Stain Removal Finder.

23 stains across 17 surfaces. Pick what was spilled, what it landed on and how long it has been there, and the method comes back with dwell times, the things that would make it permanent, and all three approaches compared honestly.

What is the stain, and what is it on?

The surface decides as much as the stain does — wool and synthetic carpet need opposite treatment, and so do marble and quartz.

Stain

Surface

Fabric surfaces first, then hard surfaces.

How old is it?

FreshDried inOld or already treated

Still wet, or spilled within the last hour or so. Most of the material is sitting on the surface rather than bonded to it, and this is where the great majority of the result is won.

What the stain is: Anthocyanin pigment and tannin in an acidic, alcoholic solution. The pigment binds fast to cellulose and to nylon, and it darkens as it oxidises.
What the material is: A man-made fibre, usually nylon or polyester over a latex-bonded backing. It tolerates a much wider pH range than wool, but its dye is still destroyed by chlorine and its backing is still ruined by flooding.

The standard approach, using widely available products.

Combination Not Verified. No Mixing Instructions Are Shown.

This tool has no verified compatibility evidence for this selection. Follow the exact product labels and safety data sheets; do not treat missing evidence as permission to mix.

All three approaches on red wine — carpet — synthetic (nylon, polyester, olefin)Every approach is shown at once, including where one is genuinely weak. Nothing here is ranked or recommended — read the rows and decide.
Compared on	Conventional	Natural	Heavy-duty
Effectiveness	Effectiveness: Strong	Effectiveness: Strong	Effectiveness: Strong
Active time	~35 min	~34 min	~35 min
Safety notes	low irritancy; eye protection; test for colour loss	low irritancy; eye protection; test for colour loss	low irritancy; alkaline; gloves and eye protection
Surface risk	CautionSource noted in the assumptions below.	CautionSource noted in the assumptions below.	CautionSource noted in the assumptions below.
Availability	Common	Common	Common

Cells marked with a dagger carry a source note, listed under “How this is worked out” below.

How the method is chosen: Four independent rules are intersected: which agents attack this class of stain, what this surface tolerates, what the manufacturer permits, and what the shared chemical safety matrix refuses to allow on the same spot. Any one of the four can remove an option, and every removal appears in the what-not-to-do list with the reason that removed it.
What this stain is: Red wine: Anthocyanin pigment and tannin in an acidic, alcoholic solution. The pigment binds fast to cellulose and to nylon, and it darkens as it oxidises.Source: US Cooperative Extension stain-removal guidance (multi-state, e.g. Iowa State and University of Illinois Extension charts) — stain classification by protein, tannin, oil, dye and combination, and the heat-sets-protein rule.
Class of stain: Tannin. A plant dye. It lifts with oxidation and with mild acid, and it is set permanently by soap and by heat. Never put bar soap on a tannin stain.Source: US Cooperative Extension stain-removal guidance (multi-state, e.g. Iowa State and University of Illinois Extension charts) — stain classification by protein, tannin, oil, dye and combination, and the heat-sets-protein rule.
What this surface is: Carpet — synthetic (nylon, polyester, olefin): A man-made fibre, usually nylon or polyester over a latex-bonded backing. It tolerates a much wider pH range than wool, but its dye is still destroyed by chlorine and its backing is still ruined by flooding.Source: IICRC S100, Standard for Professional Cleaning of Textile Floor Coverings — spotting principles: work from the outside in, blot rather than rub, and control moisture so it never reaches the backing.
Effect of age: Fresh. Still wet, or spilled within the last hour or so. Most of the material is sitting on the surface rather than bonded to it, and this is where the great majority of the result is won. Dwell times below are multiplied by 1 for this age, and the effectiveness score is reduced by 0.0 of a band.
How effectiveness is scored: Each agent carries a score against each class of stain: 3 where it is the primary chemistry, 2 where it genuinely works, 1 where it helps at the margins. A column takes the score of the best agent still available to it after the vetoes, minus the age penalty, minus 0.4 where the surface only tolerates that agent with caution. 2.5 and above reads Strong, 1.5 and above Moderate, below that Weak.
Where the natural column is capped: Two results are fixed regardless of scoring, because they are the cases where the gentler route genuinely fails: a dried or old oily stain, and dried or old pet urine. The natural column cannot report better than Weak on either, whatever else changes.
Active time: Hands-on minutes only, summed across the steps and rounded. Soaking, dwelling and drying are listed against the step they belong to and are deliberately excluded — an eight-hour enzyme dwell is eight hours of waiting, not of working.
Chemical safety: Every pair of agents in a procedure is checked against the shared safety matrix before the procedure is built. Applying one agent and then another to the same spot counts as mixing them, so a hazardous pair removes the later agent rather than producing a warning next to a usable method.Source: CDC / NIOSH chemical hazard guidance, as encoded in this library’s shared safety matrix — hazardous pairs are refused rather than warned about.
Options removed for this combination: 1 across the three approaches. Each one is listed under what not to do, with the reason it was removed.

What each comparison row means

Effectiveness: How well this option performs on the specific job selected above — not a general rating of the product.
Active time: Hands-on time only. Soaking, dwelling and drying time are listed separately in the method, not here.
Safety notes: Skin, respiratory, child and pet considerations. Descriptive — read it rather than scoring it.
Surface risk: Whether this option can damage the surface it is used on. "Never" means it causes permanent damage.
Availability: Whether you can buy this at an ordinary supermarket or hardware store, or need a specialist supplier.

Source notes

Safe on most solution-dyed fibre, but it will lighten a printed or continuous-dyed nylon. Test first.
Sodium percarbonate is colour-safe on solution-dyed olefin and usually safe on polyester, but it can lighten nylon over a long dwell. Test in a wardrobe first.

Other Tools

Surface-Safe Cleaner LookupChoose a surface and see what is safe on it, what needs care, and what causes damage that cannot be undone.Diagnose and look up Can I Mix It? Chemical Safety CheckerCheck two or more cleaning products against each other before they go in the same bucket. Every hazard is cited to CDC, EPA, ATSDR or OSHA.Safety DIY Cleaning Recipe BuilderBuild a cleaning mix for a specific job from ordinary ingredients, with real quantities and the three approaches compared side by side.Make it yourself