How to Identify Blood Stains on Wood Floors

Take care to identify blood stains on hardwood flooring so you'll know how to go about cleaning things up. In addition, blood stains can be an indicator that your pet is hurt. Because blood stains can easily blend in with the color of your flooring, turn on all the lights of the room or use a flashlight to discover all of the blood stains.

Things You'll Need

• Paper towel
• Lamp
• Flashlight
• Dropper
• Hydrogen peroxide
• Towel
• Fan
• Hand-held black light

Instructions

1. Wear gloves and dab at the blood stains with a white paper towel if the stains appear still wet. Check the stain on the paper towel. If it looks bright red with clots of brown, it is most likely blood.

2. Place a lamp or use a flashlight to shine on the blood stain. Soak up some hydrogen peroxide in a dropper.

3. Drip a few drops of the hydrogen peroxide on the blood stains and watch to see if the stain reacts. Blood stains will fizzle when they come in contact with hydrogen peroxide because of a chemical reaction involving an enzyme in the blood.

4. Dab at the blood stains with a towel damp with hydrogen peroxide. Moisten a towel to remove the excess peroxide from the floor and towel dry.

5. Place a fan on the wet area if you are cleaning a large area.

Tips & Warnings

• Use a hand-held black light to determine if the stains are from blood. The stain will look black underneath the light.

• Spot-check a hard-to-see wood floor area with the hydrogen peroxide to ensure that the wood will not become damaged with the hydrogen peroxide.

• Avoid cleaning the floor with hydrogen peroxide if it is another type of stain.

References

• Ohio State University: Quick' Easy Stain Removal
• Colorado State University: Blood Stain Analysis
• Labino Crime Lab