How to Remove Red Wine Stains from a Silk Tie

Simple Home Remedies to Remove Red Wine Stains from a Silk Tie

Just in time for this week's Thanksgiving dinner, here are some home remedies to remove a red wine stain from a silk tie. First off, let us start by saying that red wine and delicate silk is one of the worst combinations, and one of the hardest stains to remove. Although tough to combat, there are a few cleaning tips and cleaning products that do the job moderately well.

Step 1: Prevention
Obviously, the simplest solution is to never get your tie stained in first place. A tie clip for instance would be a good choice as it prevents your tie from dangling around too much. Other good options are wearing your tie under a cardigan or V-Neck sweater, or by covering your torso with a napkin. Last but not least, you may want to consider wearing slightly darker colored ties which are not only in style for the season, but are also much less likey to show stains.

Step 2: Act Fast
Should, despite all prevention efforts, your tie be stained with red wine, then acting fast is of utmost priority. What works best is table salt! Lay the tie flat on a table (you can even keep the tie on), and pour plenty of table salt onto the stain. The salt will soak up the moisture and will prevent the red wine from soaking into the fabric.

Step 3: Home Remedies
This two-step process should remove most red wine stains from your silk tie. First, mix one part of hydrogen peroxide with one part cold water. Soak the effected area in this solution for about an hour. Do not rub the fabric but let the tie sit in the solution instead. Most likely some of the stain will still be visible. That's where step#2 comes in. Take some rubbing alcohol and dab it onto the stain with a clean table linen. Then place a clean linen on top of the tie and put some weight on it (a full, and hopefully closed, wine bottle works perfectly here). Wait for 5-10 minutes. Should the stain still be visible then repeat this step one or two more times. Still not working? Then go to step#3 below.

Step 4: Commercial Cleaners '
We have tried all the most popular commercial red wine cleaners, and found Erado-Sol, a commercial cleaner commonly found in hospitals, to be the top choice. Because Erado-Sol is not carried by most drug stores and supermarkets, you may need to order it online. We found a few sources after searching on Google. Prices for a 2oz bottle (which is plenty) cost about $5-$10.

More Tie Cleaning Tips:
Men's Necktie Upkeep Basics
Basic Silk Tie Care & Cleaning Tips

Happy Thanksgiving!