How to Get Red Wine Out of Carpet

September 4, 2026

Lift a fresh red wine spill from carpet with cold water, dish soap, and white vinegar, and treat a dried stain with diluted hydrogen peroxide.

Applies to: ordinary household fixtures and materials. Last checked September 4, 2026. Suggest an edit

Red wine is much harder to remove once it dries, so start while the spill is still wet. You will blot up as much as you can, then lift the rest with a dish soap and vinegar solution.

Blot the spill right away

Press a clean white cloth or plain paper towel onto the stain and lift. Work from the outside edge toward the center so the wine does not spread. Keep going with fresh dry sections of cloth until almost nothing transfers.

Pour on cold water and keep blotting

Pour a small amount of cold water onto the stain, enough to wet it without soaking the padding underneath. Blot again with a dry cloth. Repeat two or three times. The water dilutes the wine and pulls more of it up into the cloth.

Dab on a dish soap and vinegar solution

Mix 1 tablespoon of dish soap and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into 2 cups of warm water. Dip a clean white cloth in the solution and dab it onto the stain. Wait a minute, then blot with a dry cloth. Repeat the dab and blot cycle until the stain stops lightening.

Rinse with cold water and blot dry

Pour a little cold water over the area to rinse out the soap, then blot with a dry cloth. Press a folded dry towel onto the spot and weigh it down for an hour to pull up the remaining moisture. Let the carpet air dry fully.

Treat a dried stain with hydrogen peroxide

For a stain that has already set on light-colored carpet, mix 1/2 cup of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide with 1 teaspoon of dish soap. Test it on a hidden spot such as inside a closet and wait 10 minutes to check for bleaching. If the test spot looks fine, dab the mixture onto the stain, wait 10 minutes, then blot and rinse with cold water. Skip this on dark or wool carpet.

What not to do. Do not use hot water, which sets the tannins in the wine. Do not rub, which spreads the stain and frays the carpet fibers. Do not use a colored cloth, since its dye can transfer into the wet carpet.

To draw out moisture. After blotting, cover the damp spot with a thick layer of table salt or baking soda, leave it for a few hours until it dries, then vacuum it up.