The Stain Library

Material

Bed sheets

Washable cotton or polycotton that responds well to cold treatment, and that gets washed hot enough to set anything the first treatment missed.

  • SurfacePorous
  • WashingMachine
  • Colour run riskMedium
  • Reviewed1 September 2026

What bed sheets can and cannot take

  • Heat Use with care
  • Water and soaking Tolerates it
  • Acids, including vinegar Tolerates it
  • Strong alkalis Tolerates it
  • Solvents Use with care
  • Chlorine bleach Use with care
  • Abrasives Use with care

Always test on a hidden area first and let it dry before you treat the visible mark.

General rules for bed sheets

Sheets are the easiest household textile to treat, because they come off the bed, go in a sink and go in a machine. Use that. Almost every failure with bedding comes from washing before the mark has gone rather than from the treatment itself.

Two things are specific to bedding. Sheets are usually washed hotter than clothes, so a stain that survives the first wash is more likely to be set. And whatever soaked through the sheet is now on the mattress, which cannot be rinsed and needs its own approach.

Check the label

Most sheets are cotton or a cotton and polyester blend and carry a wash temperature on the label. The temperature that kills dust mites is the same temperature that sets a protein stain, so the order of operations matters more here than the number does.

Stains on bed sheets

Cleaners on bed sheets

  • Biological laundry detergent Yes, safe

    Safe on cotton and polycotton bedding. Rinse it out properly, because enzyme residue in something slept in is a common cause of skin irritation.

  • Hydrogen peroxide Only with caution

    White bedding is the best case for it. On coloured or patterned bedding the risk of a pale patch is real, and a biological soak is the safer route.

Bed linen is normally woven cotton or a cotton and polyester blend, both of which take cold water freely and tolerate the household cleaners people reach for.

Check the mattress before you strip the bed

Lift the sheet and look underneath before you put it in the wash. A mark that went through takes a different method, and it is much easier to deal with while it is still damp.

The hot wash habit is the risk

Bedding is often washed at sixty degrees on purpose. That is fine for the wash after the mark has gone and a problem for the wash before it, so treat the mark cold, check it in daylight while it is wet, and only then run the usual cycle.

Similar materials

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. How to wash and care for your bedding, Dunelm retailer

    Retailer guidance to use around a third of the usual detergent dose on bedding, to line dry cotton sheets where possible, and to tumble dry on the lowest setting over a longer period rather than on heat.

    Checked 1 September 2026

  3. Getting blood out of bedding, Mumsnet housekeeping discussion community

    A long UK thread in which an overnight cold soak, cold salted water and a biological pre-soak are repeatedly reported as what worked, and in which the original difficulty was a hot wash that had already set the mark.

    Checked 1 September 2026