How to Remove Blood Stains from Jeans

Jeans are typically made of durable fabric that can handle rougher cleaning methods than soft fabrics. However, jeans' particular weave also holds tightly to stains. Blood stains, even if they are fresh, can be difficult to remove from jeans--but difficult does not imply impossible. When you know what to avoid and what to implement in cleaning blood stains, you can remove these tenacious stains.

Things You'll Need

• Paper towels
• 3 percent strength hydrogen peroxide
• Laundry detergent
• Nylon scrub brush

Instructions

1. Place paper towels on a table or other hard surface. Set the jeans on top of the towels.

2. Pour 3 percent strength hydrogen peroxide (the peroxide strength used for first aid) over the blood stain if the jeans are not dark denim (hydrogen peroxide may slightly fade darker colors, although this is unlikely if you do not leave it on for long). If the stained jeans are dark, skip Steps 2 and 3 or test the peroxide on a small area first.

3. Let the peroxide bubble. When it stops bubbling, pour more peroxide on the stain--it will likely bubble again.

4. Rinse the jeans in a sink under cold running water. It’s important that you use cold water, and not hot water, on a blood stain because hot water will set the stain. At this point, much of the blood stain should be gone, especially if the stain was fresh.

5. Pour laundry detergent directly on the area. Scrub it with a nylon scrub brush. This helps force the detergent into the jeans' fibers, where some blood may still be lurking.

6. Place the jeans in a washing machine. Add detergent, even though you’ve already put some directly on the stain. Wash the jeans in cold water and then hang them to dry. When the jeans are still wet, it can be difficult to notice any remaining stain. If you prematurely put jeans in a hot clothes dryer, the remaining stain will set in.

7. Check the jeans when they have dried. If any blood stain remains (which is unlikely), treat them again by using detergent and the scrub brush and then re-launder.

Tips & Warnings

• Instead of using detergent on the stain (in Step 4), you can use a laundry pre-treating stain stick or spray. Some brands come with a scrubber.

References

• Denim Revolution: Denim Washing Methods
• Mrs Clean USA: Blood Stain Removal