Red wine stains are scary to get out.
Spilling red wine on your walls can be even more intimidating as you do not want to damage your paint on the walls.
If you find yourself in this position, don’t worry.
We have done the research and have learned how to remove red wine stains from painted walls.
This process doesn’t have to be difficult if you follow the detailed steps below.
Keep reading to find out what you will need to remove red wine stains from painted walls.
What You’ll Need
Now that you have everything you need, keep reading below for step-by-step instructions on how to remove red wine stains from painted walls.
1. Spray The Stain With Water
First, fill a spray bottle with some water.
Wet the red wine stain with water using the spray bottle.
Doing this will help keep the stain moist to make it easier to remove the red wine stain, especially for dried red wine stains.
If it is a fresh stain, using water first will remove most of the red wine from the stained walls.
2. Spray The Stain With Soapy Water
Next, fill the spray bottle with dish soap and water to create soapy water.
Spray the red wine stain with soapy water.
This step should be gentle enough not to hurt the paint and address the red wine stain and begin to remove it off the painted walls.
3. Scrub The Stain With A Bristle Brush
Using a soft bristle brush, begin to scrub the red wine stain in a circular motion gently.
It is important not to scrub too vigorously as you may end up damaging the paint on your walls.
Even gently scrubbing the red wine stain will help to remove the red wine stain from the wall.
Be careful when scrubbing the red wine stain to avoid damaging the paint finish and avoid causing the stain to spread.
4. Rinse With Water
After gently scrubbing the red wine stain with the soft bristle brush, spray the red wine stain with more water to rinse the soapy water and red wine stain remnants from the painted wall.
5. Pat The Affected Area Dry
Once you have thoroughly rinsed the red wine stain and soapy water from the wall, use a clean cloth to pat dry the place where the red wine stain was.
The red wine stain should now be gone! Now, wait for the wall to air dry completely.
6. Spray With Cleaning Mixture
If you find after following the above steps the red wine stain persists, create a mix of ⅓ cup of white vinegar, ¼ cup of dish soap, 1 cup of rubbing alcohol, and 1 gallon of water.
When choosing your vinegar, I recommend using Lucy’s Family Owned – Natural Distilled White Vinegar.
I’ve had great luck with this product and it gets excellent reviews on Amazon.
Fill the spray bottle with this mixture and spot-check the cleaning solution on the wall.
Check to make sure that this mixture does not harm the finish of your painted wall.
Then spray the remainder of the red wine stain with the mixture.
Use a spray bottle of water to rinse the spot and then pat dry with another clean, dry cloth.
Video Instructions
- Step 1 (:08) — Spray with water
- Step 2 (:10) — Spray with soapy water
- Step 3 (:14) — Scrub with brush
- Step 4 (:16) — Rinse with water
- Step 5 (:21) — Pat dry
- Step 6 (:31) — Spray with mixture
FAQ
What Should I Avoid When Cleaning Painted Walls?
It depends on the type of paint that you have on your walls.
Specific finishes, like glossy and semigloss paint finishes, will not be as durable and tolerant when cleaning.
With these types of paints, it is best to avoid using harsh cleaning solutions to prevent harming the paint.
Also, these types of finishes are much more likely to get scratches, so be careful when scrubbing.
With oil-based paint, avoid using white vinegar as the acidity of the white vinegar will damage and dull the finish of the paint on the walls.
For flat, satin, and eggshell paint finishes, do not use harsh cleaning solutions as these are much less durable.
Also, do not use a brush on these paint finishes and instead opt for a softer sponge to gently scrub the red wine stain.
Will White Vinegar Harm Painted Walls?
No, white vinegar will not damage the paint on walls.
Instead, it will help you clean the red wine stain from the painted walls due to its acidy eating away at the red wine stain.
Keep in mind that if your walls are painted with oil-based paint, do not use white vinegar as it will dull the paint’s finish.
Can I Use Baking Soda To Remove Red Wine Stains?
Yes, baking soda is a well-known stain remover and can remove red wine stains from walls.
If you choose to go this route, be incredibly cautious to avoid damaging the paint finish.
Can I Use Bleach To Remove Red Wine Stains?
Yes, you can use a mixture of bleach and water of equal proportions.
Create enough bleach and water mixture to cover the size of the red wine stain.
Take a clean cloth and dab the red wine stain.
Continue doing this until the red wine stain is removed.
If your painted walls are painted with a non-white color, it is not recommended to use bleach even if it is color-safe.
Color-safe bleach usually is for fabric and will likely lead to discoloration of your painted walls.
What If The Red Wine Stain I Still There?
Repeating the steps above might not be enough in certain extreme circumstances and particularly bad red wine stains.
It may also depend on the type of paint not allowing the red wine stain to be entirely removed from the wall.
In this case, you may need to paint the wall over the stain.
Be sure that when repainting, if you do it yourself, you use a primer before painting over the discoloration with the original wall color.
Depending on the degree of discoloration, you may need to do more than one coat of paint.
