The protein in blood that carries the body’s supply of oxygen and carbon dioxide is Hemoglobin. When combined with oxygen, it provides the red color in blood. It is these proteins that tend to stick to things and causes the red stains. The longer a blood stain sits, the more it coagulates, making it especially hard to remove.

Removing Blood Stains from Clothing

Because of the tendency of blood stains to set in as time passes, the most important thing you can do is blot the stain immediately. The more you can remove and the faster you can remove it, the better it is going to be later. A mixture of dish soap and hydrogen peroxide on a clean sponge makes an ideal blotter.

If the garment is going to be dry cleaned, take it to the dry cleaners as quickly as possible, and do not use any pre-treatment on it.

If the garment requires hand washing, wash it with mild laundry soap in the sink.

If you are going to use your washing machine, use cold water. Detergents with stain removing additives like Oxy Clean work well. It is very important that you air dry the garment after the first wash cycle. Heat accelerates the coagulation, and will cause the stain to set. Make sure the stain is completely gone before drying it with heat. Several wash cycles might be needed.

There are a few pre-treatments that are effective on persistent stains.

• A solution of equal parts ammonia and water. Note: Never use this treatment on silk, wool or linen as it will destroy the fibers.
• Window cleaner, which is often just a mixture of ammonia and water, sprayed on the stain can be helpful.
• Lava soap. Gently scrubbing the stain with lava soap often will break up the stain before washing.
• Straight hydrogen peroxide and bleach are going to remove the stain also, but will also remove or fade the color, so this is only going to be useful on white articles.
• Spit on it! Spittle contains enzymes that are pretty good at breaking down the proteins in the blood, and making them more likely to come out during the normal washing cycle.

Removing Blood Stains from Carpets

The following is a step by step process that is very effective for removing blood stains from carpets.

1. Blot with an absorbent cloth being very careful not to spread the stain.
2. Place a small amount of a mild detergent on the stain and work it in with a brush starting from the outside and working inward.
3. Blot again with a clean white cloth.
4. Place a small amount of ammonia and let it sit for a few minutes to break down the stain. Spittle is also recommended here, and can be used in the place of ammonia.
5. Blot again with a dry, clean, white cloth
6. Repeat again starting from the step 2.
7. Rinse with clean water.
8. Blot a final time, and the stain should be gone.

There are a couple of other items that can be worked into this procedure that are effective. Salt can be spread over the stain before beginning to adsorb some of the blood. A biological enzyme can be used. This should be followed by using a carpet cleaner with a solution of water and fabric softener. Also, as with clothing, hydrogen peroxide will work well, but will remove the color along with the stain, and should be avoided.