Cold water. That is ninety per cent of the answer, and it is precisely the thing most people get wrong. In warm water blood sets, the way an egg sets in a pan. Once it has set it is clamped inside the fibre, and from there it hardly ever comes out again.
Short answer
Rinse with cold water, through the back of the fabric towards the front. Never warm, and nothing goes in the tumble dryer until the stain has really gone.
Has the stain already dried in, or already been through a wash? Then it is harder, but it is not hopeless. Most of this page is about that, because that is the state people are usually in by the time they start searching.
Why warm water makes it worse
One simple reason, and it explains everything that follows.
Blood is largely protein. Protein in heat does exactly what an egg does in a pan: it sets and turns solid. Liquid protein rinses away. Set protein sits clamped in the fibre.
That is why a stain looks darker and more stubborn after a warm wash than it did before. You have not washed it out, you have fixed it in.
And the tumble dryer is the second trap. It runs hotter than the wash programme does. Always check whether the stain has genuinely gone before the garment goes in, even when you are fairly sure it has. If you are in any doubt, hang it on the line.
A fresh blood stain in four steps
Acting quickly pays off here more than with any other stain.
- Rinse under the cold tap, through the back of the fabric. Hold the fabric so the water pushes straight through the stain and out the front, instead of carrying it further in. On a fresh stain this one move takes most of it away.
- Blot, do not rub. Rubbing pushes the blood deeper into the fibre and spreads the stain wider. Blotting lifts it out.
- If a shadow stays behind, lay the item in cold water with a scoop of salt. Half an hour to an hour. Salt draws moisture out of the fibre and takes part of the blood with it.
- Then wash at thirty degrees at most with your usual detergent. Check the fabric before anything goes near the dryer.
The dried-in blood stain
This is where most people are when they go looking, and where most articles stop.
A dried stain is not the same thing as a fresh one. The protein has dried out and now sits in the fibre like a small crust. Rinsing on its own is not going to shift that.
Step one is soaking, not scrubbing. Lay the garment in cold water for a few hours at the very least. For a really old stain, leave it overnight. Change the water whenever it turns pink.
Step two is easing the crust off. If the stain is thick, you can gently scrape it off the fabric after soaking with a blunt edge, the back of a spoon for instance. Not with your fingernail and not with a brush, because that damages the fibre.
Step three is something that breaks protein down. Ordinary washing powder often contains the substances that do precisely that. Mix a little into a paste with cold water, spread it over the stain and leave it for an hour. That works better than a bar of soap, and it costs less than a dedicated stain remover.
Count on several rounds. Two or three soaks with a treatment in between is normal on an old stain, and it still gives you better odds than one hard scrub.
Blood on sheets and bedding
Bed linen is the commonest case there is, and it is nearly always found dried.
Sheets have one advantage: most of them are cotton, and cotton is the fibre that gives the most back. They also have one disadvantage, which is that you find the stain in the morning rather than the moment it happens. So bedding belongs with the dried-in stain above, not with the fresh one, and that changes the order of what you do.
Take the sheet to the cold tap first. Hold the stained patch so the water runs through the back of the fabric and pushes the stain out at the front. Do this even when the stain is hours old, because it clears whatever has not yet dried hard.
Then soak the whole thing in cold water, a few hours for last night's stain and overnight for one you have already slept on for a week. Change the water when it colours. After that, washing powder mixed into a paste with cold water, spread over the spot and left for an hour.
Only then does it go in the machine, at thirty degrees at most. The instinct with bedding is to put it on a hot wash to be sure, and on a blood stain that is the one thing you must not do: heat sets it. Wash cool until the stain has gone, and keep the sheet out of the tumble dryer until you have checked it in daylight.
For a fresh spot on a sheet, on the other hand, the four steps above are all you need. Cold water, blot rather than rub, and cold water with a scoop of salt for half an hour if a shadow is left.
The stain has already been through the washing machine
The hardest case of the lot, and still not lost straight away.
If the stain has already been washed warm, the protein has set. That part is irreversible: those proteins do not turn liquid again. What can still be tackled is the colour attached to them.
The colour of blood comes from iron. Iron can be loosened by something that binds it, and there are dedicated stain removers made for that. A long soak in cold water with washing powder still helps as well, for the plain reason that it gives more time to do whatever is left to be done.
An honest word belongs here. On white cotton you can often still get the stain light enough that you no longer see it. On coloured or fine textile a shadow sometimes stays. That is not a question of trying harder, that is the limit of what there is left to get.
Blood on a mattress
You cannot rinse a mattress, and that changes the whole approach.
The problem with a mattress is not the stain, it is the moisture. Everything you pour on sinks in and sits there for days. A mattress that stays damp on the inside starts to smell musty, and that is a bigger problem than the stain ever was.
So work with as little water as you can. Make a cloth damp with cold water, blot the stain from the outside edge towards the middle so it does not spread, then blot dry with a clean cloth. Five passes with a damp cloth beat one pass with a wet one.
Let the mattress dry properly afterwards before you make the bed: upright against the wall, a window open, and a fan pointed at it if you have one. Hours, not minutes.
There is more on mattresses in how to clean a mattress.
The home remedies measured up
Five tips that get repeated everywhere, and what they actually do.
Salt
It works, and for a good reason: salt draws moisture out of the fibre and carries part of the blood out with it. Cold water with a generous scoop of salt, half an hour to an hour. On a fresh stain it is the simplest first move there is.
Hydrogen peroxide
This is the strongest home remedy for blood, and it fizzes visibly on the stain. It also bleaches, so test it first on a seam or on the inside of the garment. On white cotton it can work superbly. On coloured textile you run the risk of trading the stain for a pale patch. And keep it well away from wool and silk.
Gall soap
Gall soap is made for protein stains, and blood is the textbook example of one. Rub it into the wet stain, leave it a moment to soak in, rinse out cold. Reliable, and gentle on most fabrics.
Aspirin
This tip does the rounds and it achieves very little. A tablet dissolved in water gives you a very weak acid, and acid is not what a protein stain needs. You are better off reaching for washing powder or gall soap.
Vinegar and soda crystals
Vinegar is an acid and it tackles limescale, not protein. Soda crystals break down grease, which is also not protein. On blood neither of them adds much. And do not mix the two together, because they cancel each other out.
Why the old family trick stops halfway, and the bottle does too
With blood this runs differently from most stains, and that is worth telling you straight.
On a fresh stain, cold water with salt is not the cheap alternative to a proper product. It is the best thing there is. Nothing on the shelf does it better, for the reason at the top of this page.
The limit sits at the set stain. What heat has fixed in place does not come back fully with any product at all. A bottle of stain remover can lighten the colour further, but the protein itself stays in the fibre.
And heat is the one thing that does not help you here. With grease and baked-on residue steam is often the answer. With blood it is the exact thing to avoid. That difference is worth committing to memory: blood cold, grease warm.
What comes back in every one of these cases is the cloth you blot with. Ours are under laundry and textile care.
Frequently asked questions
How do you remove a blood stain?
Cold water, rinsed through the back of the fabric towards the front, and blotting rather than rubbing. If a shadow is left, lay the item in cold water with a scoop of salt for half an hour. Wash it afterwards at thirty degrees at most, and check the fabric before it goes in the tumble dryer.
How do I get a dried-in blood stain out?
Soak it first, do not scrub. A few hours in cold water, and a whole night for an old stain. Then make a paste of washing powder and cold water, spread it over the stain and leave it for an hour. Two or three rounds of that is normal, and it beats one hard scrub every time.
How do I get blood out of sheets?
Start at the cold tap, running the water through the back of the fabric, even if the stain is hours old. Then soak the sheet in cold water, overnight if the stain is older, and treat the spot with a paste of washing powder and cold water for an hour. Wash at thirty degrees at most: the hot wash you would normally give bedding sets the stain instead of shifting it. Check the sheet in daylight before it goes in the dryer.
Does vinegar get blood out of sheets?
Hardly at all. Vinegar is an acid and acids deal with limescale, not with protein, and blood is a protein stain. Cold water with salt, washing powder or gall soap all do considerably more. Save the vinegar for the kettle.
The stain has already been washed, can anything still be done?
The protein has set by then, and it will not turn liquid again. The colour can still be tackled, though, because that comes from iron. A long soak in cold water with washing powder helps, as does a stain remover made to bind iron. On white cotton it often works. On coloured textile a shadow sometimes stays.
Why can blood not go in warm water?
Because blood is mostly protein, and protein sets in heat the way an egg sets in a pan. Liquid protein rinses away, set protein sits clamped in the fibre. So a warm wash fixes the stain in place instead of taking it out.
Does salt work on blood stains?
Yes, and better than most of the tips you will read. Salt draws moisture out of the fibre and takes part of the blood with it. Cold water with a generous scoop of salt, half an hour to an hour.
Can I use hydrogen peroxide?
It is the strongest home remedy for blood, but it bleaches as well as cleans. Test it on a seam first. On white cotton it works excellently, on coloured textile you risk a pale patch where the stain was. Do not use it on wool or silk.
How do I get blood out of a mattress?
With as little water as possible, because everything you pour on sinks in and sits there for days. Use a damp cloth with cold water, blot from the outside edge towards the middle, then blot dry. Five damp passes beat one wet one. Let the mattress dry upright for hours afterwards.
Does aspirin work on blood stains?
Barely. A dissolved tablet gives a very weak acid, and acid is not what a protein stain needs. Washing powder or gall soap does considerably more for the same effort.
Can the garment go in the tumble dryer?
Only once the stain has genuinely gone. The dryer runs hotter than the wash programme and it will fix any trace of blood permanently. If you are unsure, hang the item on the line and look it over in daylight.
Does an old blood stain always come out?
Not always. On white cotton you can usually get it light enough that you no longer see it. On coloured or fine textile a shadow sometimes stays behind. That is not a matter of trying harder, it is the limit of what there is left to get.
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