Remove Blood Stains from Clothing

Many people cringe at the sight of blood and prefer not to look at it at all. But accidents happen sometimes, and almost all of us at one point or another realize that blood has ended up on our clothing. If you are someone who really hates to see blood, this might mean you will want to throw the stained clothing directly into the trash can and never wear it again. Blood isn't exactly the easiest thing to get out of fabric, after all.

This isn't the best option for your stained clothes, however. There are ways to clean most bloodstains from fabric. In most cases the article of clothing will look as nice as it did before the stain happened.

If you get blood on your clothes, try this effective process for stain removal:

1. Act Quickly. As soon as you notice the stain, you should get started with cleaning it. The sooner you act, the better your chance is of getting the stain out completely.
2. Use Cold Water. This is important to remember. Using hot water can cause the stain to set, and if this happens removal might become more difficult or impossible. Soak the stained area of the garment in cold water for several minutes.
3. Rub with Soap. After the fabric has soaked, use soap to rub the stain. This should help lift the stain from the clothing. Scrub at the stain with your fingers.
4. Lather. Lather the soap into the stain, adding more soap or water if necessary.
5. Rinse. Once you have worked the soap into the stain, rinse the soap away with cold water. At this point, much or all of the blood has hopefully come out of the fabric.

The above process works best on blood stains that are fairly fresh. There are also other tricks you can try if soap and water alone don't get the stain out. One possibility is bleach, which works well but should be used with care. Lemon with salt is a more natural approach you can use for bleaching the blood out of the fabric. Hydrogen peroxide has also been known to work with blood stain removal. Of course, there are always stain removers that can be found at the store if you prefer that method.

If everything you try at home is ineffective, your next step is to take the garment to a professional cleaner.