Removing Wine Stains from Tile Countertops

The first dinner party I ever hosted at my house was a great success; we had great conversation and a delicious dinner. After the meal we went into the kitchen and sat around the island as we had a bottle of wine with our deserts, the night was going perfect until someone knocked over a glass and I had wine all over my tile countertop. My friend apologized over and over but I was not worried about it, I knew exactly how I was going to get the stain out.

Removing the stain begins with the initial clean up when the spill first happens. Using warm sudsy water stops the acid in the wine from doing any unnecessary damage to your tiles. Rinse the area after. After you do this you can leave the stain and come back later, I waited until my guest left to try removing the stain. When you are ready to give it your full attention to the stain here is what you need to do.

1. Mix 1 cup water with 1/2 cup Hydrogen Peroxide and a little bit of dish soap in a spray bottle. Test a small area of your tiling, or a spare tile you may have to make sure the color won't be ruined by the solution.
2. Spray the liquid directly onto the affected area, completely covering the stain. Now it is time to let it sit. Find something to do to fill the time so you will not rinse it too early, I took this time to do the dishes from dinner and finish any other clean up.
3. After letting the solution penetrate the stain for about an hour or so I wiped all the mixture off the tiles and rinsed them with a clean damp cloth. The stain was almost gone but a light discoloration remained. A second application of the cleaner left to sit for about half and hour took the rest of the wine out.

Sometimes getting a wine stain out of the grout can be a little more difficult. On white grout a bleach pen works really well but this can discolor a darker colored grout, on these you can use the same solution as you did on the tiles. This may take a little elbow grease but with some scrubbing you should be able to get it out. When my friends came back to my house a few days later they were amazed that there was no sign of the stain anywhere. When you have a spill that threatens to stain your tile, if you clean up as much as you can before the stains set in the chance of you getting the stain out completely is that much higher. Keep your calm and be patient, letting the solution do the work for you. At your next party you can relax and enjoy the company of your friends knowing that if there is a spill the stain will not be there forever.