The Stain Library

How to remove blood stains from cotton

  • DifficultyEasy
  • OutlookUsually removable
  • MaterialCotton
  • Reviewed1 September 2026

The short answer

Flush the back of the fabric under a cold tap until the water runs clear, work in a little washing up liquid, rinse again cold, then wash at the care label temperature. Keep everything cold and keep it out of the dryer until the mark has completely gone.

If it has just happened

Blot, do not rub, then hold the fabric wrong side up under a cold tap so the water pushes the blood back out the way it went in. Cold water only, from the first second.

Heat can set this stain permanently

Do not use hot water, a tumble dryer, an iron or a steam cleaner until the mark has gone. Heat fixes this type of stain into the fibres and makes it far harder to shift.

Test on a hidden area first

Try any cleaner on a hidden part of the material first, such as a seam, an offcut, inside a hem or under a piece of furniture. Wait for it to dry and check for colour change before treating the visible mark.

Treat blood that is not your own as a hazard

Blood can carry bloodborne viruses. If it is not your own, put disposable gloves on before you start, cover any cut or graze on your hands with a waterproof dressing first, and wash your hands when you have finished. That is the standard precaution, and it applies to a small mark on a sheet as much as to a large one.

What you will need

  • Disposable gloves If the blood is not your own.
  • Two clean white cloths White so no dye transfers into the fabric.
  • Cold running water
  • Washing up liquid One drop is enough.

Helpful but not essential

  • Table salt One or two tablespoons per litre for a cold soak.
  • Biological laundry detergent Liquid or powder. The enzymes are what shift a dried mark.
  • Hydrogen peroxide, 3 percent White cotton only, and test a seam first.

Fresh blood on cotton

While it is still wet, cold water does nearly all of this on its own.

  1. Blot the surface

    Press a dry white cloth onto the mark and lift it straight off. Do not rub. Rubbing spreads the edge outwards and drives the blood deeper into the weave.

  2. Flush from the back

    Turn the fabric wrong side out and hold it under a cold tap so the water travels through the weave from behind and carries the blood out the way it came in. Keep going until the water coming off is clear.

  3. Work in a drop of detergent

    Put one drop of washing up liquid on the mark, work it in gently with your fingertips for about thirty seconds, then rinse it through with cold water again.

  4. Check it wet, then wash

    Look at the fabric wet and in daylight. If it is clear, wash at the care label temperature. If anything is left, go to the dried method before washing, because the wash will set whatever is still there.

  • How longAround ten minutes plus a wash
  • RepeatingRepeat the flush rather than scrubbing harder. Three flushes is plenty.
  • Stop ifthe water running off is clear and the mark has stopped fading, or the weave starts to distort

Dried blood on cotton

A mark that has dried but never been washed has gone out of solution rather than set. Water and time bring it back.

  1. Soak in cold salted water

    Fill a bowl with cold water and stir in one or two tablespoons of salt per litre. Submerge the stained part and leave it for at least thirty minutes to soften the dried protein.

  2. Rub the fabric against itself

    Lift it out and gently rub the stained area against itself under the cold water. This is mechanical, not chemical, and it is what breaks the softened crust up.

  3. Apply biological detergent

    Work a little biological detergent directly into the damp mark and leave it on for fifteen to thirty minutes. The protease in it cuts the protein apart, which is the part cold water cannot do.

  4. Rinse cold and wash

    Rinse thoroughly in cold water, check the mark while the fabric is wet, then wash at the care label temperature and air dry.

  • How longThirty minutes to four hours of soaking, plus a wash
  • RepeatingOne repeat soak is normal. Stop after two that change nothing.
  • Stop iftwo consecutive soaks leave the mark looking the same

Old or set in blood on cotton

Once a mark has been through a wash or a dryer the protein has coagulated. This is the point where expectations should come down.

Test hydrogen peroxide before you commit to it

Hydrogen peroxide removes the colour of a blood mark by oxidising it, and it works on dye the same way. Put a drop on an inside seam, let it dry completely, and look at it in daylight before going anywhere near the visible mark.

  1. Soak overnight in a cold biological solution

    Dissolve biological detergent in cold water at the dose on the pack and submerge the whole item overnight. Cold, because warm water helps the enzymes very little and sets the protein a great deal.

  2. Rinse and assess honestly

    Rinse in cold water and look at it wet. A mark that has lightened will probably lighten further. One that has not moved at all after a full night is unlikely to move at any point.

  3. Oxidise it, on white cotton only

    If the item is white, dab 3 percent hydrogen peroxide onto the mark with a cotton bud, leave it for five minutes, then rinse with cold water. It will fizz on contact with the blood, which is the peroxide reacting rather than a sign of progress. Repeat up to three times.

  4. Wash and air dry

    Wash at the care label temperature and dry on a line or an airer. Keep it out of the tumble dryer until you are certain nothing is left.

  • How longFour hours to overnight, plus a wash
  • RepeatingTwo long soaks, then stop. Repeating a third time damages the fabric more than it helps the mark.
  • Stop ifthe fabric thins, loses colour, or two long soaks make no visible difference

What not to use on cotton

  • Hot water at any stage

    Heat coagulates the protein in blood inside the fibre, and that is not reversible. This includes a hot rinse and a kettle poured over the mark.

  • The tumble dryer before the mark has gone

    Dryer heat sets whatever the wash left behind, and turns a faint shadow into a permanent one.

  • Rubbing the mark hard

    It spreads the blood outwards, pushes it into the weave and abrades the surface of the fibre so that patch catches the light differently afterwards.

  • Chlorine bleach on coloured cotton

    It strips the dye faster than it clears the mark, and repeated use weakens the fibre. An oxygen or biological soak does the same job without that risk.

White compared with coloured cotton

On white cotton you have the full range, including an oxygen soak or a hydrogen peroxide dab. On coloured cotton, keep to cold water, detergent and a biological soak, because both oxidisers can take the dye out along with the mark. Test on an inside seam and let it dry before you judge it.

Products that genuinely help here

Try the household route above first. These are worth buying only when it is not enough.

  • Escalation

    Dr. Beckmann Stain Devil for blood, milk and protein, 50 ml

    For a dried mark on something you would rather not soak

    A cold biological soak is the first escalation on cotton and it needs a bowl, several hours and an item you can submerge. This does the same job in a targeted form on a mark you want to treat in place, which is useful on something bulky or on one spot of an otherwise clean garment.

    Worth knowing. The ingredients include oxygen based bleaching agents, so test it on an inside seam of anything coloured and let it dry before judging it.

    Check current price Checked 7 September 2026

    View at Amazon UK Paid link

  • Optional product

    Pure Safe hydrogen peroxide 3 percent solution, 500 ml

    White cotton only

    On white cotton where a biological soak has stalled, oxidising the remaining colour is the only route left, and 3 percent is the household strength for it. There is no reason to buy it for coloured cotton, where it is more likely to leave a pale patch than a clean one.

    Worth knowing. Never combine it with vinegar or any other acid. Use one, rinse, dry, then the other if you genuinely need both.

    Check current price Checked 7 September 2026

    View at Amazon UK Paid link

If the mark is still there

If a faint shadow is left after a cold wash, soak the whole item in cold water with a dose of biological detergent for four hours or overnight, then wash again cold and air dry. Two soaks is a reasonable amount of effort.

If two consecutive soaks change nothing, stop soaking. On white cotton the remaining option is an oxidiser: dab 3 percent hydrogen peroxide onto the mark, leave it a few minutes, rinse cold and repeat up to three times. On coloured cotton there is no safe equivalent, and a mark that has survived a biological soak and a wash is probably staying.

A blood mark that has been through a warm or hot wash, or through a tumble dryer, is a different case. The protein has coagulated inside the fibre. Expect a permanent faint brown shadow, and treat anything better than that as a bonus.

When to stop and call someone

Take it to a cleaner rather than repeating home treatments if the garment is dry clean only, if it is tailored or structured so soaking would distort it, or if it is old, valuable or hand dyed. Also stop and get advice if the fabric itself starts to look thin or the weave distorts.

Why blood behaves this way on cotton

Blood is protein suspended in water, and while it is still wet the protein is in solution and simply washes out. Cotton is cellulose, so there is no chemical attraction between the two, which is why cold water alone does most of the work on a fresh mark.

Heat is what changes the situation. Warm the protein and it coagulates into a tougher structure that grips the fibre mechanically, and no amount of cold soaking afterwards puts it back into solution. That is why the wash temperature is the decision that matters, not the detergent.

Once a mark has dried but not been heated, it has not coagulated. It has only gone out of solution, and water plus time brings it back, which is why soaking works on a dried mark and does very little on a washed one.

Do the usual suggestions work?

  • Cold water Yes, it works

    On a fresh mark this is most of the answer on its own.

  • Cold salted water Yes, it works

    Recommended by detergent manufacturers for a soak, and repeatedly reported as what worked by people dealing with it at home.

  • Your own saliva Sometimes

    It contains amylase, not protease, so the enzyme story does not really hold. It works on a tiny fresh spot mainly because it is cold liquid applied immediately.

  • Bicarbonate of soda paste Sometimes

    It absorbs liquid from a fresh mark. On cotton, which can be flushed under a tap, it is a slower route to the same place.

  • Boiling water poured through No, it is risky

    It works for some stains and it is the worst possible move for blood. Heat is what makes a blood mark permanent.

Common questions

Does it matter how long the blood has been there?

Less than you would think. What matters is whether it has been heated. A mark that dried on a shirt a week ago will usually soak out. A mark that went through a forty degree wash yesterday may not.

Can I use a biological detergent on a cold wash?

Yes. The enzymes work in cool water, more slowly than in warm water but well enough. Leaving the detergent on the mark for half an hour before the wash matters more than the temperature does.

The mark has gone yellow rather than red. Is that different?

No, it is the same protein oxidising as it ages. It responds to the same biological soak, and it is a sign the mark is old rather than a sign it is set.

Sources

What we checked and when. Where a manufacturer instruction disagrees with anything here, follow the manufacturer.

  1. Persil UK, how to remove blood stains from clothes manufacturer

    Manufacturer instruction to use cold water only because hot water sets the proteins, to soak in cold salted water at one or two tablespoons of salt per litre for several hours, and not to wash hot until the mark has gone.

    Checked 1 September 2026

  2. Ariel UK, how to get blood out of clothes manufacturer

    Manufacturer method of rinsing under cold running water first, covering the mark with liquid detergent and leaving it on before washing at the care label temperature.

    Checked 1 September 2026

  3. Enzymes in laundry detergents, University of Maryland publication

    Explains that proteases hydrolyse the peptide bonds holding a protein together, which is the mechanism a biological detergent uses on a blood mark that plain detergent will not shift.

    Checked 1 September 2026

  4. How to get blood out of carpet and upholstery, COIT specialist

    Restoration company method of one teaspoon of washing up liquid in two cups of cold water dabbed until the blood transfers to the cloth, with the warning that hydrogen peroxide discolours fabric and belongs only on white or very light material after a hidden test.

    Checked 1 September 2026

  5. Standard infection control precautions, NHS Scotland national manual authority

    Establishes that gloves and an apron are worn where contact with blood is anticipated, and that cuts and grazes are covered with a waterproof dressing before the work starts.

    Checked 1 September 2026