How to get blood out of clothes, sheets and jeans
To get blood out of clothes, rinse the stain from the back with cold running water, rub in bar soap or liquid laundry detergent, and soak the item in cool water for at least 30 minutes before washing. Keep heat away until the stain is gone. Hot water and dryer heat set blood, and University of Georgia Extension’s blood stain guide warns that stains set by heat are difficult to remove.
Blood tends to arrive at a bad moment: a nosebleed on a school shirt, a period stain on light sheets, a shaving nick on a collar. The method is the same for all of them, and it works on dried stains too, with more soaking.
Why cold water matters
Blood is a protein stain, and heat fixes protein into the fibers. That’s why every step below uses cold or cool water until the stain has gone. Enzymes attack blood from the other side: the American Cleaning Institute’s fact sheet on enzymes explains that proteases break down protein stains such as blood, egg and grass. Look for “enzymes” or “protease” on a detergent or presoak label, or see our guide to choosing a stain remover for how the main types differ.
How to remove a fresh blood stain
- Rinse the stain under cold running water from the back of the fabric. Water pushed through from behind carries blood out the way it came in, rather than deeper into the weave.
- Rub bar soap or liquid laundry detergent into the stain, rinse, and repeat until the water runs clear.
- Soak the item in cool water for 30 minutes or longer. If you can still see the stain, soak it for another 30 minutes or more in lukewarm water with an enzyme presoak.
- If a mark remains on a white or colorfast fabric, put a few drops of 3% hydrogen peroxide on it, leave it for one to three minutes, then rinse thoroughly. Test it on an inside seam first, because peroxide can lighten dyes.
- Wash the item at the temperature the care label allows.
- Check the spot in daylight before drying. If it’s still there, go back to step 2. One dryer cycle can make what’s left permanent.
Blot and rub gently rather than scrubbing hard. Scrubbing spreads the stain and roughs up the surface of the fabric.
How to get dried blood out
Dried blood often still comes out; it just needs more time. Brush off any crust with a soft brush, then soak the item in cool water. Give an old stain several 30-minute soaks before you move on to the enzyme presoak and the hydrogen peroxide step above.
For old and stubborn stains, the University of Georgia guide adds a few drops of household ammonia before washing again, then a bleach that’s safe for the fabric. Never let ammonia and chlorine bleach meet. Together they release chloramine gases, which the Washington State Department of Health warns can cause coughing, shortness of breath and chest pain. Rinse the ammonia out completely and wash the item before any bleach goes near it.
How to get blood out of sheets
Sheets are the version of this question people search most, and the method doesn’t change. It’s much easier to strip the bed and rinse the spot from the back under a tap than to sponge it on the mattress. Check the mattress protector while the bed is bare, because blood that soaks through a sheet can reach it.
White cotton sheets can take more than colored ones. If the care label allows chlorine bleach, a bleach wash after the enzyme soak can lift the last shadow. The American Cleaning Institute’s guide to care label symbols shows how to read the bleach symbol, and here is how chlorine and color-safe bleach differ. For colored sheets, use an oxygen bleach soak instead; this comparison explains how an oxygen bleach soak works.
Period blood on underwear, pants and sheets
Period blood is still blood, so cold water and enzymes are what remove it. Rinse underwear or pants from the inside under cold water as soon as you can, rub in soap and leave them to soak in cool water while you get on with the day. On dark fabric, skip the hydrogen peroxide, which can leave a pale ring around the spot. Period underwear with an absorbent layer comes with its own care instructions, and those take priority over any general method.
How to get blood out of jeans
Denim is thick, so blood sits deeper and takes longer to rinse out. Work from the inside of the leg and give the soak the full 30 minutes or more. Skip hydrogen peroxide on dark or raw denim, where it can bleach a patch. Indigo can also bleed into the water during a long soak, so soak jeans on their own.
What not to do
- Don’t use hot water, and don’t put the item in the dryer until the stain is gone.
- Don’t use hydrogen peroxide on dark colors, silk or wool without testing a hidden spot first.
- Don’t mix ammonia and chlorine bleach, in the sink or in the washer.
- Don’t treat Halloween fake blood the same way. It’s a dye stain, not a protein stain, and our guide to fake blood and costume stains covers it.
Salt, baking soda and vinegar turn up in a lot of blood advice. None of them is part of the University of Georgia method, which relies on cold water, soap, enzymes and hydrogen peroxide. Our guides to what baking soda can and can’t do and where vinegar helps in laundry explain the limits of each.
Silk, wool and dry-clean-only clothes
Silk and wool are made of protein too, so the enzyme products that break down blood can weaken them. Check the enzyme product’s label, which will say if it isn’t safe for silk or wool. For these fibers, blot with cold water only and don’t soak. The two rules behind every one of the University of Georgia stain removal guides apply here more than anywhere: read the care label first, and test any cleaning agent on a hidden spot before it touches the stain. Anything labelled dry clean only should go to a dry cleaner, with a note saying the stain is blood.
Sending blood-stained laundry to Freshly Folded
If the stain is on a whole set of bedding, or you’d rather not stand at the sink, it can go in a regular pickup. Put the stained piece in its own bag, and write “blood” and where the stain is in your order notes. Stains get spot-treated whenever the team finds them, and a note that points to the pillowcase or the corner of a fitted sheet tells them where to look first. If you’ve already rinsed or soaked it, say so. Nobody can guarantee a set-in stain will come out, but one that hasn’t been through a dryer has the best chance.
Wash and fold is $2.69/lb on request or $2.49/lb on a weekly plan, with a $49.99 minimum order and a $5.99 pickup charge, and it comes back the next day. The pricing page has the full list. Silk or wool with a blood stain goes to dry cleaning instead. Schedule a pickup, or see how laundry pickup and delivery in San Diego works.
If the stain isn’t blood, the method changes. Ink needs a solvent such as rubbing alcohol, as our guide to getting ink out of clothes explains. Cooking oil and grease need a degreaser and the warmest water the fabric allows; see how to get oil and grease stains out of clothes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does dish soap get blood out of clothes?
It can help on a fresh stain, the same way bar soap does: rub it in under cold running water and rinse. Follow it with a cool soak of at least 30 minutes and an enzyme presoak for anything that remains.
Can dried blood be removed?
Often, yes. Brush off any crust, soak the item in cool water for at least 30 minutes, then in lukewarm water with an enzyme presoak. On a white or colorfast fabric, a few drops of 3% hydrogen peroxide for one to three minutes can lift what’s left.
What removes blood stains completely?
Cold water, soap and an enzyme presoak remove most blood stains, and 3% hydrogen peroxide can handle what’s left on whites. Heat is what usually makes a blood stain permanent, so check the fabric before it goes in the dryer.
Can vinegar remove blood stains?
Vinegar isn’t part of the University of Georgia Extension method for blood, which uses cold water, soap, an enzyme presoak and 3% hydrogen peroxide. Start with those.
Should you use hot or cold water on blood?
Cold. Heat sets blood, so rinse and soak in cold or cool water, and keep the item out of the dryer until the stain is gone.
How do you get blood out of sheets?
Strip the bed, rinse the stain from the back under cold water, rub in soap and soak for at least 30 minutes, then use an enzyme presoak. White cotton sheets can take chlorine bleach if the care label allows it; colored sheets need an oxygen bleach soak instead.
