🍷 Drinks & tanninsHow to remove red wine stains

Tannins & anthocyanins · cold water beats salt

The purple in red wine comes from anthocyanins in the grape skins, and the dry, astringent taste from tannins. Both dissolve in water, so the most important thing is to dilute the stain with water before it dries. You may hear that pouring white wine on it neutralizes it, but that's really just adding more liquid, and it works about as well as cold water.

🔬 Why this order works

Anthocyanins turn red in acid and bluish in alkali, so the stain may briefly look blue when you apply detergent. Don't panic; just rinse. Oxygen bleach breaks down whatever pigment remains.

🧺 Step by step

Tap a step when it's done to tick it off.

Press with a paper towel to soak up the wine.
Rinse thoroughly with cold water run through from the back of the garment. Where you can't pour water, sprinkle salt or baking soda to absorb the remaining liquid, then shake it off.
Apply liquid detergent, tap it in, and leave for 10 minutes.
If color remains, dissolve oxygen bleach in warm water and soak for about 1 hour.
Wash as usual, check that the stain is gone, then dry.

👕 By fabric

⚪ White cotton & linen

Repeated oxygen bleach soaks will remove most of it. If the care label allows, you can finish with diluted chlorine bleach.

🎨 Colors & synthetics

Test a color-safe oxygen bleach before using it. If the wine and the garment are similar colors, fading may end up more noticeable than the stain, so soak in several short rounds.

🧶 Wool, silk & cashmere

Blot and rinse with cold water, then take it straight to a dry cleaner — that's the safe option. Once red wine has dried, it's hard to remove from silk or wool at home without damaging them.

🚫 Don't

Rinsing with hot water — it drives the pigment deeper into the fibers.
Rubbing with bar soap.
Pouring on white wine or sparkling water and rubbing — it only makes the stain bigger.

⏳ If it has already dried

For old wine stains, the most dependable approach is an overnight soak in water mixed with liquid detergent and oxygen bleach. On white cotton you can then step up to chlorine bleach.

💡 Tip

For white cotton like tablecloths and napkins, simply putting them in cold water to soak right after the meal makes the next day's wash much easier.

❓ Common questions

Does sprinkling salt really get it out?

Salt only soaks up wine that hasn't dried yet so it spreads less; it doesn't break down the pigment. Use it as a stopgap at the table when you can't use water, then follow up with a cold-water rinse and detergent.

What if it spills on a carpet or sofa?

You can't soak it, so pour on a little cold water at a time and press with a dry towel to absorb it, over and over. Then do the same with water mixed with liquid detergent, and finish with plain water to remove the detergent. Pouring on a lot of water at once lets it soak into the padding underneath, and the stain will wick back up.

🔗 Related stains

Check the care label firstBleach, wash and dryer symbols explained

🧭 All stains

🧼 Basic rules & cleaning-agent guide

General home methods. For valuable garments or unknown fabrics, take them to a dry cleaner and say what the stain is. Follow product labels for bleaches and solvents, ventilate, and never mix them.