Did you know that blood makes up about 7% of our body’s weight? Therefore, the average person has between one and two gallons (depending on their weight of course) of blood circulating throughout their bodies at any given time. From time to time, some of it is bound to “leak” out. At those moments, it may get onto clothes, bedding, carpet or whatever. Face it, it looks awful and you don’t want to throw the item away, so what can you do to get that bloodstain out?
The first step, catch it when it’s still wet.
- Blot and then rinse with cold water.
- Pour on or use a cotton ball soaked in hydrogen peroxide to get the remainder of the stain out.
- Wash in cold water
- DO NOT put IT into the dryer unless you are absolutely sure that all of the stain is removed. The heat will set the stain. This is the same reason you used cold water and not warm or hot.
What happens if you missed some of the stain or it did not all come out? If it is already dried into the fabric, no fears, as long as you did not put it into the dryer ~ SIMPLY REPEAT the above procedure! Hydrogen peroxide works on dried blood too, but you may have to repeat procedure one or two times to get all of the stain out.
It really works like magic. Once you add the hydrogen peroxide to the bloodstain, it will start to bubble and lift the stain away. So how does this magical stain remover work? Well, hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a compound made up of two hydrogen atoms and two oxygen atoms and they begin to breaks apart as soon as it makes contact with the blood, that’s the bubbling you are seeing. Blood is a protein. The H2O2 oxidizes and breaks down the protein causes it to break apart.
There is one thing to keep in mind: hydrogen peroxide can bleach or fade some materials. So, if you are concerned, definitely spot-check the material first by testing on portion no one will see.
May you never need to use this helpful household tip. But, just in case….
