RED, RED WINE

Someday you'll be celebrating a very special occasion -- perhaps the annual celebration of your husband's birthday and your wedding anniversary all wrapped into one. (In our house we call this day The Birthiversary.)

8 years ago! 

After a delicious dinner and an adorable rendition of "Happy Birthday" led by an almost-three-year-old, you'll pop open a long-awaited bottle of one of your favorite reds: a Rosenblum Rockpile Road Zin from 2006, the year you were married.

After you sit back and take a sip or two, you might be shocked when that normally very careful almost-three-year-old grabs a towel out of the laundry basket and, without warning, starts whipping it around for some unknown reason. (Birthday cake sugar high?) Said towel might take a powerful swipe across the coffee table before you even know what's happening, shattering a wine glass and spraying wine all over your white couch.

This is a thing that happens, friends. Believe me. And when it does, forget the white wine, the vodka, the salt, the club soda, the baking soda, the white vinegar, and everything else the internet tells you removes red wine stains.

You will need good old fashioned Carbona, #8 to be exact.

This morning, I was ready to wave a white pillow cover in defeat after the stains on the couch cover wouldn't budge, even after an overnight soak in the tub. (I'm patting myself on the back right now for buying a couch with a fully removable slipcover. Gold star for me!) Then my mother-in-law mentioned Carbona, which I've seen on the grocery store shelf a thousand times but have never used.

I went to the grocery store during lunch to buy some, followed the instructions (dissolve in hot water, which was scary, then soak) and was amazed when, after a 30 minute soak, the stain was gone. Not even a trace. I can't believe it. I wish I'd worn gloves though -- I didn't really soak my hands in the stuff, but the little bit I touched did irritate my skin a little.

One tip: I did make sure the stain stayed wet. That probably helped.

So, just when I was thinking we'd need to shell out for a new slipcover (not cheap), a $3 bottle of specialty cleaner did the trick. I thought you might want to know, just in case...