Remove Blood Stains in 5 Easy Steps

Ever cut yourself and found the blood has stained your sofa or shoes? Perhaps an unexpected nose bleed has dripped onto the carpet in your dash for tissue. Skirting around other dubious criminal activities, here are some tips on how to clean blood stains on carpets and upholstery.

Cleaning up Fresh Blood

1. Act quick – using a damp cloth with cold water, dab away any excess blood (don’t rub, dab)
2. Using a fabric / carpet cleaning agent, apply liberally and allow to soak in. If you want to try a natural approach, use sodium bicarbonate mixed with water instead.
3. With a little pressure, press down with your clean damp cloth onto the cleaning solution
4. Wipe away any extra cleaning solution
5. Allow to dry and then vacuum. Repeat if necessary.

Cleaning Dry Blood

1. Using a fabric / carpet cleaning agent, spray liberally and allow to soak in. If you want to try a natural approach, use sodium bicarbonate mixed with water instead.
2. With a little pressure, press down with your clean damp cloth onto the cleaning solution. This should help it to react with the stain.
3. Wipe away any extra cleaning solution
4. Allow to dry and then vacuum. If the stain hasn’t full lifted, repeat steps 1 – 4.

Cleaning Blood from Delicate Materials

Where the application of a cleaning solution isn’t appropriate, perhaps because it could stain or damage the fabrics, you could try solvent hairspray. Do be careful about using it around flames though. If that fails it’s probably best to use a professional dry cleaning service.