Getting rid of Blood Stains

I know that Blood stains has very little to do with scrapbooking, but there is a verse in the Bible that says "My people perish for lack of knowledge". How many times have you wished you just knew that one piece of information that could have saved your day??

So the other day, my husband was running late getting ready for work and I heard him in the bathroom having a hard time. He cut himself while shaving and the cut would not stop bleeding. He got more and more aggravated as his brand new shirt got stained with blood and he kept putting pressure on the cut trying to make the bleeding stop. He got his second shirt stained again with blood and was rapidly losing his patience.

Finally I told him to lay down on the bed and calm down. He finally did, the bleeding somewhat stopped and we were able to put a band-aid on his chin. So I made him change his shirt again. All the while he kept complaining that I was going to have to wash all those blood stained shirts. I told him not to worry about them, I wasn't going to throw them in the washing machine. A little cold water and scrubbing in the bathroom sink and they would be squeaky clean again.

He left for work and a couple of hours later after I had fed the children and somewhat organized the house I went back to the bathroom.

Now, this is where you need to store this piece of information in your hard drive (your head) and next time you are faced with this problem you will know what to do.

The best way to get rid of blood stains is to get the area wet with COLD water. Not hot or warm water, COLD water otherwise the stain will set. After the area is wet, scrub the stain. With your hands formed into fists as you grab the cloth, scrub it against itself, like our ancestors used to do when there was no washing machines. Scrub, rinse with cold water, scrub again, rinse. It should take you a couple of minutes and the stain will disappear. No need for laundry detergent, or any other chemical, or soaking to get rid of the stain.

I squeezed the wet area and hung the shirts back in the closet to dry. After they were completely dry there was no sign of the blood stain, or yellowing of any kind. :)

Now, it's important that you don't let the stain set on the fabric. You can probably wait a couple of hours to scrub the stain off, but don't soak your blood stained garments in water in the bathroom sink all day. Take a couple of minutes and get rid of it right away!! I heard this technique will work with wine and other foods that will stain fabric. So make sure to try it out!! :)

I hope that piece of information saves your day some day!!! :)

Tereza