A nice glass of red wine is often enjoyed with friends in the living room, or perhaps occasionally with a good book in bed before you fall asleep at night. In either scenario, it can be devastating if a spill occurs!
A red wine stain on a mattress or sofa feels like a complete disaster. However, if you act quickly, it can likely be removed without a trace. Here are the steps you can take to remove a wine stain from the material of a sofa or mattress.

Table of Contents

Act Fast

he key to getting rid of a red wine stain is to take action immediately, before the liquid has dried and set in. This is the critical time so don’t delay!

Absorb the stain

The next thing to do is to grab a clean cloth and press it in to the wine stain. Blot, don’t rub! This is very important — you want the liquid to transfer into the cloth, not to sink more deeply into the material on the mattress or sofa.

Take your time and put pressure onto the stain. You should notice the stain getting lighter and the cloth taking on more of the liquid.

Clear Liquid rule

Next, you will want to combat the red wine stain with a clear liquid. Some people swear that white wine will help lift the red wine stain, others are firmly in the club soda camp. It will of course depend what is on hand, but club soda seems to work quickly and effectively.

Pour some of the clear liquid (white wine or club soda) onto a clean section of the cloth (you can pour some onto stain, too), and again, apply pressure. Make sure to cover enough surface area to get all the edges and press throughout the stain to transfer it onto the cloth.

Absorb, Absorb, Absorb Some More

For small red wine stains, this might be all you need. For bigger stains, you might need to break out the big guns. Baking soda, that is.

Baking soda (or any other kind of absorbent powder like talcum powder or even salt) can help to finish pulling out the stain from your sofa or mattress. Simply sprinkle on top of the stain and gently press into the area. The same rule applies here – blot, don’t rub!

Suck It Up

With a vacuum cleaner, of course. You might want to keep a heavy item on top of the cloth, baking soda, club soda and stain overnight so that it can pull the liquid out. In the morning, break out the vacuum cleaner and clear away what’s left.

Call In A Professional

There are occasions where the material is too delicate or the stain too aggressive to be solved with home remedies, and in that case, you may need to bring in a steam cleaner, take the item to a dry cleaner (if possible) or call in a professional to use high grade solvents to remove the stain.

It’s always great to enjoy the finer things in life… and sometimes it requires a little extra care and attention. Hey, spills happen, it’s no big deal. Just act quickly and it will be as if it never happened.