Cleaning coffee, tea and wine stains can be tricky, especially if they have been set for some time. Stains can often come back after successfully being removed. These types of stains are caused by the “Tannin’s” in the beverages spilled. Tannin is a natural vegetable dye that is in many plants. Examples are grape skins, tea leaves and coffee beans. Carpet cleaners will use an acid based detergent to clean the stain, these chemical are high in alkalinity “acid” to remove the tannin stains.

If you wish to try to remove the stain yourself you can mix a few ounces of laundry detergent and household WHITE vinegar and warm water to clean the stain. Gently blot the stain without aggressively scrubbing. The vinegar is very alkaline and mixed with the detergent should remove the stain, then blot dry with a light colored towel.

When the stain comes back
You have removed the “tannin” stain and it returns when the carpet is dry!

This can happen due to residue left behind in the base of the fiber or backing. This residue “wicks” up to the top (the same principle as a wick in an oil lamp) of the fiber as the carpet drys. This is a very common situation, to remove simply re -clean the area with a damp cloth and a very thin mixture described earlier and blot the stain keeping it very dry. You are attempting to wipe off the top of the carpet only, keeping it as dry as possible( do not saturate or over wet the area), even employ a fan to dry the stain rapidly.