Does blood give you the heebie-jeebies? Us, too! Following is a step-by-step guide about the best way to clean your mattress if you or a loved one has had an accident.
Listen, we don't need to enter the details about why there is blood on the mattress, but all of us know it can happen, and it has happened.
The issue with mattresses is that you cannot just throw them in the washing machine or the hose off them. (Though steam cleaning could do the job.) You will need to know how to clean this up rather than be left with a gross blot.
We have four alternatives for you to choose from but don't hesitate to combine them (one at a time, though) for additional stain-removing power.
The first trick that we will provide you is that the sooner, the better regarding cleaning the blood. It's more challenging to remove when it's already dried and set to the mattress's fibers.
Additionally, if cleaning up messes such as urine, blood, or vomit will frequently happen in your house, consider getting a mattress with a removable and machine-washable cover such as a Yoga bed. As an alternative, you might also search for mattress protectors on Amazon.
Check out the things listed below and see if you already have one of these things lying around your house.
Cleaning Provides to Remove the Blood
- Baking soda
- Coldwater
- Corn starch
- Cleaning gloves (optional)
- Hydrogen Peroxide
- Meat tenderizer
- Salt
- White paper towels or a white cloth/towel
How to Get Blood from a Mattress
Coldwater. When the blood is fresh enough, it must dissolve in cold water. Take a white rag or paper towel (colored objects might stain the cover of your mattress) and run it under cold water. Then begin dabbing the bloodstain–not rubbing, which may work the stain deeper into the bed.
Ensure not to wet the mattress too much since you need it to dry readily to prevent mold or mildew growth. Additionally, make sure that the water is cold. Hot water will somewhat “cook” the bloodstream and can make the stain set in.
Baking soda. You can mix baking soda with cold water in 1:2, then apply the mixture to the mattress with a rag white paper towel or. Let it sit for around 30 minutes, and then rinse it up with another towel or cloth.
Dab (again, do not rub!) The area dries with a clean rag and white paper towel and lets it air dry some more with open windows or a fan.
Cornstarch, Salt, and hydrogen peroxide. Mix a 1/2 cup of cornstarch, 1 tablespoon of salt, and 1/4 cup of hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen peroxide and salt are excellent cleaning agents in regards to protein stains, including bloodstains.
Combine all the ingredients until it forms into a paste-like mixture. Apply the mixture over the entire stained area and let it dry thoroughly.
Once it is totally dry, just scour it up with a knife or spatula and vacuum. This cleaning method can be performed multiple times for greater outcomes.
Meat tenderizer. If you've tried these measures and nothing is working, crush the meat tenderizer out of your pantry. Meat tenderizer acts by breaking down the proteins in your own meat to “tenderize” it, though it also can work on the proteins in a bloodstain.
Use it by mixing 1 tbsp of the meat tenderizing powder with 2 tsp of cold water and a paste. Rub the paste over the whole bloodstain and then let it sit for about one hour.
After it is dried, wipe up the glue with a cloth soaked in cold water, then apply another dry cloth to pat the area dry.
If you have a latex mattress or any other special material mattress like a Purple bed, make sure to do a small test place before treating a bigger stain.
Although in most cases, it should be OK, meat tenderizer does break down proteins, so you need to be sure that it doesn't break down and mess up your best mattress.
How to Get Blood from Accessories
Again, without getting into the specifics, blood can regrettably find its way, not into your mattress but other components of your bedding. When it's your pillow, bedsheets, or accessories, it helps know how to get blood out of them.
Needless to say, some might simply decide to replace those things altogether, but other sections of bedding can be costly and unnecessary to substitute, particularly for a small bloodstain.
A few of the strategies you would use to get blood from a mattress are also used here, but these are the best methods.
Removing Blood from a Pillow
Hydrogen Peroxide. Simply visit your medicine cabinet and grab some hydrogen peroxide. Place a small amount on the blot, and wait a few seconds. Take some cold water and wash away the region to eliminate the residual hydrogen peroxide.
Laundry Detergent. If you check the tag, some cushions can just be thrown into the washing machine. Put stain remover into the place where the stain is, and see if it comes out. Otherwise, handle the stain with a washing pre-treater with enzymes, and then washing the pillow with an enzyme detergent should work miracles!
Get Blood from Your Sheets
Hydrogen Peroxide, together with a few of the methods used to get blood from a mattress – such as washing your sheets in cold water with powerful stain remover – helps to also get blood from sheets.
But if you would like to try another method, or if those don't work, here are a few other ways of getting blood from sheets.
Salt Water. For silk sheets, combine 1 teaspoon of salt with 1 teaspoon of cold water. After that, use a towel to wet the stain with a solution.
Allow it to sit for around ten minutes, then wipe it away with cold water. As an alternative, you can use soaking silk sheets in a bowl of saltwater before cleaning the place.
Salt and Dish Detergent. Mix 1 tablespoon of dish soap with two tbsps. of salt, then apply it to the stain. Allow it to sit for 25 minutes, then lightly rinse and repeat until the stain comes out.
Washing sheets often can help stop a stain from going unnoticed!
Cleaning Other Accessories
As you can see, there's more than one way to get blood from your bedding. Sometimes, you might need to try many solutions before you find the stain removed.
Even then, it is likely that a slight, slight stain will stay, but it will not be quite noticeable to someone who did not know it was there. And surely, it will not seem as bad as it did before.
Alternatively, if you have other accessories (such as a mattress topper or a blanket) that get blood on them, you will find a whole collection of different options you can try.
- Shampoo. For cotton sheets, including a small amount of shampoo into the bloodstain and rubbing it in the fabric may do just fine. When you are done, rinse it away with cold water.
- Ammonia. Mix equal parts of ammonia with water, and gently rub it into the stain. Make it sit for several minutes, then rinse.
- White Vinegar. Mix equal parts of white vinegar with water and gently rub it into the stain. Let it sit for few minutes, then rinse.
- Cola. It might appear counterintuitive to resolve a blood stain by adding a worse blot, but this one was said to work well. Including a small cola in the area produces a chemical reaction that may help raise the stain out of this sheet's fibers. However, you will want to throw the entire thing into the wash when you get a chance. We would not recommend this option if your stained merchandise is not machine washable.
- Hairspray. It is not the 1980s, but if you happen to have some hairspray on your house, consider using it to get a bloodstain out of your accessories. Just spray the stain, let it sit for a couple of seconds, then blot the stain with a moist towel. When you are finished, rinse the region.
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