Science News Archive

The Naked Truth this Week

Last week we revealed the truth about beer bellies - this week we turn our attention to another bane of life, and reveal the shocking truth about red wine stains. What do you do when you spill red wine on your cream carpet? Let me guess - you rush to the kitchen and splash white wine all over the stain and then add piles of salt, because we all know that this is the best way to remove red-wine stains. But is it? Well, no! A young scientist in America spent weeks dipping different fabrics in red wine to find the best stain removers. She found that white wine and salt just didn't work - considering that salt is used as a fixative for dyes, this is hardly surprising. So next time someone knocks a glass of Burgandy over your favourite cream trousers, try liquid soap and a mild solution of peroxide - they're scientifically proven to work. The research also revealed that silk was by far the most awkward material to get stains out of. So now you know.

11th May 2002