Remove Beer Stains from Fabric

It’s easy to stain clothing or other fabrics with beer. Someone jostles you at a party, and suddenly your shirt is covered in a stain. You're hosting friends, and someone accidentally dumps a beer on the couch of floor. Accidents happen, but you can be prepared to deal with them using some basic cleaning items you have around he house. Using solutions made from basic cleaners like dishwashing detergent, vinegar, enzyme cleaners, and/or hydrogen peroxide, you'll be able to clean beer stains from clothing, upholstery, and carpet.

Steps

Removing Beer Stains from Clothing and Washable Fabric

1. Soak the item in a lukewarm water solution. Start by soaking the item in lukewarm water mixed with dishwashing detergent and vinegar. In a quart of water, add a tablespoon of water and a 1/2 teaspoon of dishwashing detergent. Mix together, and add the piece of clothing.
   • Let the clothing soak in the solution for about 15 minutes.
   • Rinse the clothing out at the end.
2. Sponge off the stain. Next, use rubbing alcohol to sponge clean the stain. Pour rubbing alcohol on the sponge. Start from the center of the stain and work your way outward, gently massaging it as you go. You may need to squeeze out the sponge and add more rubbing alcohol partway through.
   • Don't rub too hard as that could damage the fabric.
   • If the sponge gets too dirty, clean it off with soap and water before continuing.
3. Move on to an enzyme cleaner. Add a tablespoon of an enzyme cleaner meant for pre-soaking fabrics to a quart of warm water. Mix it together, and put the piece of clothing in, making sure it's all the way submerged in the solution. Let the clothing soak for half an hour.
   • Once you've soaked it, pull it out and check to see if the stain is lifting. If it still seems solidly on there, you may want to soak it for longer.
   • Enzyme cleaners are a natural way to own stains.
   • You can find enzyme cleaners at most big box stores.
4. Wash the item as normal. Using the hottest setting the fabric will take, put the clothing in the washer. Add detergent and bleach. Use chlorine bleach for whites or oxygen bleach for colors. Let the clothing go through a normal cycle.
   • To see how hot you can wash the fabric, check the tag. The tag will have laundry instructions, such as what setting you can wash the fabric on.
   • You may be able to only wash the fabric in cold water. If so, go ahead and wash it that way.
5. Check to see if the stain has been removed. If the stain remains, repeat the steps again before you dry the fabric. Drying the fabric with the stain could set the stain permanently, so you want to make sure the stain is gone before you dry it. Once the stain is gone, dry the clothing normally.
   • One way to check the stain is to smell it. If it still smells like beer, wash it again.
   • Also, look for discoloration. If the fabric is still discolored, you need to wash it again.

Removing Beer Stains from Upholstery

1. Blot the stain with a paper towel. The first order of business is getting out as much beer out of the upholstery as possible. Getting the beer out will help lessen the stain. Use clean, white paper towels to blot the area, as colorful paper towels could stain the upholstery with dye.
   • While you're blotting, make sure you've found all the stain. Look for other spots on the upholstery beyond the main spill, as beer has a tendency to splash everywhere.
2. Create a cleaning solution. You'll need a basic cleaning solution to clear up the stain. You can make one from items you have at home, and you have more than one option when deciding what you want to use.
   • The first solution uses rubbing alcohol and white vinegar. Measure out 2/3 a cup of rubbing alcohol. Add a tablespoon of white vinegar to it, and mix it together.
   • The second solution uses dishwashing detergent and water. In 2 cups of cool water, add a tablespoon of dishwashing detergent. Stir it together.
   • Either solution will work, so just choose one based on what you have on hand. You may want to test the solution in a discreet area to make sure it doesn't discolor the fabric, as different fabrics may react differently to the solutions.
3. Apply the solution. Dip a clean cloth into the solution. A white cloth is best so it doesn't stain the upholstery. Apply the cloth to the upholstery. Press it in to help absorb the beer from the upholstery.
4. Keep pressing. Continue to reapply apply the solution to the stain. As you do, the stain should begin to lift. You may need to repeat the process 3 or 4 times before you absorb all the beer from the upholstery. Make sure the stain is completely gone before moving on to the next step.
5. Sponge cool water onto the area. Using a new clean cloth, apply cool water to the area. Blot a few times to make sure all the cleaning solution is gone. Once it is, use a dry, clean cloth to blot the area until it's mostly dry.

Removing Beer Stains from Carpet

1. Blot the stain with a paper towel. Blotting the stain will allow you to soak up as much beer as possible. Removing the beer helps lessen the stain. Plus, you won't have to work as hard in the next steps if you get up all the beer you can.
   • Just like with the upholstery, make sure to check for stains nearby. You may find little dots of beer splashed all across your carpet.
2. Create your cleaning solution. You'll need vinegar, dishwashing detergent, and hydrogen peroxide (3%). You'll need to make two different solutions for washing out your carpet, and you'll use both of them.
   • For the first solution, you'll mix vinegar and water. Mix 1 part vinegar with 2 parts water. For a small amount, mix a 1/3 cup of vinegar with 2/3 cup of water.
   • For the second solution, first make sure your dishwashing detergent doesn't have bleach, as that could make a dangerous solution later when the peroxide is applied. If it has lanolin in it, that may make it more difficult to clean the stain, so make sure your detergent doesn't have that, either. In a quart of water, add a 1/4 teaspoon of dishwashing detergent.
   • You'll use the hydrogen peroxide by itself.
3. Start with the the vinegar solution. Put the solution in a spray bottle to make it easier to apply. Spray the solution on the stain, essentially soaking it with the solution. Once it's on the stain, use a clean paper towel to blot up the solution.
4. Apply the detergent solution. Dip a sponge or clean rag into the detergent solution. A white cloth works best so you don't stain the carpet with the cloth. Blot the stain with the solution.
   • Keep going back and forth between the solution and stain until the stain is removed.
   • You'll likely need to perform this action 3 or 4 times at least.
5. Remove the solution. Now you need to take the detergent out of the carpet with clean water. The easiest way to do that is to use a spray bottle with clean water. Spray it on the carpet and blot up the detergent. Repeat the process until you've removed the detergent and you don't see any suds.
6. Blot the stain dry. Once you've made sure all the detergent is out, you can dry off the carpet. Blot it dry with paper towels. However, to make sure it's really dry, place a stack of clean paper towels on top of it, then put something heavy on top of that, such as a brick.
   • If you don't have a brick, you can use something else heavy. Just make sure it's something you don't mind getting wet, or take the time to wrap it in plastic first.
7. Check for the stain. Once the carpet has dried, check the area again for a stain. If you still see one, you can use the hydrogen peroxide to help get the rest of it up. Apply straight hydrogen peroxide to the carpet with a clean cloth.
   • Leave the peroxide on for an hour. If you still see a stain, blot it up, and add more peroxide, leaving it for an hour again. Keeping repeating the process until you see the stain is gone. You don't need to rinse it out.
   • Once it's gone, apply a brick and a stack of clean paper towels to make sure it properly dries.

Removing Water Stains from Microfiber

1. Identify the stain. When you clean up a stain on microfiber upholstery, sometimes the water itself leaves a stain, which you then need to remove. However, when you're looking at the stain, make sure you don't see any signs of beer left. You need to make sure that stain is gone before you start working on the water stain left behind.
   • Look for discoloring, as beer can discolor fabric slightly.
   • You can also smell the area to check for a beer stain. If the beer stain is still there, repeat the stain removal process for upholstery.
2. Wet the stain again. Use a clean white cloth. Make sure it is soft so it will be gentle on the fabric. Dip it into clean water, and wring it out. Press the cloth gently on the area to make it damp. You don't want to make the area soaking wet. You just want it to be damp enough that you can dry the fabric more quickly this time.
3. Dry the fabric with a blow dryer. The reason water sometimes leaves a stain on microfiber is because it dries too slowly. A blow dryer helps speed up the process. Wave the blow dryer over the fabric until the stain dries up, leaving you without a watermark this time.
   • The main reason you want to make sure the stain is completely gone is that when you apply heat to a stain with a blow dryer, you are setting the stain in the fabric, making it nearly impossible to remove later.

Tips

• Always treat a stain as soon as you see it. Waiting allows the stain to set and makes it harder to remove.
• When possible, test your stain removal products on a small portion of the item that will be unnoticeable, such as the back of the couch, for instance. If the solution causes any adverse affects to the fabric, they will happen in a place no one will notice, and you can find a different method of stain removal for the more visible part of the fabric.
• You can also use commercial cleaners to remove stains, but you should skip ones that say they have "stain repellents" built in, as those could cause the stain to set.
• Some people have had good luck using turpentine to remove old beer stains on upholstery. If you try it, make sure you ventilate the area well. Also, put on gloves to protect your hands. To try it, just sponge the turpentine on the stain, and rinse it out when the stain is gone.

Warnings

• Watch out for running dye, particularly on upholstery. Beer can cause the dye to run. If that happens, you likely won't be able to salvage that part of the upholstery from being stained.

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