Making prop red wine

[Cassidy1209]

I've been trying to find an easy recipe for prop red wine. I am trying to find something with the least staining ability. We are performing in a VERY small black box and there is a wedding scene, and many actors in tight places. Our costume designer is especially concerned about the wedding dress.

Would working with fruit juice stain worse than something with tea and food coloring?

Any tried and true recipies?  A Good method for quick spot treating would also be a helpful one for this show.

Thanks!

[RuthNY]

You can search this forum for "Beverage Recipies," a topic that has been discussed before.  But I don't remember discussion of non-staining red wine recipies...

[ReyYaySM]

Here is the thread that Ruth is referring to: Prop Recipe Exchange.  I did not see any mention of the degree of staining power of the recipes.  Shows I've worked on in the past have used grape juice, flat birch beer, or a grape/fruit punch gatorade concoction (it sounds awful, but the color was great and the actors chose it in a blind taste test).  However, all of these are prone to staining.  Let us know what you end up going with and your stain fighting technique as well.

[Maribeth]

There's a stain removal product that come with the Dryel package that I've found works really well. You squeeze some of it on, then put a paper towel or something similar to soak up the excess. I've only used it for small spot treatments, but have been pretty successful with it.

I would look at the package to make sure it included it before purchasing- also, the bottle that I had was fairly small.

[smarielle.goldstein]

also, never underestimate the power of a Clorox bleach pen if nothing else works! they are a godsend! Let us know what works, I'm always on the prowl for new and exciting stage substitutes!

[Trevor7]

I would try a few things and test them on a white towel.  Just a suggestion.

I agree with making sure you have a Clorox pen just in case, I got a huge blood stain out of a large tux shirt with it.  If it can do that I am sure it will be able to remove anything.

[lauria]

Even better than a white towel (which would be super absorbent and may be more difficult to get the wine out of) would be to get a fabric sample from the costume department of something that is close to the wedding dress in color and material. Then you can see how that really reacts, since that is the most concerned. Be sure to let the fabric sit for however long it would take for it to be cleaned. Is she on stage for 2 minutes and then you could do a quick clean between scenes but not a full clean for another 45 minutes? Test that out.

And repeat the cleaning agent over and over on the sample. Will a bleach-based cleaning agent weaken the fabric and lead it to tearing? Think about how likely the "wine" will fall in the same place. If she's getting a glass-full in her lap then it will. If she's spinning around the room and someone spills an eighth of a cup on her then it's probably going to be a bit more evenly distributed and in less danger of distressing the fabric.

[kiwitechgirl]

I've always used blackcurrant juice darkened down with either flat Coke or caramel food colouring (you can buy it at home brewing stores), with a tiny drop of blue food colouring to make red wine.  I used this for Arsenic and Old Lace last year, and it got spilt on a white tablecloth almost nightly; I found that provided I got the tablecloth into a bucket of water fairly quickly (Wardrobe chucked it in the wash the next morning), it washed out fine - might not be practical for a wedding dress to be washed daily though.

[hairqween]

I know I'm late to the game but for future readers, another consideration is that the fabric should be 100% Polyester, if possible. Or anything made from plastic. Cotton and cotton blends will stain and require more work and bleach. Any synthetic material will just wash out easier. I have had shows with dirt, mud, blood, food, food coloring, anything that was synthetic was MUCH easier and required less work. Heck, polyester wont even take dye! Just to be safe - double check with a swatch from costumes and do a patch test.

[jalooz]

Almost anything with red dye is going to stain.  Why not go with "white" wine.

[jenhen]

In the past I've used both flat DIET black cherry soda or a red flavor of Crystal Light.  My understanding is that without the sugars present in real soda or fruit juices it makes the stain easier to get out.  The Crystal Light was for a show where the actress was in a white nightgown and spilled it on herself nightly.  Wardrobe was able to get it out on a regular basis.

[kiwitechgirl]

Almost anything with red dye is going to stain.  Why not go with "white" wine.

Sometimes you can't!  Arsenic and Old Lace, for instance, needs elderberry wine - it's in the script - so that's awfully difficult to change to white wine.

[MatthewShiner]

Almost anything with red dye is going to stain.  Why not go with "white" wine.

Because white wine rarely goes with a good lamb dish.

Just silly.

If a director wants red wine  . . . and besides, the symbolism of red wine is just so much richer then white wine.

REMEMBER, once something is put on stage it ceases to be just something, it gains importance, and weight . . . now it's frame and 500 people are looking it . . . and can't just be any old glass of wine . . .

[babens]

If a director wants red wine  . . . and besides, the symbolism of red wine is just so much richer then white wine.

REMEMBER, once something is put on stage it ceases to be just something, it gains importance, and weight . . . now it's frame and 500 people are looking it . . . and can't just be any old glass of wine . . .

Ain't that the truth.  The last time I did A Little Night Music I remember we had a good hour or so long session with props just working out the proper shades for the various wines drunk throughout the show.  And of course it being more complicated than you think, since with food coloring you can easily have the proper color in a large quantity but when you pour it out into smaller glasses it is suddenly a lot lighter than it was in the pitcher you were mixing in.  I remember the director getting very nervous because one of the white wines looked positively orange while we were mixing it, but once portioned out was actually quite beautiful.