Accidents happen. If you ever find yourself in a situation where blood spills on your carpet. Fret not. Deal with the bleeding first and address any unfortunate carpet stains after. Here’s how to get blood out of carpet.
Grab some gloves and common household cleaning items you probably already have. From heavy nosebleeds to minor papercuts, here are some ticks and trips to get blood out of carpet.
[ez-toc]For Fresh Stains
Blot out as much blood as you can with tissue paper. The trick here is to blot, not wipe or scrub. You don’t want to spread the blood even more.
Once the tissue has absorbed as much blood as possible, sprinkle a good amount of baking soda directly on the stain. Pour a bit of cold water over the baking soda to create a thick paste.
Help the baking soda work its stain-removing magic by rubbing it further into the stain with a microfiber cloth.
Fresh blood stains are easily removed through this method. You can repeat this method with a fresh layer of baking soda paste if you’re dealing with a lot of blood. Once the stain is removed, vacuum up any excess powder and moisture.
For Dried Stains
When blood spills, the obvious priority is to deal with the bleeding. While this happens, any blood spilled on the carpet will likely have dried by the time you can attend to it.
Although a little more difficult to remove than fresh stains, it’s still possible to get your carpet stain-free.
The first step is to break up the dried blood. Break apart any crusted blood with a soft cleaning brush and vacuum up whatever bits have loosed.
Next, you need to make the stain wet so the blood can lift off the carpet more easily. In a spray bottle, mix cold water, a few drops of detergent and a tablespoon of white vinegar.
The water, soap, and vinegar all work to rehydrate and break down the blood stain. The vinegar also will absorb any odor the blood stain emits.
Spray the solution over the stain until it’s wet, but not saturated. Then, with a damp microfiber cloth, start wiping off the blood stain. Once the stain is removed, you can use a paper towel to blot out excess moisture.
For Stubborn Stains
In the case of any major accidents such as large cuts, blood stains on the carpet may be harder to remove. Light colored carpets as well are obviously more affected with blood stains than dark colored carpets.
Dealing with blood stains requires more intense cleaning products. Mix a tablespoon of ammonia with 1 cup of cold water. Ammonia is fantastic for removing stubborn stains. It breaks down the pigments in blood and it evaporates quickly.
Pour the mixture of ammonia and cold water directly on the blood stain and blot it up the liquid with a sponge or absorbent cleaning cloth. The blood stain should lift off along with the water and ammonia.
When you’ve blotted off as much liquid as you can, use a sponge to dab the carpet with cold water this time. Blot out the moisture with a paper towel to lift off any residual stains.
If ammonia doesn’t work for you, or if you’d rather not deal with ammonia, don’t worry. There’s more than one way to get blood out of the carpet.
Although baking soda, water, detergent and a little elbow grease go a long way, you can utilize other products as well.
Hydrogen Peroxide is another cleaning product you can use to break down stains and clean up the blood. It breaks down the chemical bonds in blood which makes it colorless and easier to remove.
Make sure you do a small patch test on your carpet to ensure that the hydrogen peroxide doesn’t discolor it. If no discoloration happens, pour some hydrogen peroxide on a cotton ball and gently blot the stain. Wipe off the excess with a wet microfiber cloth and allow the carpet to air dry.
If you’d rather not deal with creating your own stain remover, you can always use a dedicated stain-removal product that you know is safe to use on your carpet.
Tips For Removing Blood Out Of Carpet
Removing blood from carpet is a fairly straightforward task, but keep the following tips in mind. You don’t want to accidently further set in the blood stain or ruin your carpet while cleaning it.
Tip 1: Use Cold Water
Always use cold water when dealing with blood stains. Heat from hot water or heat from a steam cleaner will only cause the stain to further set in.
This poses two issues. The stain becomes harder to remove and you’re further contaminating your carpet from spilled blood.
Tip 2: Sterilize Your Carpet
Blood stains on your carpet is just one concern. Spilled blood can become a biohazard if not properly cleaned and sanitized. After you’ve cleaned up blood from your carpet, we recommend sterilizing the area at least once.
You can use a small amount of ammonia or hydrogen peroxide to sterilize the area to prevent unwanted contamination.
Tip 3: Consider Your Carpet Material
When it comes to cleaning the blood of your carpet, it’s important to know the material of your carpet. This narrows down what cleaning products will be equally safe and effective.
You don’t want to unwittingly ruin your carpet or further set the blood stain with the wrong cleaning technique and materials.
- For wool carpets, the main thing to consider is that the fibers retain plenty of moisture. When cleaning blood stains from wool, don’t overstaurate the stained spot and avoid over scrubbing. Additionally, never use ammonia to clean wool carpets as it will irreversibly destroy the wool fibers.
- With nylon carpets, your main concern is its susceptibility discoloration from cleaning materials. Always do a patch test, especially when dealing with ammonia or hydrogen peroxide. Avoid ruining the nylon pile with aggressive scrubbing. Opt to clean up blood stains by wiping it off instead.
- Acrylic carpets are quick to show stains. As much as possible, tend to fresh blood spills immediately on acrylic carpets.
- The non-porous and synthetic material on polyester and olefin carpets make cleaning blood out of them fairly easy. Gentle blotting with some cold water and detergent should be able to easily remove blood. Do not scrub the blood stains to avoid friction damage.
Final Thoughts
With the right cleaning products and technique, most blood spills and stains can be removed. If you’re in doubt about how to get blood out of carpet, you can always consult carpet cleaning professionals and/or your carpet supplier for the best approach.
In the grand scheme of things, as long as the accident that caused blood to spill has been resolved, dealing with blood stains on carpet is nothing to worry about.
