Blood can be one of the trickiest stains to remove. Even a single drop of it on your carpets, grout or wood floors could get absorbed and linger there for months, a dark crimson stain on your otherwise beautiful home. Luckily there are cleaning methods you can do at home that can brush the blood away. All it takes is persistence and some good old fashioned elbow grease.

At Dr. Chem-Dry Carpet & Tile Cleaning, our cleaners are magicians who can make stains disappear with a snap of their fingers. There’s no stain, blood or otherwise, that we can’t clean. If you’ve got a blood stain in your home, try one of these methods for cleaning it up. And if you follow our instructions and the blood won’t go away, give us a call: We’d be happy to make our magic happen for you.

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Carpet

Time is of the essence when getting blood off your carpets. If the blood stain is fresh, blot it immediately with a dry cloth or paper towel before the stain gets absorbed by your carpet fibers. After blotting it, take a steel brush to the stain. Lightly brush it: The steel brush will loosen up any dried blood and prepare the area for further cleaning. Mix together a solution that’s one teaspoon of dishwashing detergent with two cups of cold water. Dip a clean cloth in the detergent mix and blot the stain with this cloth. Do this several times, blotting the blood thoroughly. Continue doing this until the stain has disappeared.

If after several blotting attempts the blood hasn’t dissipated yet, try an alternate solution: Mix one-half cup of warm water with a tablespoon of ammonia. Use a cloth or sponge to apply the ammonia solution directly to the blood stain. Blot the stain repeatedly. Once you finish blotting, dip a clean sponge in cold water and blot the stain with it. Let it soak briefly and then blot the area dry with a clean towel.

Grout

First things first: Wipe the stain with a sponge dipped in cool water. If the blood hasn’t dried yet, you can blot up most of it before it settles into the grout. After the wipe-down, wet a toothbrush and dip it into some baking soda or a powdered cleanser. Use this brush to gently scrub away at the grout. Once you’ve finished scrubbing the stains, rinse the area thoroughly and dry it off. You can also use hydrogen peroxide to help remove blood from your grout.

Wood Floors

Wood can quickly absorb fluids. If a blood stain is fresh on the wood, clean it up immediately before it has a chance to seep into your flooring. Get a paper towel or dry cloth and blot the blood stain. Be careful not to rub the stain: Rubbing will just make the stain spread out or go deeper into the wood.

After you’ve blotted the blood, sprinkle it with baking soda. Let the baking soda sit for a minute as you go get a brush. Dip the brush in white vinegar. Use the brush to gently scrub the area down. Once you’ve finished scrubbing the blood, wipe the area down and dry it off.

If this method doesn’t work, you can use this alternate instead: After blotting the blood, mix a detergent solution that is ½ tablespoon of liquid dishwashing detergent with one cup of cold of water. Moisten a cloth with this solution and use it to wipe the blood off your wood floors. You can also use some steel wool to lightly (very lightly) scrub away at whatever blood is left on your wood floors after you dry it off. It’s safest to use steel wool on waxed wood floors and urethane/polyurethane finished hardwood floors; an unfinished hardwood floor could get easily scratched up and damaged by the steel wool.

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For more information about how you keep your home’s carpets and upholstery stain-free, give Dr. Chem-Dry Carpet & Tile Cleaning a call at 602-243-6379.

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