How To Remove Beet Juice Stains

Beet juice stains on clothing, upholstery and carpet can be very difficult to remove, because of their bright red color.

That beautiful color that makes borscht look so good, for example, does not look so pretty once it is a spot on your clothing.

Instead, it is a bright pink spot that just draws attention to itself.

The quicker you act with such a stain the better, because it sets quickly.

That is why the number one rule for stain removal is to treat the stain as quickly as possible, to make it as easy to remove as possible.

Below are step by step instructions for how to remove beet stains from fabric, upholstery and carpet.

How To Remove Beet And Beet Juice Stains On Clothing

Step 1: Scrape off any excess beet from the fabric.

Step 2: Run the fabric, inside out, under the cold water to flush out as much of the juice as possible, being careful not to spread the stain further.

Step 3: Pretreat the stain with a laundry stain remover, or coat the stain with liquid laundry detergent, and then let it sit for several minutes.

Step 4: Rinse well in cold water.

Step 5: If the stain is out, go ahead and launder as normal. If the beet stain is still there go ahead and soak the clothing or other fabric in a solution of cold water and chlorine bleach or oxygen bleach.

Hint: The chlorine bleach solution will work better than the oxygen bleach, if it is safe for the fabric, but it is much harsher on the fabric and the soak should be as short as possible, checking in 5 minute intervals to see if the fabric is OK, and don't really soak longer than about 15 minutes.

On the other hand you can presoak clothing in oxygen bleach for a much longer, even overnight typically.

Step 6: Launder in cold water with either chlorine bleach if the fabric will allow it, or color safe bleach if not.

Hint: Make sure the stain is gone after washing, but before you place in the dryer or you may set it. Repeat if necessary.

An alternate method was also suggested by a reader, to use boiling water (see the link for full details). A couple of readers have now raved in comments that this worked really well for them!

Beet Stain Removal On Upholstery

Step 1: Scrape off any excess beet from the upholstery, and blot up as much excess beet juice as possible, being careful not to spread the spot further.

Step 2: Mix a solution of two cups cool water and one tablespoon dishwashing liquid.

Step 3: Using this solution, sponge the stain with a clean white cloth.

Step 4: Next, blot until the liquid is absorbed.

Step 5: Repeat steps 3-4 until the spot is removed from the upholstery.

Step 6: If the stain is removed you should get plain cold water and a new white cloth and sponge the area to remove the cleaning solution, and then blot dry.

Step 7: If the stain is still there mix a solution of a half of a cup of cool water and one tablespoon of ammonia, and use this solution in the same manner that you previously used the dishwashing liquid cleaning solution on the upholstery.

Note: Normally ammonia is not suggested for cleaning upholstery because you are less likely to know what type of fabric, and its care requirements, are on the upholstery, but beet juice is very difficult to remove.

Before using an ammonia solution on your upholstery, please use a small amount in an inconspicuous area of the upholstery to make sure it will not harm it.

Hint: For either method listed above be sure to get the upholstery only as wet as necessary to remove the spot.

You can get more information on how to clean upholstery here.

Removing Beet Stains From Carpet

Follow the same directions as for upholstery above.

Do You Have Any Tips To Share For Removing These Stains?

I'm always looking for more tips and ideas for how to remove stains. You can share your stain removal tip here, for removing beet juice stains or anything else.

In addition, you can also share your own stain remover reviews here telling me what stain removers worked on removing beet stains, or any other stain.

Get Even More Stain And Spot Removal Help Here

Are you a stain magnet like me? If so, check out the A to Z Stain Removal Guide which gives directions for how to remove over 100 types of stains from all kinds of surfaces.

Third photo by neeta_lind and fourth photo by C Gehlen and

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Removing Beet And Beet Juice Stains To Home Page

CAUTION: This website is provided for informational purposes only. It is provided as is, without warranties or guarantees. Some stains and messes just won't come out, and are permanent. Further, some cleaning methods can harm your item, so if what you want to clean or launder is sentimental or expensive call a professional. See disclaimer of liability for more information.