight then rinsed and washed but did not put in dryer as there was still a trace of stains. I repeated the process and all stains were gone. Then washed and dried. Hope this helps.

***End Update

Do you have other homemade cleaning or stain removal recipes that use either of these ingredients? If so, I'd love for you to share them with me. You can share your dish soap uses here, and you can share your uses for hydrogen peroxide here. In addition, click the links to review the uses and tips that have already been submitted for even more ways to use these products!

You can also check out the wine stain remover reviews on the site here!

Berry And Wine Stain Removal From Clothing & Table Cloths With Boiling Water

by Kinikia
(Frostburg MD)

Kinikia has shared her tip for both berry stain removal and wine stain removal, which she learned from her mother.

Kinikia says:

I have been using this tip for many years, after learning it from my mother who used it for many years.

Place the stained article in a sink, over a bowl, so the stain itself is not resting on the bottom of the sink.

Pour BOILING (not just hot) water over the stain. This always works for berry and fruit stains, along with red wine.

My mother used to think you had to pour the boiling water from as great of a height as you could reach. I remember her standing on a chair, with her arm extended yet higher, to obtain height. I don't buy all that, but I'll admit, I'm a little hesitant to throw out the entire height procedure. I remain standing, raise my arm and pour. Can't argue with success!

Taylor says:

Thanks Kinikia for your tips.

I have actually heard about this tip before, in the context of berry stains. (The link will take you to an article where this technique is discussed. In addition, here is another suggestion for using boiling water, this time for blueberry stains.)

I think this tip works for two reasons. First, very hot water gets out a lot of stains because the heat helps the water act as a solvent, loosening the stain from the fabric. In addition, pouring the water through the cloth helps manually remove the stain molecules through and out of the cloth fibers.

I would caution to be very careful when using this stain removal technique, because you are obviously dealing with very hot water which can scald you, so you need to take precautions against the water splashing you or others.

You obviously don't want your hands near the fabric while you are pouring, so to hold the fabric taunt over the bowl one trick is to rubber band it, or otherwise clip it into place before you begin pouring the water.

Has anyone else used this boiling water stain removal tip successfully? If so, please share any tips or tricks you have here for doing it safely, and also tell me what kinds of stains it has worked to remove for you.

You can also share your berry stain removal tips here, or read other tips already submitted.

Photo by indi.ca.

Club Soda To Remove Wine Stain

by Jasmine
(Brisbane)

Jasmine has shared this short and sweet tip for wine stain removal.

Jasmine says:

The only thing you need to remove wine stains is soda water.

Pour the soda water onto the red wine stain and scrub until the stain is gone! This method really does work. I should know, since I have used it ALOT!

Taylor says:

Thanks Jasmine for sharing your tip with me.

It is interesting that you shared this tip with me, since I actually wrote a whole article on club soda, asking if it really does help remove stains. In that article my conclusion was no, or not much better than plain water.



I acknowledge, however, that many people swear by this method for removing wine stains, so clearly I have some people (like you) who disagree with me.

I would love to hear from more readers, telling me if you've had luck using club soda for wine stain removal or not. You can share your experiences here, telling me if it worked for you or not.

Borax For Both Grape Juice And Wine Stain Removal

Below is a video showing how to use a solution of hot water and borax powder to remove both grape juice and red wine stains from fabric.

The video does not give precise measurements to use, but I think that is just because it doesn't need to be precise. Instead, a couple of tablespoons dissolved in a large bowl of hot water should be sufficient.

This is not a very common tip, but in general Haley's Hints are pretty good, so I tend to trust what he says. Plus, borax is often used for stain removal, so why not for this use too!

Here is the video for the details of using borax for wine stain removal.

Borax Cleaning Powder {Referral Links}

There are lots of ways to use borax throughout your home. You can share your borax uses here, or read even more tips that have already been submitted.

You can also share your own stain removal tip here, for removing stains from all types of surfaces.

If you'd like more information on removing red wine stains, check out my stain removal guide here:

Related Pages You May Enjoy

Share Your Stain Removal Tips & Tricks

Wine Stain Remover Reviews

Go From Wine Stain Removal Tips And Home Remedies To Home Page

There are affiliate links on this page, and if you purchase a product through them I receive a small commission. Purchasing through my links costs you nothing extra, but helps support the free information provided on this site and my family. To learn more please see my product review disclosure statement.