Does White Wine Really Remove Red Wine Stains? And Other Cleaning Quandaries

Everybody has their own tricks and tips when it comes to cleaning and if you have time to scour the internet and read them all you will find that a lot of them contradict each other or make outlandish claims that can’t possibly be true. So in the quest to remove all the stains from your home and make it sparkle for longer what can and what can’t you believe?

Cleaning is never something that we are particularly fond of but there are times when it is necessary and of course there are those heart stopping times in which a quick reaction could be the difference between your stylish white carpet staying that way or being defaced indelibly.

Q: Does White Wine Remove Red Wine Stains?

A: Yes

Why: Quite what state of mind you have to be to immediately open a bottle of white wine and pour it over your carpet moments after red wine has already made its own way there is a different question entirely, but the truth is this does work. There’s something about the particular tannins in both red and white wine that cancel each other out and result in the stain being neutralised. However, if you are not overcome with the urge to dribble your 1978 Montrachet all over the floor then baking soda and hydrogen peroxide works just as well, but only on a light coloured carpet.

Q: Does A Tougher Stain Require More Cleaning Product?

A: Not necessarily

Why: At first glance it may seem like the perfect use of common sense to assume that a tougher stain requires more of your cleaning product to get it off, but this is not always the case. The chances are that if you have a tough stain or piece of dirt that just won’t budge you will most likely need a stronger or different product rather than just more of the same.

Q: Can You Ever Get Rid Of 100% Of Bacteria?

A: No one knows

Why: You may be wondering why a lot of the top of the range cleaning products claim only to kill 99.9% of germs and bacteria. But contrary to popular belief this is not to protect the company from being sued if some pedant finds any bacteria still living on his kitchen surface after using the product; it’s more to do with the fact that there is no way of telling whether that last 0.01% have been destroyed or not. So these cleaning products may well remove 100% of germs but some are just too small for us to know if they are still there or not.

Is Bleach A Universal Cleaner?

A: No

Why: In reality bleach is more of a sanitiser or disinfectant than an actual cleaner. This means that it will stop bacteria developing after it has been applied but it is not always the best product to use to clean the surface in the first place. Also, you don’t really want to be putting too much bleach near the surfaces that your food is going to touch. The best approach is to use a standard cleaning product and then disinfect with bleach afterwards if you wish.