A full glass of red wine spilt on a woollen carpet can look like a disaster, and surely the only way to shift it is by using harsh chemicals, right?  Actually, you can get red wine out of your carpet by using more eco-friendly methods and things you may already have around your home.  Here's how.

What you'll need

• paper towels
• table salt
• vacuum cleaner
• club soda
• baking soda

How to do it

1. The first thing to do is to mop up as much of the spill as you can, as quickly as you can.  The longer the wine stays on the carpet, the more it will soak into the carpet fibres, and the more likely it will be to stain.  Use paper towel to blot the carpet and soak up as much of the liquid as possible.  Don't rub at the stain, as this can drive it deeper into the pile and spread it out even further.  
2. Next, pour some table salt over the stain until the area is totally covered.  You must use table salt for this.  Rock or sea salt crystals won't work as efficiently, as they are too large to be absorbent.  The finely granulated table salt will quickly absorb any remaining liquid from the carpet, and you'll see it turn red as it does so.  
3. Now vacuum up the salt before the stain dries.  
4. Next, pour some club soda over the stain.  Allow the soda water to sink into the carpet, and then blot it up using paper towel.  This soda water remedy works because of the action of its carbon and salt content and their reaction with the red wine constituents.  
5. Finally, rinse the carpet with clean, warm water and blot dry with paper towels.  
6. When the carpet is completely dry, sprinkle some baking soda over the area where the stain was, leave for a few minutes, and then vacuum it up.  Baking soda is extremely efficient at removing odours from carpet, so your room won't continue to smell of stale wine, even after the stain has gone.

In conclusion

You can quickly and easily remove red wine stains from your carpet by following the above method.  In the case of older or more stubborn stains, you may need to call out a professional carpet cleaning firm to tackle the job for you.  Many companies use eco carpet cleaning methods that don't require harsh or potentially environmentally harmful chemicals.