Sacrifice Some Beer If You Want To Remove A Stubborn Coffee Stain

Few things can ruin your regular cup of coffee — spilling said coffee is definitely one of them. Not only is your java now gone, but you've got a mess on your hands, and coffee can create the most stubborn stains. Luckily, cleaning experts are always finding new hacks for getting rid of those stains, quick and easy enough that you can make yourself some more coffee and get on with enjoying your day. One of the most effective solutions is also one of the most surprising: beer.

Beer sounds like yet another thing you don't want to spill on your carpet, but it actually works like a charm — like one brew fighting another. Simply pour a bit of beer on the coffee stain, gently scrub it in, and rinse. You may need to repeat this a couple of times, and it's also a good idea to finish with a spritz of your carpet cleaner — while it may not have worked to remove the coffee stain, it will get the smell of the effective beer out. Beer, water to rinse, and a hint of carpet cleaner are all you need to make your rug look like the spill never happened. If you're worried about sacrificing good beer for this task, just check the expiration dates of the beer in your fridge. Odds are, you have one past its peak freshness, a cheap macro beer, or one you don't love, and those are great contenders to use for cleaning.

The reason beer is effective even with tricky coffee stains is because of its alcohol, a highly capable cleaner. Especially with light beers, which you should use for this purpose, there's not enough color to battle the coffee, and the alcohol and abrasive carbonation will pull stains out of rug fibers. When it comes to clever cleaning hacks that call on other things you already have in your kitchen, like using baking soda to remove curry stains from enamel cookware, this one might be one of our favorites because of just how simple it is. And it's just another example of what a versatile kitchen essential beer indeed is. 

After all, there are plenty of ways you can cook with beer with a little know-how, and you can make bread with it, too. You can also use it for tasks like polishing furniture, copper, and stainless steel (like your sink taps) — just pour a little onto a cloth and gently rub. It will help break up rust with its carbonation so it's easier for you to remove, and this also helps when it comes to loosening hardware like bolts you haven't been able to twist in years.