Tag Archives: hydrogen perioxide

Hydrogen Peroxide to the rescue!

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This morning Mathew woke up in a bloody mess. He had a bloody nose and amazing as it seems, slept while the blood flowed from his nose over his beloved Ryan (his stuffed bear), over the sheets and through the mattress cover (thank goodness the mattress cover is thick and the blood didn’t get into his mattress. Mathew has on occasion experienced a nosebleed, but this time the amount of blood and the fact he slept through it was quite impressive. The bloodstain was larger than the size of his head. Don’t worry, I didn’t take any pictures.

So how does one deal with this situation? It’s 5am and there is quite a mess to clean up.

First, I clean-up Mathew’s face and made sure his nose is not bleeding anymore. It’s isn’t, YAY!

Next, take the soiled sheets, Ryan, and mattress cover over off to the laundry, remake the bed, and put Mathew back to sleep.

Now, what to do about the bloody mess? Hydrogen Peroxide to the rescue! First, I rinse as much blood out as possible with cold water, then pour hydrogen peroxide directly onto the stain, presto like magic, the bloodstain starts to foam and disappear. The reason why it foams is because blood and cells contain an enzyme called catalase. When we bleed, there are both blood and damaged cells, so there is lots of catalase floating around. When the catalase comes in contact with hydrogen peroxide, it turns the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into water (H2O) and oxygen gas (O2). Catalase does this extremely efficiently — up to 200,000 reactions per second. The bubbles you see in the foam are pure oxygen bubbles being created by the catalase.

Ok, so once I removed most of the blood, I simply wash the sheets in cold water with detergent. But before I put them in the dryer, I re-check to make sure all blood is gone. If I missed some stains, I just repeat the steps above. It’s important to never dry blood stained sheets/clothes, as the heat will set the stain and it will be close to impossible to get it out.

Hopefully, you will not have to use this trick, but here you are just in case.

 

Dylan got skunked

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The other night, I took Dylan out before we all went to bed. I should have known something was up when he didn’t run to his “spot” but started to go under our back deck. I tried to get him out but before I knew it, he was running after a skunk who escaped by running out the other side of the deck. No matter how loud and crazy I screamed – Dylan pursued until he stopped – perhaps a second after he was sprayed.

Fortunately, I recalled a conversation with a friend whose dog was also skunked. Apparently, tomato juice is no longer the magic bullet for skunk spray removal. I couldn’t recall what it was, so we Googled it. The new trick is hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and liquid detergent mixed together, which you need to quickly apply and rub while it is still fizzing, then rinse and repeat as necessary. It’s a good idea to rub mineral oil over the dogs eyes to protect them while doing the procedure. And don’t forget to wear rubber gloves. 

Well, we had enough hydrogen peroxide to do this once. It helped a lot, but it did not get the job done. I thought that vinegar would react very much like hydrogen peroxide, so we Googled it, and it was also recommended. Thank goodness we have an ample supply of vinegar and baking soda in this house. We needed to repeat this several times to feel somewhat secure that most of the smell was gone. But truth be told, it was too difficult to tell. By that time, our nostrils were so filled with skunk smell, and it also wafted into the house, it was everywhere.

Apparently, we have a skunk living under our porch. This was not the first time we had smelled skunk around the house, just the first time we ever met one. Luckily, a friend told me a way she relocated skunks living under her porch – mothballs. They hate the smell (reminds me of a very silly joke from college) as most living creatures do. However, they are very toxic to living creatures, so you don’t want it in your soil either. The trick is to put them in a pie tin, fold it over and use duct tape or a rubber band to closed it. The duct tape will prevent critters from getting the mothballs and from the rain getting in, which may melt them, thus resulting them getting into your soil. At least that is the hope. So, I did that, along with giving Dylan a couple more baths. Unfortunately, when he is wet, he still has a little skunk odor which I guess is normal and is suppose to dissipate in a few weeks, some say months. We are keeping our fingers crossed. I’ll keep you posted.

 

Hey, give me a break – it was college!