Make Removing Blood Stains A Breeze With A Kitchen Essential

Blood stains are a massive pain to remove. Unlike other common red liquids, such as wine or ketchup, blood has a tendency to stick around through even the most aggressive wash cycles, leaving your clothing or bedding marred by a dull brown blob that refuses to budge. So how do you finally eliminate them once and for all? According to some sources, club soda can act as an effective stain remover in a pinch. And it does actually work — but it's not a miracle cure.

The reason blood stains are so stubborn is the fact that they're protein-based, putting them in the same category as things like eggs, milk, and sweat. If they're exposed to a typical wash cycle, especially if you assume laundering in hot water will get clothes cleaner, these stains will essentially be baked into the fabric. A toss in the dryer seals the deal, and all of a sudden, it becomes nearly impossible to eliminate the annoying brown marks they leave behind. Because of this, it's important to treat blood stains as soon as possible after they occur. Even if all you have is a bit of club soda, that alone could do the job to lift the substance out of the fabric.

Club soda, also known as soda water, is recommended as a blood stain remover because of its carbonation. These bubbles can help to more quickly lift stains before they get the chance to set, which is a great characteristic if you're dealing with a stain that will become more stubborn with time. With that being said, though, club soda doesn't contain large amounts of stain-fighting additives. It's often flavored with small amounts of minerals, including baking soda and salt, which could provide a negligible boost in cleaning power. But its real effectiveness lies in timing. Rinsing away a fresh blood stain with clean, cold water can be just as efficient as using soda water, but if you have some on hand, there isn't much harm in trying it out.

Some people have found that club soda doesn't work quite as well on older stains. If the stain has been hanging around for a while, it's better to go for a different household essential that fights tough blood stains: hydrogen peroxide. After rinsing with water to get as much of the blood out as possible, apply a few teaspoons of hydrogen peroxide to your stained area and let it fizz. Scrub it into the stain and follow up with a cold cycle in your washing machine. If you frequently deal with blood or other protein-based stains, it could also be worth picking up an enzyme-based stain treatment that contains protease. This will help to directly break down the proteins in blood. These cleaners are also great for reviving yellow pillows, so they're a fantastic tool to have on hand.