Red wineon washable cotton
Do NOT use hot water or rub — heat and friction lock the tannin into the fibre for good.
Phase 1: Immediate first aid
Use what you have right now. Nothing to buy.
Blot & isolate
Blot from the outside in with a white cloth or kitchen roll — press, lift, move to a clean bit. Don't rub. Flush from the back with cold water if the fabric allows.
Pantry pre-treatment
You need
15 ml Washing-up Liquid (e.g. Fairy)+30 ml 3% hydrogen peroxide
3% hydrogen peroxide: The brown pharmacy bottle. Stronger hair-bleach peroxide will damage fabric.
Called something else where you are?
- Washing-up Liquid (e.g. Fairy)
- 🇺🇸 🇨🇦Liquid Dish Soap (e.g. Dawn)🇬🇧 🇦🇺 🇳🇿Washing-up Liquid (e.g. Fairy)🇩🇪Spülmittel🇫🇷Liquide vaisselle🇪🇸Lavavajillas líquido
Method
Mix together. Dab onto the stain with a white cloth, leave 10 minutes, then blot. Patch-test a hidden seam first — peroxide can lighten coloured fabric.
Final flush & wash
Rinse the treatment out from the back with cold water. Wash on the care-label setting, then air-dry and check in daylight before any tumble-drying — heat sets whatever is left.
Why this one's tricky
Cotton is the forgiving one. It's tough, it takes a hot wash once the stain has gone, and most red wine lifts out completely if you act within the first 15 minutes. The trap is heat too early: a tumble dryer will set whatever is left into a permanent pinky-brown shadow. Air-dry and check in daylight first. Old salt-and-white-wine tricks mostly just dilute the stain; cold water and a peroxide-and-soap mix do the real work.
Phase 2: Deep restoration
If a faint shadow remains after the initial rinse, or for fabrics that cannot tolerate water agitation:
Residual ghost-ring or dry-clean-only fibre?
Normal washing often won't shift the last trace of a set-in stain. Treat it with a targeted spotter before it goes anywhere near tumble-dryer heat — heat locks in whatever is left.
Alba-Tan
Tannin spotter for wine, coffee, tea and tomato — breaks down the brown-yellow ring that pantry methods leave.
Apply a few drops with a cotton bud, tamp gently, then flush as the label directs. Patch-test first.
- Vanish Oxi Action
Pick the formula labelled for this stain type — the range is split by stain.
Build your laundry first-aid kit
Top 3 essential spotters for next time — one for each stain family.
- AlbaChem Dry SpotterGrease, oil, wax, make-up, ink
- Alba-ProBlood, urine, grass, chocolate
- Alba-TanWine, coffee, tea, tomato, curry
Always patch-test on a hidden area first. Never mix bleach, ammonia, vinegar or peroxide together. For valuables, see a professional cleaner.