How to Remove Wine and Coffee Stains from Velvet Ottomans?

Velvet looks far more forgiving than it is. The good news: most spills lift cleanly if you do one thing before you reach for any cleaner — read the cleaning code on the label. The code, not the stain, decides what is safe to put on the fabric.

Why does the cleaning code matter more than the stain?

The letter on your ottoman’s label is the single most important piece of information when something gets spilt, because it tells you what the fabric can physically tolerate. Velvet is a pile fabric — thousands of short fibres standing up off a backing — and the wrong cleaner doesn’t just fail to lift the stain, it damages the pile or the dye permanently.

The codes are a simple four-way system:

Code	What it means	Safe to do yourself?
W	Water-based cleaners only — a little washing-up liquid or upholstery shampoo in water.	Yes, with care. Don’t over-wet.
S	Solvent only (dry-clean). Water can leave rings, shrink the fabric or make the dye bleed.	Best left to a professional.
WS	Either water-based or solvent cleaners may be used.	Yes, with care. Match the cleaner to the spill.
X	No liquids of any kind. Vacuum or soft brush only.	No — any stain is a professional job.

Which code your ottoman carries usually comes down to the fibre. Natural velvet woven from cotton, silk or viscose tends to be coded S or X: those fibres swell and water-mark easily, so they stay as dry as possible. Synthetic velvet — most often polyester — handles moisture far better and is usually W or WS, which is why it’s the practical choice for family rooms, hallways and homes with pets. The one thing polyester velvet doesn’t tolerate is heat: above roughly 60°C the fibres can melt into a permanent shiny patch, so hairdryers and radiators are off the table whatever your code.

So before anything else, find out what you’re working with. If you bought a velvet piece and aren’t sure what it’s made from, our guide to what an ottoman storage bench is and the build choices behind it is a good place to start.

Where is the cleaning code on a UK velvet ottoman?

Here’s something most cleaning guides — nearly all of them written for the US market — miss entirely. On a UK ottoman the label you are guaranteed to find is the fire label, not the cleaning code, and the two are not the same thing.

Every piece of upholstered seating sold in the UK has to carry a permanent fire-safety label by law, under the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire Safety) Regulations 1988. Ottomans and padded stools are named specifically in the regulations, so yours will have one. It’s usually headed “Carelessness causes fire” and is sewn behind a flap at the back, under the lid or seat pad, or along the base seam. The letter cleaning codes, by contrast, are an upholstery-industry convention rather than a legal requirement here — which means the code might be printed on the same permanent label, on a separate care label, or not stated at all.

(If you’re wondering about the swing tag that used to hang off new furniture: that display label was dropped from October 2025. The permanent label sewn into the piece is the one that stays.)

What should you do in the first 60 seconds of any spill?

The first minute matters more than the cleaner you eventually choose, because a fresh spill sits near the surface and a soaked-in one has worked down into the pile. The emergency response is the same on every code, so you can do it before you’ve even found the label.

Two rules carry almost all the weight here. Blot, don’t rub. Rubbing pushes liquid deeper and grinds the standing fibres flat — and a crushed patch of velvet catches the light differently, so it reads as a permanent mark even once the stain is gone. And use a white cloth. A coloured cloth or tea towel can transfer its own dye into damp velvet, and that’s a stain that’s genuinely hard to shift.

How do you get red wine out of a velvet ottoman?

Red wine is beatable on velvet if you move fast and avoid two popular mistakes. After blotting up as much as you can, reach for bicarbonate of soda rather than the salt trick you’ll often see recommended: salt is abrasive and can work grit down into the pile, whereas bicarb is a gentle absorbent that draws the remaining wine up out of the fibres.

Sprinkle the bicarbonate of soda generously over the damp patch and leave it for around 15 minutes to pull the colour up, then vacuum it away with the soft brush attachment. On many velvets that alone lifts a fresh spill. If a shadow remains and your code is W or WS, follow up with a little white vinegar in warm water applied to a cloth — not poured on the fabric — blotted gently, then rinsed by blotting again with a clean, barely-damp cloth.

If your code is S or X, stop after the bicarb-and-vacuum step and call a professional rather than wetting the fabric. And a fresh spill is a very different job from a dried one: wine that has set into the pile usually needs specialist treatment to come out fully, so the sooner you act, the better the odds.

How do you get coffee or tea out of a velvet ottoman?

Coffee and tea usually come out completely when they’re treated quickly, because the fix is aimed at the tannins that do the staining. Blot up the liquid first, as above. Then, on W or WS velvet, mix a mild solution — roughly one tablespoon of washing-up liquid and one tablespoon of white vinegar in two cups of warm water. The mild acid helps neutralise the tannins. Apply it to the cloth, blot the mark repeatedly working edge-to-centre, then rinse by blotting with a clean damp cloth.

White coffee, or tea with milk, adds a touch of fat to the stain. Lift that first by sprinkling cornflour or bicarbonate of soda over the mark, leaving it a few minutes to absorb the oil and vacuuming it off, before you move to the liquid solution.

On S or X velvet, do the dry-absorbent step and then hand it to a professional — water risks a ring that’s more visible than the original coffee.

How do you clean a pet accident off a velvet ottoman?

A pet accident is the one spill where getting rid of the smell isn’t optional — it’s the whole job. Cat and dog urine contains proteins and uric-acid salts that ordinary detergents (and vinegar) only mask. If those aren’t broken down, the odour returns as the spot dries and your pet is drawn back to re-mark the same place.

The tool that actually solves this is an enzymatic cleaner: it contains enzymes that break the odour-causing compounds down rather than covering them. The catch is that enzyme cleaners are water-based, so this is a W or WS job. Blot up as much as you can immediately, apply the enzymatic cleaner following its own instructions, let it dwell for the time stated so the enzymes can work, then blot, air dry and brush the pile back.

Two things to watch. First, because an ottoman is hollow, lift the lid straight away and check the spill hasn’t run down inside onto anything you store in there. Second, urine that has soaked through the cover into the foam often can’t be fully reversed at home — if the smell lingers after treatment, or the velvet is coded S or X, it’s a professional job. A plain-topped ottoman is a little easier to treat here than a deep-buttoned one, since liquid can pool in the buttoned dimples; we compare the two finishes in our buttoned vs plain-top velvet guide.

How do you stop a velvet ottoman looking patchy after cleaning?

Most velvet that looks “ruined” after a clean isn’t stained at all — it’s water-marked or crushed, and both are avoidable. A tide-mark is a ring left when water dries unevenly and the minerals in ordinary tap water settle at the edge. Using distilled water and a cloth that’s damp rather than wet keeps that from happening, and cleaning the whole panel (or feathering outwards from the spot) means there’s no hard line where the cleaned area stops.

The other trap is heat. Hairdryers, radiators and direct sunlight shrink natural velvet and can scorch a shiny patch into polyester — so always air dry, allowing a couple of hours, and keep the piece out of strong sun. Once it’s fully dry, brush the pile back in one direction with a soft brush to even out the texture; if an area looks crushed, a garment steamer held a few centimetres clear of the surface (never touching) will relax the fibres back up. Crushed velvet needs an even lighter touch — mist, don’t soak, and use gentle strokes so you don’t disturb its pattern.

When should you stop and call a professional?

Knowing when to stop saves more velvet than any technique, because pushing on with stronger products is how a fixable mark becomes a set one. Hand it over when the code is S or X; when the velvet is a natural or antique fibre; when the stain is large, oily, old or already set; when a water ring won’t lift; when a pet smell persists or the urine has reached the padding; or whenever you can’t find or read the code at all. Vacuuming is safe on every code, so keep the piece clean while you arrange a specialist — and resist the urge to keep escalating cleaners in the meantime.

The cleanest way to avoid all of this, of course, is choosing a velvet that suits how your room is actually used. If you’re still deciding, our storage ottoman buying guide covers practicality alongside looks, and you can see the current range in our velvet ottoman collection.

Frequently asked questions

Can you use water on a velvet ottoman?

Only if the cleaning code allows it. Velvet coded W or WS can be spot-cleaned with a little water-based solution on a damp cloth. Velvet coded S or X should not get water at all — it can leave rings, shrink the fabric or make the dye bleed — so blot, vacuum, and use a professional. If you can’t find a code, treat it as S/X until you know.

Does salt remove red wine from velvet?

It’s a popular tip, but skip it on velvet. Salt is abrasive and can grind down into the pile. Use bicarbonate of soda instead: sprinkle it over the fresh spill, leave it about 15 minutes to draw the wine up, then vacuum it off with a soft brush attachment.

How do you get the smell of pet wee out of a velvet ottoman?

You need an enzymatic cleaner, not just detergent. Pet urine contains proteins that ordinary cleaners only mask, so the smell returns and your pet re-marks the spot. Enzyme cleaners break those compounds down. They’re water-based, so this only suits W or WS velvet; if the urine has soaked into the foam or the velvet is coded S or X, it’s a professional job.

Can you steam clean a velvet ottoman?

A garment steamer is useful for relaxing crushed pile, but hold it a few centimetres clear of the surface and never let it touch the fabric, as direct contact can crush the pile and leave water spots. Steaming to lift a stain is riskier because it adds moisture — only attempt it on W or WS velvet, and never on S or X.

What does the X code mean on my ottoman?

X means no liquids of any kind — clean it by vacuuming or soft-brushing only. Don’t use water, solvent or foam cleaners. For any actual stain on X-coded velvet, contact a professional upholstery cleaner rather than attempting it at home.