washing blood out of a white shirt

galvanizersbaby

My DS had a tendency towards nosebleeds and would often come home with dried blood on his shirt.

For a white item I would apply household bleach fairly liberally and directly to the stain and then chuck in a reasonably hot wash pronto before the bleach makes a hole in the fabric!

This has worked a treat for me though sometimes I've had to repeat the process again if the stain is really bad.

Pitlanepiglet

Blood, I would soak at least overnight in cold water then treat the stained area with washing up liquid and bung it in a normal temp wash.

Mud - if there's lots of it try brushing it off the trousers whilst they are dry - there is no issue with hot water with mud (it "cooks" the blood which is why it's an issue), so I'd just brush them off and wash as normal.

We've discovered that our (old and decrepit) washing machine isn't taking in enough water so things don't come out very clean as they aren't getting wet enough. We've started adding jugs of hot water as the start of the cycle and it's making a huge difference to the washing. If you've got things that are especially grubby it might be worth trying this, modern machines use less water but somethings I don't think it's enough.

Newly_retired

Just to stick up for teachers, do remember there are loads of other children in the class and s/he can't just leave them. Maybe the receptionist could have been more helpful.

skintbint_2

i use milk- steep the blood spots in milk and the enzymes in the milk "eats" into the , also use it for ink!

kerri_gt

I also find that Biotex is a good stain remover to have at hand. I remember my mum using it when I was a kid, and although I have also used the usual Vanish and various Oxy products, I still find this the best.

Soda crystals are also supposed to be good with stain removal - though I wouldn't use these on delicates. I have made a paste with them and rubbed it in stains on my OH work shirt before and that seemed to work ok.

Good tip from skintbint about the milk - I'll also make a note of that one.

BitterAndTwisted

Erk! Washing a blood-stained garment in hot-water will have almost certainly set the stain in there permanently. You could try rubbing the stain with baking-powder and if that doesn't work Biotex should make a difference. If all else fails dry it outside in bright sunshine, it's a great stain-remover.

Fingers crossed.

With the mud I would scrape off the worst of it and soak the garment overnight in cold water before laundering.

Butterfly_Brain

Once blood is set it is nigh on impossible to get off, but you could try soaking in a solution of hydrogen peroxide overnight then wash as normal

mummyjane

I would try the milk first but if it has already been washed you will probably not get it out.

pigpen

if it is a cotton shirt I'd rub in a bit of bleach to the stain and see.. if it ruins it what the heck she can't wear it anyway.. *shrug*

Muddy stuff I put in a half load on a full wash programe so there is more water and more room for items to splosh about in the machine.

safesound

My husband hunts so I often have the contend with bloody clothes. There several different enzymes you can buy that works on fresh and dried in blood, however as you have "set" the stain you're probably not going to get rid of it without using hydrogen peroxide and even then its probably not going to work to any wearable degree.