How to Wash Dry Blood From Clothes

Blood is never fun to manage.

We have all experienced the periodical dry blood spot on our clothing. As living, breathing organisms who don themselves with clothing, this is certainly inevitable--especially if we are female of reproductive age or a parent to a rambunctious child. But, don't throw those clothes away just yet, because the battle may not be over. You can remove dry blood from clothes, or at least minimize it, but you have to take appropriate action from the start. Otherwise, you risk setting the stain permanently.

Things You'll Need

• Cold water
• Bleach, hydrogen peroxide or spray stain remover
• Mild detergent or enzyme detergent

Instructions

1. 

   Down the drain.

   Rinse dry blood from clothes with cold or cool water to soften material. When attempting to wash dry blood from clothes, do not use hot water. Hot water will bind blood protein to material fibers. This would result in permanent staining.

2. 

   Cleaners to the rescue.

   Spot clean the affected area by gently rubbing in a mild detergent or enzyme detergent using a damp sponge or cotton wash cloth. This minimizes the risk of spreading blood to unaffected areas.

3. Rinse thoroughly with cold or cool water.

4. 

   Hydrogen peroxide has many uses

   Treat white clothes with 1/4 cup bleach in one gallon cold water for five minutes if the blood still has not been removed, but check the washing instructions on the clothing label before using a chlorine bleach. Do not use chlorine bleach on acetate, leather, silk, spandex or wool. Also, rinse thoroughly before transferring fabric into the wash. When working with colored clothes, use hydrogen peroxide, or try a spray stain remover.

5. 

   There is always laundry to be done.

   Run clothes through the washing machine on cold using a regular washing detergent, or try an enzyme detergent. Adding a water softening solution such as can speed up the cleaning process.

6. 

   Diligence is key

   Wash clothes a second time if blood does not come out in the first wash.

7. 

   Dry only when satisfied.

   Dry treated fabric only after it has been cleaned to satisfaction to avoid cooking a stain into the material. Hang to air dry if a second attempt at washing dry blood from clothes is planned.

Tips & Warnings

• The chore of washing dry blood from clothes is time consuming and not always a guaranteed success. Unfortunately, some stains are set to stay. The easiest way to avoid this is to rinse before blood dries. Immediately run clothes through cool water to remove excess blood, rub a detergent through the material, then let soak.

• Do not use hot water or run through a dryer until the blood is removed. After blood proteins come in contact with heat they bind to fibers, essentially dying them, resulting in an unattractive light brown, tan or yellowish stain.

• Keep in mind that bleach is an irritant, and contact with eyes or skin must be avoided.

References

• Ohio State University information on stain removal website
• New Mexico State University information on getting clothes clean
• How to Get Rid of Blood Stains
• The Soap and Detergent Association