How to Get Blood Out of Sheets: Tips & Homemade Solutions

Easy and Right Ways to Get Blood Out of Sheets

Whether you experienced a nose bleed, bled through your pad at night, started menstruating suddenly or have simply injured yourself, getting bloodstains out of your sheets if you don’t know what you are doing can be rather tricky. Blood doesn’t get off fabric easily because it begins to clot once exposed to air. This causes it to stick pretty tightly to the material, leaving you with a stubborn stain that doesn’t want to come off.

The most efficient way to get blood out of your sheets is to tackle it as soon as it happens, without giving it time to dry. Unfortunately, if we accidentally stain our sheets sometime during the night, it is more likely that the blood will dry up by the time we even realize it’s there.

Don’t worry if you have realized that washing blood out of sheets will not be good enough to get the bloodstains out properly. We have all the tips you need to get those stains out and save your sheets!

Steps to Remove Blood Out of Sheets

When it comes to efficiently getting blood out of fabric, fresh blood is always the easiest to tackle! Here are some easy-to-follow steps to remove blood from your sheets the moment it spills:

What You Need

  • Cold water
  • Towel
  • Bucket
  • Strong liquid detergent

How To Remove

  • Dab off any excess blood from the surface of your sheet with a towel. The less blood that remains on the sheets, the easier it will be to remove the stain.
  • Quickly rinse the stained area with cold water. Do not rinse or soak your sheets in warm or hot water, as it will only cause the stain to set in.
  • Take a bucket and pour in around 25ml liquid detergent per gallon of water. Use only cold water, and leave it to soak for half an hour.
  • Without rinsing the sheet, transfer it to your washing machine. Leaving the detergent soaking onto the stain when you put it in the machine will help get the blood out even better.
  • Wash your sheets as you usually would in the washing machine, but remember to use only cold water.
  • If the stain remains, repeat the process, except leave it soaking in the bucket for only twenty minutes.
  • Avoid drying your sheets until the stain has come off entirely. If you dry your sheets before the stain is removed, it is more likely that the bloodstain will set permanently into the fabric.

Tips to Get Dried Blood Out of Sheets

Unlike fresh blood, dried blood had had time to set into the fabric, making removing the stains a lot harder, yet not impossible. Follow these tips to remove old blood stains out of sheets:

  1. Soak the stained fabric overnight in a bucket of cold water. The cold water is what helps the blood to loosen from the fabric. After this, you can wash your sheets in the machine using a strong detergent and cold water.
  2. If your stains are particularly stubborn, you can try soaking the stained sheets in a mixture of borax and cold water. Leave it overnight or for just a few hours. Ensure to go through the information on the borax box if there are warnings against using it on a particular type of fabric and other important information you will need to know.
  3. Smaller stains can be dealt with quickly with a little white vinegar. Fill a bowl with vinegar and then soak the stained part in a bowl for half an hour. After this, you can wash your sheets in the machine as usual. If the stain is too big to soak in a bowl, you can place a towel down, place the stain over the towel, and then pour the white vinegar over the stain. Allow it to soak in vinegar for half an hour before you wash.
  4. Always wash your sheets after you treat the bloodstain, and make sure that you air dry your sheets instead of using a drier.

How to Remove Blood From Sheets Using Hydrogen Peroxide?

Hydrogen Peroxide is known for having antiseptic qualities to treat cuts and burns. However, did you know that it is very handy around the house as well? Besides removing stains, Hydrogen Peroxide is useful for cleaning refrigerators, sanitizing cutting boards, and sanitizing sponges.

To get the period blood off your sheets or remove those old stains from when you accidentally cut yourself and bled through the dressing, Hydrogen Peroxide is very effective! Use Hydrogen Peroxide to remove those tough stains that have settled into your sheets:

What You Need

  • A large bowl
  • Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Cold water

How To Remove

  • Put the stained part of the fabric in the large bowl.
  • Pour half cup of hydrogen peroxide onto the stain.
  • Pour cold water until the fabric is submerged and soak it for 24 hours.
  • Wash as usual.

Easy Ways to Remove Blood From a Mattress

Easy Ways to Remove Blood From a Mattress

While removing bloodstains from mattresses is difficult, it is not entirely impossible. Here is how you do it:

What You Need

  • Mattress-friendly cleaner
  • Damp cloth
  • A vacuum cleaner with an upholstery attachment (optional)

How To Remove

  • Spray or dab the cleaner on the bloodstains.
  • Leave it to soak for three minutes.
  • Using the damp cloth, dab at the stained area. Make sure not to rub at the stains as this will only spread the stains.
  • If you want to dry your mattress faster, you can attach the upholstery setting onto the vacuum and go over the stain.
  • Keeping the fan in the room running will help it dry faster.

Best Household Solutions to Remove Blood Stains From Sheets

There are a few household items that are good for removing stains. They are:

1. White Vinegar

Use white vinegar on the stain and allow it to soak for 30 minutes. After it has soaked, rinse it out with cold water.

2. Salt Water

To get off blood stains from any delicate fabric, salt water is the way to go! Just mix one teaspoon of salt with one cup of water and dab the mixture onto the stain. Allow it to soak for around ten minutes, and then rinse with cold water.

3. Lemon Juice

This is a great substitute for Hydrogen Peroxide. Soak the sheet in cold water and then apply lemon juice to it. Rinse the stain with cold water. If the stain is stubborn not to go off on the first try, repeat this process until the stain is gone.

4. Aspirin

Crush aspirins until you get one tablespoon full of it. Make sure only to use the uncoated aspirin. Sprinkle this powder onto the stain. Pour half a cup of water onto the stain and rub it until the aspirin and the water turn into a paste. Use a toothbrush to rub the paste onto the fabric. Leave this paste on the stain and allow it to sit until it dries. After this, rinse the paste off with cold water.

5. Meat Tenderizer

The unsalted version is an excellent way to remove blood from fabrics. Just sprinkle a little tenderizer on the stain. Add some water to it and mix it into a paste. Let this paste sit on the stain for half an hour, and then rinse it off with cold water.

6. Baking Soda and Lemon Juice

Mix one part baking soda with two parts lemon juice and then dab it onto the stain. After it sits for around ten minutes, rinse with cold water.

7. Salt and Dish Soap

You will need the stain to be moist, so wet it with some cold water. Mix two tablespoons of salt with one tablespoon of dish soap and apply it to the stain. Let it soak for half an hour. Then rinse with cold water.

8. Corn Starch and Baking Soda

Mix one tablespoon of each with cold water until you have a paste. Dab this paste onto the stain and then dry in the sun. Once dry, brush off the excess residue. Repeat the process if the stain is stubborn.

9. Stain Stick

You can get these at the hardware store or look for them online. Soak the stain in cold water and then apply stain stick on the stain. After twenty minutes, rinse the stain out with cold water.

10. Ammonia

Dab a mixture of ammonia and water onto the bloodstain. Wash your sheets as usual.

11. Bleach

Bleach is well known for being the best way to keep your whites white! Make a mixture with 1/4 cup of water with four tablespoons of bleach. Soak the stain in this mixture for 45 minutes. Wash your sheets as normal.

12. Cola

Soak the stain in cola for a few hours. After this, wash your sheets in cold water.

13. OxiClean

Soak your sheets in cold water and then soak the stain in a mixture of cold water and OxiClean for six hours.

14. Club Soda

Pour the club soda onto the stain. Let it fizz, after which you should dab the stain until it goes.

15. Contact Solution

You can spray contact solution on the bloodstain and allow it to soak into the stain for a few hours. Once the stain starts to fade, wash it in the machine with cold water.

Important Tips to Keep Your Sheets Clean

We spend hours sleeping on our sheets each night, which is why it is so imperative that we keep our sheets clean and hygienic. Here are some tips for keeping your sheets clean:

  • Change your sheets at least once a week.
  • Sheets come with a few specific washing instructions, so be sure to go through them and stick to the advice given.
  • The temperature for the drier will often be on the label of the sheets, so set your drier temperature accordingly.
  • Do not wash your sheets with other items. Wash them by themselves. If you have to wash them with other things, make sure that everything is the same color.
  • If your sheets are made of dark fabric, you will need to wash them in cold water and then hang them to dry in a shaded area.
  • Store your sheets well.

FAQs

There are so many tips out there that things can sometimes get a little overwhelming. These are some of the most frequently asked questions about getting blood out of your sheets.

1. Does Salt Help to Remove Blood Stain?

While some people deny that salt works well on removing stains and rather causes the stain to set in, most people feel otherwise. Salt has been listed as one of the methods you can use to get rid of bloodstains after several people have tried it themselves. It is said to be a good method to use on delicate fabrics.

2. Are Blood Stains Permanent or Temporary?

This will depend on how quickly you can remove the blood from your sheets. The quicker it is removed, the less likely it is to be permanent. However, if the blood has already dried, the stain may be harder to remove.

You can tackle smaller stains more easily, but the bigger stains may set in permanently. This is especially true if you have used warm or hot water to wash your sheets in. Anything but cold water will cause the stain to set in and become permanent.

There is nothing that feels more divine than falling into a bed covered with soft, clean, and fresh sheets after a long and tiring day. To ensure that no matter what happens, you can always find comfort and rest when it is time for bed, tackling all stains is a must. Stains, especially blood stains, can make the sheets look unclean, even if they are freshly washed. Remember that no matter what method you choose to remove the bloodstains, always use cold water. Using warm or hot water will have the exact opposite effect from what you want. Instead of removing the stains, the warm or hot water will cause the stains to set in deeper, after which it can be very difficult or even impossible to get the stains out. Your success with removing stains will depend on how much blood is being cleaned up and how long it has settled into the fabric.

Also Read:

How to Remove Ink Stains From Clothes
How to Remove Oil Stains from Clothes
Easy Hacks to Remove Rust Stains from Clothes

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