How to get red wine out of clothes

How to remove red wine from clothes

1. 1

   Blot right away

   Press a white cloth or paper towel onto the wine to soak up as much as you can. Don't rub.

   Why: Every drop you lift is pigment and tannin that never binds to the fibers. Rubbing spreads the stain and roughens the fabric.

2. 2

   Sponge or soak in cool water

   Flush the stain with cool water from the back, then soak it in a basin of cool water for about 30 minutes.

   Why: Wine's pigments and sugars dissolve in water, so a cool soak dilutes and rinses out a lot of the stain before anything sets it.

3. 3

   Pretreat with liquid detergent

   Rub liquid laundry detergent or a prewash stain remover into the stain. Avoid bar soap and soap flakes.

   Why: Detergent lifts residue. Natural soap can set tannin stains and make them harder to remove.

4. 4

   Wash hot with bleach safe for the fabric

   Launder in the hottest water the care label allows. Add oxygen bleach, or chlorine bleach on white cotton or linen that allows it.

   Why: Oxidizing bleach breaks down the anthocyanin pigments and tannins that give wine its color.

5. 5

   Hang to dry and check

   Hang the garment to dry and look at the spot in daylight. If any pink, gray or blue tint remains, soak in oxygen bleach and wash again.

   Why: Dryer heat can set the last of the pigment.

Why red wine stains, and why it can turn blue

Red wine's color comes from anthocyanins, pigments from the grape skins, together with tannins, the astringent compounds that bind to proteins and other organic material. It also has sugar, acids and alcohol. That combination makes it a tannin stain: mostly water-soluble at first, but likely to bind and darken if heat or time gets to it first.

Anthocyanins change color with pH. They're red in acidic wine and shift toward blue or purple as things get more alkaline, which is why a wine stain can turn grayish-blue when alkaline detergent touches it. That isn't the stain spreading; it's the same pigment, and bleach still removes it. Iowa State Extension also notes that the sugars in wine turn brown with time, so old wine stains often look tan rather than red.

By situation

Wine on a white shirt

After the cool soak and pretreatment, wash with chlorine bleach if the label shows it's allowed, or with oxygen bleach in the hottest safe water. For more on whites, see red wine on white clothes.

Colored clothes

Use oxygen (all-fabric) bleach only, and test it on an inside seam first.

Dried or old wine stains

Soak longer in an oxygen-bleach solution. The University of Kentucky notes that old tannin stains may need bleaching for complete removal, and the American Cleaning Institute says older beverage stains may also respond to an enzyme presoak before washing.

It already went through the wash or dryer

If a gray-blue or brown mark survived, soak in oxygen bleach and rewash hot, or use chlorine bleach on colorfast whites. Machine-dried stains may need several soaks.

Silk, wool and dry-clean-only items

Blot, rinse gently with cool water, and skip chlorine bleach. Take the item to a cleaner and tell them it's red wine.

Linen and cotton tablecloths

These usually tolerate hot washes and bleach better than clothing. Check the label, then use the same method.

What not to do

• Don't use bar soap or soap flakes. Natural soap can make tannin stains permanent or harder to remove.
• Don't rub the stain. Rubbing spreads the wine and damages fibers.
• Don't dry or iron until the stain is gone. Heat sets the pigment.
• Don't mix vinegar or ammonia with chlorine bleach. The combinations release toxic gases.

Other methods that work

Club soda

Iowa State Extension suggests pouring club soda on red wine, letting it fizz for about 10 minutes, then blotting. It mainly dilutes and lifts the wine, which plain cool water also does.

Caution: Still follow with pretreatment and a wash.

Salt

Iowa State Extension mentions table salt as a dry absorbent to pull up spilled wine, mostly on carpet and upholstery. On clothes, cool water does the same job better.

Caution: It only absorbs liquid. It doesn't remove pigment already bound to the fibers.

Boiling water on cotton and linen

An old government bulletin poured boiling water through fruit and beverage stains on cotton and linen. It's traditional, with weak evidence.

Caution: Never on wool, silk or synthetics, and watch for scalding.

Stain still there?

The stain turned blue or gray in the wash

That's the pigment reacting to alkaline detergent. Soak in oxygen bleach, or chlorine bleach on whites that allow it, and rewash.

A faint pink or tan ring remains

Soak overnight in oxygen bleach and wash in the hottest safe water. Repeat once more before drying.

Safety

• Never mix vinegar or ammonia with chlorine bleach.
• Test bleach on colored fabric first.

Never mix cleaning products; see chemicals you must never combine.

Questions

Red wine on other surfaces

• Red wine stains: the complete guide
• Red wine on carpet
• Red wine on a couch
• Red wine on white clothes

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