This Simple Trick Will Remove Red Wine Stains Before It's Too Late

White tablecloths and red wine can make for messy situations:

There's a simple trick to catching the stain before it sets. The key ingredient? Salt.

It absorbs the wine very quickly, especially if wine spilled onto bedspreads, curtains, couches and other household items, which all absorb wine slowly.

"The first and easiest thing to do is ​to ​sprinkle with salt as this will absorb the wine," Ingrid Johnson, professor and assistant chairperson of Textile Development and Marketing at the Fashion Institute Of Technology (FIT), told us via email.

Real Simple shows how easy it is to take care of the stain in this video:

All you'll need is a clean white cotton cloth, bowl, white table salt, pot holder and boiling water.

Blot the stain with the clean white cloth -- don't rub (that sets the stain). Start boiling water. While that's getting hot, pull the tablecloth taut over the bowl, with the wine blotch centered and secure with the rubber band. Coat the stain generously with the salt and let it sit for about five minutes. Once your water is boiling, slowly pour it over the stain. Real Simple recommends doing it at about 8 inches high over the stain.

"Pouring it at this height gives you enough force to flush out the stain," they advise. Finally, throw it in the washing machine, but don't dry until the stain is fully removed -- the heat from your dryer will set the stain for good.

-- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.