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Waking up to a blood stain on your sheets or mattress is always an unpleasant surprise — but it happens to most of us at one time or another. Just like with other stains, it’s best to deal with a blood stain as soon as you spot it.
Carolyn Forté, executive director of the Good Housekeeping Institute Cleaning Lab, recommends keeping a few stain-busting products on hand at all times to make sure you have exactly what you need to remove any fresh or dried stains from bedding, clothing or other household fabrics.
So when your next blood stain happens, follow Forté’s easy how-to guide on how to get blood out of sheets (or other bed linens) to guarantee a better — well, cleaner — night’s rest.
How to Get Fresh Blood out of Sheets
If you wake up to spots of blood on your sheets, don’t delay. Head to your medicine cabinet and laundry room to gather the necessary supplies. Always check the care label first to make sure it’s safe to use either chlorine or all-fabric bleach on your sheets. Once you get the go-ahead, follow this step-by-step guide.
- Soak the stain in cold water as quickly as possible for about 15 minutes. If the stain is super fresh, place it under cold running water to flush out as much of the blood as possible.
- Sponge the stain with hydrogen peroxide or rub bar soap into the stain and scrub by hand in cold water.
- Apply laundry pre-treater or rub in liquid laundry detergent, and wash the remaining stain in warm water with a fabric-safe bleach until the stain is gone.
- Avoid the dryer. Refrain from putting the sheets in the clothes dryer until the stain is completely removed. Heat will set the stain and make it harder to remove.
How to Get Dried Blood out of Sheets
More often than not, a blood stain dries overnight, leaving you with a hard-to-remove mess in the morning. While it may take more time and elbow grease to remove than a fresh stain, this three-step method will help remove even the most set-in stains.
- Soak the stained area in a mixture of cold water and laundry detergent or a pre-soak stain remover like Carbona Oxy Powered Laundry Soaker. (FYI, this may take several hours or even overnight, depending on the severity of the stain.) Every so often, give the stain a scrub by hand.
- Rinse well once soaking has removed as much of the stain as possible. Work in a stain pre-treater or some liquid detergent and launder the sheet using fabric-safe bleach.
- If this still doesn’t work, mix 1 quart of water with 1 teaspoon of laundry detergent and 1 tablespoon of ammonia, and soak the stain again until removed, scrubbing often. Or, rub with a laundry bar soap, like Fels-Naptha and rewash.
How to Get Blood out of a Mattress
If you haven’t covered your bed with a mattress protector (you learned the hard way, didn’t you?), follow this how-to guide to make your mattress look new again.
- Thoroughly sponge the stain with cold water and blot out as much as you can. Make a solution by mixing an oxi-presoak with warm water according to package directions and apply it to the stain with a clean cloth. If you don’t have an oxi-presoak on hand, sponge the stain with hydrogen peroxide.
- Continue dabbing and blotting until the stain is gone. Rotate the cloth as it absorbs the stain. If needed, work a little bar soap into the stain with your fingertip and blot.
- Rinse thoroughly with a cloth dipped in clear water and allow the mattress to air dry.
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