Accidents happen at the best of times, and when there’s alcohol involved, the odds of a mishap are increased. Unfortunately, in the blink of an eye, that expensive, vintage Cabernet Sauvignon has made it’s way from it’s glass, to the carpet. Suddenly a cloud of anguish and regret replaces the celebratory mood, and host of reckless, alcohol fueled suggestions and old wives tale remedies are forthcoming.
I’m going to let you in on a few secrets that are taught in carpet cleaning school, and have you rescuing your carpet in no time. ( Read my previous post what is oriental rug cleaning )
Part 1 – The Initial Cleanup.
Firstly, the red wine has spilled into the carpet. You need to get an absorbent (cotton) towel or dish cloth, and blot as much up as possible. This can be achieved by placing a towel doubled over onto the spill, and placing pressure on the towel as to absorb as much as possible. Do NOT be tempted to rub or scrub, this will only make matters worse!
Secondly, once all the excess red wine has been absorbed into the towel, you will need to pour some COLD water over the affected area, and using a clean towel, absorb as much of the water back out. This should be repeated several times until very little diluted wine is coming out. Alternatively, the towel can be replaced with a wet-vac (shop vac), which will assist with the rinsing process.
Part 2 – Red Wine Stain Removal Process.
It most circumstances, the Part 1 process will not have addressed the entire spill. The process below should work on most red wine stains that have been in carpet and have dried. The red wine stain removal process will require the following;
Two old, clean dish cloths or towels. A small quantity of cloudy ammonia (which can be purchased from most supermarkets for a few dollars). A small quantity of white vinegar.
1. The red wine is an acid based food spill. Therefore, we need to treat it with an alkaline. The alkaline is the cloudy ammonia. Do NOT pour the ammonia on the spill. Apply some cloudy ammonia onto a dish cloth, and using a gentle twisting motion, massage the cloth onto the stained area only. Avoid getting the ammonia onto any area outside the stain, and use a gentle but firm motion, to avoid pile distortion.
2. You should notice the stain start to magically disappear. Once the entire stain has been removed, we need to neutralise the cloudy ammonia. This step is important, because alkaline residues in carpet can attract resoiling. Apply some white vinegar to a clean, dry dishcloth, and using the same gentle twisting motion, massage the white vinegar on the dishcloth, onto the same area where the red wine stain was just removed. Getting some white vinegar slightly outside the original stain area is not such an issue, as carpets prefer to be in a slightly acidic state.
3. Let the area dry, and avoid walking on that area of carpet until it is dry.
4. Break open a new bottle of your favourite red and celebrate!
For a clean and healthy home, you can contact Timothy or Call Sydney metro carpet cleaning on PH 1300660276. to get your mattresses and carpet professionally steam cleaned. We serves all the Sydney areas and offers 100% clean guarantee on our work.