Getting Blood out of Fabric
 

I'm not sure that this post has anything to do with quilting or sewing. But it does have something to do with fabric that has a print on it, and now a stain.

My 11 yr. old son has a favorite shirt that has a print on the front of it that says "Aloha" and goes with his blue and white Hawaiian shorts. He decided to wear that outfit to the hospital for his outpatient surgery yesterday. He got blood on the front of the shirt from drooling after having oral surgery. He fell asleep on the way home and his entire mouth was numb, so. I put it in cold water and soaked it, but not luck. Now he's upset because we fear his favorite shirt is ruined. If it wasn't for the red and blue design on the front of it, I'd bleach it, but that's not an option. Any advice?

I'm sure that you will get lots of good advice here. The only thing I know for sure is DO NOT dry it until the stain is out. the heat of the dryer sets many stains permantly. Good luck!

Hydrogen Peroxide works.

blood is a protein so you need an enzyme product to remove it. You can buy a laundry product, Amaze is one, but I have had better luck with digestive enzyme tablets that are taken to help with digestion. Crush up 3-4 of them, dissolve in enough water to cover the shirt and let it soak. I have had some fabrics that come completely clean, but some blends that still leave a small mark that has faded with repeat washings - I always line dry something like this so the dryer heat never gets a chance to set the stain.

Good luck, hope this will help you!
J

...my son is a chef...cleaning chef whites is a nightmare!!!

Try using hydrogen peroxide on a spot. That should get the red out. I have also had good results by using spray & wash or shout and putting oxyclean powder into the wash cycle. You can't make it worse since it's not wearable with blood stains on it now. My DH is a cop & paramedic ... I've gotten most stains out of his clothes like this. Good luck andhope it works for you! :-)

Try Dawn dish soap. Put it on the stains, rub it in really good and let it sit over night. Then launder as usual. Worked like a charm on my ruined shirt and now it looks new again. Good luck.:thumbup:

Try Goof Off. http://www.goofoffstainremover.com/. I found it in the cleaners in the hardware section of my local big box store. Back in December, I had to make an overnight visit to the ER. I didn't discover until after I got home that my IV site didn't clot and my jacket was soaked with blood in the elbow area. Using Shout 3 or 4 times did not work and I still had a stain - but the Goof Off took it out!

Take it from a 30 some year nurse ,peroxide ! We use it all the time esp back in the day when we had to wear all white lol.

If you can get Eucalyptus Oil in the USA it will take most stains out of cloth. Very good for blood stains.

the enzyme that is needed to dissolve blood is contained in the saliva of the person to whom the blood belongs. So, have your son spit lots on the stain until it is wet then let it sit a bit then wash. This usually works especially if the blood is fresh. I managed to bleed on the white background of an applique piece after sticking my finger and not realizing it. No sign of the blood now after I saliva-ed it to death!