A bruised child's knee here, a small kitchen or shaving accident there, a nosebleed in the middle of the night or a period that comes earlier than expected: blood stains happen quickly in everyday life. And the question of how to get rid of them arises just as quickly. The good news is that blood stains can be removed easily, reliably and without any aggressive chemicals. At least if you know what you're doing.
And our following blog article will show you how to remove fresh or dried blood from clothing, what works for bed linen and sheets, how to get blood stains out of the mattress and which home remedies can help with fresh or dried blood stains on fabric, sheets and mattresses thanks to simple step-by-step instructions. Including a practical overview and the most common mistakes you should avoid.
First things first: Why blood stains are often so stubborn
It happens quickly, but unfortunately it doesn't go away so quickly. This is usually the case when blood ends up somewhere it doesn't belong. It doesn't matter whether it's on the bed sheet, your favorite shirt, underwear or upholstery: the look at the stain and the reaction to it are always the same. The dilemma is then rust-brown stains that can hardly be removed, because blood consists of hemoglobin, an iron-containing protein dye, as well as other protein compounds. These proteins react sensitively to heat. Above around 40 °C, they coagulate and bond permanently with the textile fibers. The following therefore applies to all blood stains: cold water, never hot!
And as banal as this recommendation may sound, it is THE one rule that really counts if you want to remove blood stains and avoid unsightly marks on your fabric.
|
The golden rule: Whether fresh or dried: If you want to wash out blood stains, always use cold water. Hot water coagulates the protein and unfortunately fixes the stain permanently in the fabric. |
Immediate measures: Remove blood stains from clothing
Every minute counts here. The easiest way to remove blood stains from clothing is while the stain is still fresh. So put the item of clothing aside for a moment and act immediately. If you suppress the impulse to think about it first, you are wasting valuable time. And don't worry: it doesn't require specialist knowledge or a lot of effort.
Below you can find out what helps immediately with fresh stains and what is still possible with dried stains.
Removing fresh blood stains from clothing
After the shock, one thing helps above all: prudence. If you act quickly, you almost always have the best chance of completely removing fresh blood stains. Most fresh blood stains can be completely removed in just a few minutes, as long as you start immediately with cold water. So that you know exactly how to proceed, you will find simple step-by-step instructions on how to proceed here:
Step-by-step instructions: Washing outfresh blood stains
1. Act immediately: Rinse the stain as quickly as possible under cold running water. The higher the water pressure, the better. Do not rub, but press the water through the fabric.
2. Pre-treat: Apply a little bluu stain soap or baking soda paste directly to the stain and work in gently. Please do not use circular movements, but always in one direction, as circular movements massage the stain into the fiber and enlarge it.
|
Our bluu tip for the perfect wash cycle: For those who prefer to have an environmentally friendly duo at hand for stain pre-treatment:
The bluu wash set Family combines the phosphate- and fragrance-free bluu wash strips with our bluu stain soap, a vegan soap stick based on Greek olive oil and soapwort from the Alps, which was specially developed for the pre-treatment of stubborn stains. |
3. Allow to take effect: Depending on the product, leave on for 10 to 15 minutes and then rinse thoroughly with cold water.
4. Washing: Wash the garment in the washing machine at the maximum temperature indicated on the care label. White clothes can often be washed at 60 °C, whereas colored clothes are better washed at 30 - 40 °C to preserve the colors.
5. Check before drying: Only check whether the stain is really gone after washing.
ATTENTION: Please never put a visible blood stain in the dryer, as heat fixes what the wash cycle has not removed.
Almost everyone makes these 4 mistakes when removing blood stains:1. Use hot water, as this coagulates the egg white and makes the stain really stubborn. 2. Rubbing instead of dabbing, which works a stain deeper into the fibers and enlarges it. 3. Put the visible stain in the dryer. The heat permanently fixes what has not yet come out. 4. After washing, hang the garment directly in the wardrobe without checking whether the stain is really gone. Once it has dried, it is much more difficult to remove. |
Remove washed & dried blood stains
A cool head is also the be-all and end-all here. Anyone who has noticed a bloody stain too late, has to remove dried blood stains or has already put the affected item of clothing through the dryer should also keep calm at first. Dried blood stains can often be removed, it just takes a little more patience and correct pre-treatment.
And this is the best way to go about it:
Instructions for dried blood: remove the stain with the right pre-treatment
1. Soak: Soak the affected item of clothing in cold salt water for 30 to 60 minutes. To do this, dissolve approx. 5 tablespoons of salt in one liter of water.
Ü The salt dissolves the dried-up protein compounds.
2. Pre-treat: After soaking, pre-treat the remaining stain with bluu stain soap or baking soda paste, working it in gently and leaving it to work for 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Washing: Machine wash as usual at the maximum permitted temperature according to the care label.
4. For stubborn stains: Apply lemon juice to the still damp stain, leave for 30 minutes and wash again .
ATTENTION: Please be careful with colored laundry, as lemon juice has a bleaching effect.
And what do you do if you want to remove blood stains thathave already been washed?
Not all is lost here either. If you have already washed the garment without the blood stain coming out, you can soak the garment again in cold salt water and pre-treat it. In many cases, soaking reactivates even older stains surprisingly well.
|
IMPORTANT:
If your fabric has already been in the dryer, the stain may be permanently fixed by the heat. In this case, unfortunately, only professional dry cleaning can usually help. |
Natural household remedies for removing blood stains from fabric
Not every stain requires a bottle of chemicals. Especially if you don't have a gentle cleaning agent like the products from bluu to hand, simple household remedies can also help against blood stains on fabric.
Here is an overview of what helps when & what you should look out for:
| Home remedy | Suitable for | Application | Not for |
| Cold water | All fabrics | Rinse or dab off immediately | Never use hot |
| Salt | Clothing, bed linen | Dissolve 5 tablespoons in cold water & soak | Delicate fabrics such as silk |
| Baking soda / baking powder | Clothes, mattress | Mix with water to form a paste & leave to take effect | Dark colored laundry(can lighten) |
| bluu stain soap | Clothing, bed linen | Apply to damp stain & leave on for 15 minutes | Wool, silk(test beforehand) |
| Lemon juice | White textiles | Drizzle on, leave on for 30 minutes & rinse out | Colored laundry, silk(bleaching) |
| Aspirin / ASS | White clothing, bed linen | Dissolve tablet in 1 liter of water & soak | Colored textiles |
| Cornstarch | Mattress, non-washable upholstery | Paste on stain, allow to dry & vacuum | Do not put water on the mattress |
|
What about hydrogen peroxide? Hydrogen peroxide from the pharmacy appears in many tip lists. It can also work for white textiles, but for colored or delicate fabrics it can dissolve colors and permanently damage the material. If you want to rely on oxygen power for stubborn stains, you are better advised to use a specially formulated Oxi-Booster such as the bluu snO₂ white Oxi White Booster * , as it works from 30 °C with an effective oxygen effect and without chlorine bleach. * not suitable for wool, silk and leather. |
|||
You can also find more tips on other stubborn stains such as red wine, coffee or grease in our blog " How to remove stubborn stains from textiles!.
When the days come in between: Remove blood from bed linen
Blood on sheets or underwear because of your period: It's really no drama! Getting up in the middle of the night to rinse the sheets is no fun, but it's the only thing that really helps. Because if you do this, you have a very good chance of removing the blood stains.
- Rinse immediately with cold water or soak the sheet in cold water
- Light pre-treatment with bluu stain soap or baking soda paste and leave to act briefly
- Wash at the maximum permitted temperature according to the care label, as white sheets often tolerate 60 °C, which is also sensible from a hygiene point of view.
- Baking soda often helps with stubborn stains on white sheets. Rub this in carefully, leave overnight, rinse with cold water and then wash again in the machine.
| OUR HYGIENE TIP:
If you want your bed linen to be really hygienically clean after your period without having to use a chemical hygiene rinse aid, simply add the bluu silvertrooper Hygiene silver cloth to the drum .
As a natural alternative, it has an antibacterial effect, is fragrance-free and suitable for all textiles. The silver ions leave a fresh deposit on the laundry that stays fresh for a long time even after washing. |
Removing blood stains from a mattress: how to do it gently
A mattress simply does not fit in a washing machine and that is the real challenge. Unlike with clothes or bed linen, there is no quick solution here either. In addition, mattresses are very absorbent by nature and dry more slowly than other textiles. And if too much water is used, a damp environment is created inside, which in turn can encourage mold.
| CAUTION: Never use too much water!
A mattress should only be damp on the surface and not soaked through. Damp mattresses can form mold, which invisibly settles on the inside. |
Incidentally, a mattress protector reliably protects the mattress from bleeding and saves on time-consuming cleaning. It is machine washable and easy to care for.
However, if you don't have one, you will find suitable procedures in the following two instructions:
Step by step: Remove fresh blood stains from the mattress:
1. Act immediately: Dab the surface of the stain with a dry cloth or paper towel and absorb as much moisture as possible.
Important: Dab, do not rub!
2. Damp cloth: Dampen a clean cloth in cold water, wring it out well and dab the stain from the outside inwards. The cloth must be really well wrung out so that as little moisture as possible penetrates the mattress.
3. Repeat: Repeat until the cloth only absorbs clear water.
4. Drying: Dab the treated area with a dry cloth. Then dry with a fan or hairdryer on a cold setting.
Important: Never blow-dry hot!
Instructions for removing dried blood stains from the mattress
A little more patience is also required here. Baking soda and cornstarch have proved particularly effective, as both draw moisture and dyes out of the material without soaking the mattress:
1. Baking soda paste :
1. baking soda paste: Mix baking soda with a little cold water, in a ratio of 1:1 or 3:1, to form a thick paste and apply to the stain. Then leave on for several hours, ideally overnight.
2. Vacuuming: Thoroughly vacuum the dried paste. Then dab the area with a damp cloth.
3. For residues: Carefully dab a dash of vinegar water made from 1 part vinegar and 3 parts water onto the area. Then leave to act and carefully dab dry.
4. Drying: In the last step, ventilate the mattress well, use a fan or a hairdryer on a cold setting. The mattress must of course be completely dry before the bed is covered again.
CONCLUSION: Removing blood stains is no drama if you know how
This is exactly the good news. Because the most important thing you can take away from this blog is that removing blood stains from bed linen and mattresses is just as manageable as trying to remove a few drops of blood from your clothes.
Once you have understood how blood stains occur and what helps against them, you don't need any specialist knowledge or an overstocked cleaning products cupboard. Cold water, a little patience and the right approach are usually all you need. If you also use gentle, environmentally friendly washing solutions, you are also doing something good for your clothes, bed linen and the environment.
Because with the right products like those from bluu, an annoying everyday situation can literally become a solved problem in no time at all.
DISCOVER more sustainable TIPS & washing solutions
FAQ on removing blood stains
- 01 What is the gentlest remedy for blood stains on mattresses that also works without perfume and chemicals?
- 02 Which detergent is dermatologically tested and still effective against stains
- 03 Which ecological cleaner has enough cleaning power for stubborn blood stains on fabric?
