Rich food and entertaining can make for messy spills over the holiday season. Here are some tried and true tips to help get the stains out.

The pros at the dry cleaners make it look so easy. You drop off that stained tablecloth and -poof- you pick it up stain-free!

So what's the secret? According to Lesa Diehl of Tuesday's Cleaners it starts with what you do when the stain happens

"They panic and they want to grab a rag and start wiping it. You can't do that. You have to take it and blot it because when you wipe it you are going to ruin your fibers and that causes the damage," she explained.

With a few simple products, you can get most stains out at home. Take cranberry sauce - it's a holiday favorite - but not on your carpet. Pat Slaven, ShopSmart's stain expert at Consumer Reports, recommends mixing one teaspoon of clear or white detergent with a cup of warm water. Then blot the stain.

"If there's still a little bit of a mark left, try a red-dye remover like Didi Seven," she suggested.

Gravy drippings on your tablecloth?

"Mix up a bit of Fels Naptha with water and use it to pre treat oily stains," Slaven said.

Then wash as usual.

And what about red wine? If it spills on your carpet, first blot the excess with water, then a detergent solution. If that does not work, try hydrogen peroxide to lift out the color.

But with red wine on your clothes pre-treat it with a laundry booster like shout or

Spray 'n wash. And don't make the mistake of ignoring white wine spills or champagne and ginger ale. Slaven said you'll be sorry later on.

"We spilled white wine on this carpet swatch about a year ago. Eventually the sugars will caramelize and leave this," she said holding up a brown and yellow stained sample.

And if you've put some of these products on a stain and it didn't come out tell your drycleaner the full story.

"I need to know which products you used because I have to also try to get those products out, plus what ever you've done to it. So I have to work all those things out and then I have to get to the stain," explained Diehl.

That takes time. For red wine stains on a silk top it will take her two days to make the garment as good as new

Bottom line, if it's every day clothes you can try to get it out yourself but if it's something really expensive you better leave it to a professional.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Chris Olsen