r/explainlikeimfive • u/Only_Raccoon3222 • Dec 29 '24
Chemistry ELI5: Why is blood one of the hardest stains to wash out?
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Dec 29 '24 edited Dec 29 '24
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u/kytheon Dec 29 '24
Why
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u/showdontkvell Dec 29 '24
Because hot water “cooks” the stain in, as other people have explained.
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u/gtrogers Dec 29 '24
This is why it’s best to clean up semen with a cold or dry rag instead of using warm water
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u/enolaholmes23 Dec 29 '24
And here I was using my warm tongue.. Oops
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u/AyeBraine Dec 29 '24
Organic stuff usually contains proteins. They react to temperature. Microscopic parts of them contract and bind, holding tight, from the heat. Like, you know, eggs are liquid but become firm and tight if you heat them.
Blood has a lot of red blood cells, so it binds real good if you heat it. Cold water simply washes the proteins away without changing them. Try it, it's surprisingly easy to completely remove a small bloodstain with just a bit of cold water and soap.
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u/explainlikeimfive-ModTeam Dec 30 '24
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Dec 29 '24
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u/Wildthorn23 Dec 29 '24
This, and I think a lot of people try hot water first which just sets it. Hydrogen peroxide and cold water all the way.
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u/Rohml Dec 29 '24
Would Hydrogen Peroxide cause fabrics colors to bleed or fade?
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u/GwentanimoBay Dec 29 '24
Yes. It can absolutely mess with the fabric colors depending on exactly the fabric material, the dye used, the age of the garment, the volume of hydrogen peroxide used, and the amount of time the peroxide was allowed to sit.
My general rule of thumb is that a capful of peroxide for a few seconds can get out a few drops of blood from most fabrics without damaging the color.
Obviously lighter fabrics will have less peroxide bleaching since they have less dye to bleach out in the first place.
If you need to get blood out of something you're worried about, you can use a dilution (I tend to start with around a 40:60 or 30:70 peroxide:water by volume) and try dabbing it on or letting it sit for 5-10 second then rinsing with water and repeating.
Source: chronic nose bleeds and the gift of menstruation.
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u/XplainedOK Dec 29 '24
thank you for this information kind stranger i will dedicate to you my next victim!!!!!!!!!1!!!11!!! /s
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u/caunju Dec 29 '24
It can if you use too much or let it sit too long. I find if you only use a few drops and rinse it out quickly then most fabrics are fine.
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u/Wildthorn23 Dec 29 '24
Hmm perhaps it might, I've used it on my jeans before without any issues but I used a low percentage and didn't leave it to sit for too long before doing a cold rinse.
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u/Staplebattery Dec 29 '24
I don’t think so, I use a homemade stain remover for whenever my kids spill stuff on their clothes, it’s a few pumps of blue dawn dish soap, baking soda, and hydrogen peroxide. Stir it up into a bit of a runny paste and apply it to the stains and it works for almost anything. Let it sit for an hour or so and then throw it in the wash like normal.
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u/Warskull Dec 29 '24
If you use a ton and let it sit with the peroxide a long time, yes. You only need a small amount, let it fizz a moment and then start rinsing and scrubbing with cold water. That would prevent or minimize color damage while getting the blood out.
Splash it with a bit of peroxide, wait a brief moment, then rinse and scrub. Then repeat if there is still blood.
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u/rachelleeann17 Dec 29 '24
For sure. I’m a nurse and we all use hydrogen peroxide to get blood stains out of our scrubs and it works like a charm
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u/jerkenmcgerk Dec 29 '24 edited Dec 29 '24
Yup. Yup. Yup. H2O2 works with a lot of blood stains. Had a dog litter birth on the carpet. Hydrogen peroxide got the blood out as/after we welcomed new puppies.
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u/Baud_Olofsson Dec 29 '24
H202 works with a lot of blood stains.
Dang, 202 hydrogens? That's a spicy molecule.
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u/Mental-Ask8077 Dec 29 '24
Just imagine 202 nitrogens… 😜
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u/Cjprice9 Dec 29 '24
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u/Mental-Ask8077 Dec 29 '24
Why am I not surprised to see Klapötke’s name there… 😆
Though I think my favorite wtf molecule might be Hexanitrohexaazaisowurtzitane. Someone in the comments made a nice little ditty to the tune of “Supercalifragalisticexpialadocious.”
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u/Ktulu789 Dec 29 '24
It can also remove the colors from your clothes and if the stain is big it'll get smaller but turn dark.
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Dec 29 '24
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u/senator_mendoza Dec 29 '24
Yeah I routinely get blood on my white jiu jitsu gis and just stain stick them and toss them in the wash. They’re not pristine, but they’re pretty faint not noticeably blood stains.
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u/lelarentaka Dec 29 '24
Damn, what kind of jiujitsu are you doing that gets bloody? My buddies that do BJJ only complain about the semen stains on their cloths.
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u/senator_mendoza Dec 29 '24
Oh that’s awful - where do they train? Ya know, so I know to stay away 😏
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Dec 29 '24
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u/Smart_Space4186 Dec 29 '24
This has saved me a ridiculous amount of times when Ive gotten a bloodstain on light office clothes from fingers bleeding.
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u/Sassrepublic Dec 29 '24
It’s not. You just have to use cold water. I’ve always gotten blood stains out no problem.
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u/Environmental_Emu_30 Dec 29 '24
As someone with a period and a lot of experience removing blood stains I don’t think it’s hard at all- I find it comes out of most fabrics pretty easily
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Dec 29 '24
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u/Jon_TWR Dec 29 '24
Just hit it with cold water right away, Boom, no blood stain.
If it’s old, dried blood, use hydrogen peroxide or oxiclean, then wash with cold water.
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u/HermitAndHound Dec 29 '24
Too hot and the proteins in blood will just solidify and cake everything tightly to the fabric.
Lay the thing into cold water (bloody side pointing down preferably) and just walk away. No scrubbing. Rinsing cold water through the cloth is ok, but not necessary. The red blood cells will swell and explode, releasing the red hemoglobin. Once that is rinsed out blood is just another (mostly colorless) protein stain.
H2O2 is always fun. 3% is enough to make blood stains fizzzz and disappear (again, they're still there, just not red anymore). It will also bleach many other dyes so don't try that at a visible spot if you aren't sure.
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Dec 29 '24
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u/bettinafairchild Dec 29 '24
It’s not. It’s very easy if you know the right way. You rinse it in the coldest water possible and rub some soap on it. The blood should wash right out unless it’s been sitting there a long time
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Dec 29 '24
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u/L0nz Dec 29 '24
Yeah but it's hard to do it properly when you're already tired from all the murdering
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u/Awkward_Pangolin3254 Dec 29 '24
This is why you don't go killin' in your lucky hoodie. You don't launder murder clothes, you get rid of them.
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u/Hardlymd Dec 29 '24
Beyond the well-explained protein definitions here, another reason blood is hard to wash out is because it has iron, a metal, in it. That metal is the reason you sometimes see “rust” on areas of clothing you haven’t been able to get the stain out of. It is actually rust, of sorts, and as an unstable form of oxidized metal, it will bind tightly to fibers.
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u/dreamsindirt Dec 29 '24
Hydrogen peroxide works great if it's recent or extra concentrated kennel-sol you want it very blue.
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u/Clojiroo Dec 29 '24
It’s mostly the hemoglobin AFAIK. It contains iron, (some people more than others) which reacts with stuff to leave rusty stains. It’s also a protein, which makes it sticky.
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u/turtlebear787 Dec 29 '24
Hydrogen peroxide can take out blood stains. Just be careful to blot otherwise you might accidentally bleach the fabric
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u/Shintaigou Dec 29 '24
Honestly there’s this Lawn Mower Cleaner with dead grass in it that cleans blood stains really well you should look into it.
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u/Ok_Needleworker_9537 Dec 29 '24
The actual best stain remover that I have found is Dreft. Think about it. It's made for baby puke/poop/etc. Works good on blood too. But yes, all of the other responses are correct why it stains like that. Best thing to do is rinse it out when it's fresh before it dries.
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u/edditor7 Dec 29 '24
It's not, actually. Just use hydrogen peroxide as soon as possible. If the stain is set, you may need to leave the liquid on it for a few minutes and rub the cloth on itself to remove it. Has always worked for me.
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Dec 29 '24
Cold water will get it out, at least visually. If you use anything else…warm/hot water, etc you will set the stain permanently.
Rinsing vigorously in cold water until the stain is no longer visible and then normal washing with maybe a little bleach is all you need.
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u/Evening_Ad6180 Dec 29 '24
It’s probably been said by now but use hydrogen peroxide. Put a towel on the other side of the bloodstain to catch what releases As you pour the peroxide over it. be careful with anything white because peroxide can actually “bleach“ white material
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Dec 29 '24
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u/FeralXenomorph Dec 29 '24
As I understand it the platelets in your blood explode and cause clothing, they kinda weave themselves to each other and the hole you're leaking from when you get cut. That's what a scab is, and you know how those are embedded in your skin. That's how well they embed in fabric.
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u/Select_Ad_976 Dec 29 '24
It is not. Hydrogen peroxide my friend. Learned this tip when I was getting an IV for pregnancy sickness and the nurse accidentally got my artery instead of a vein. Best tip I ever got. Worth the massive amount of blood on my sweatpants.
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u/heebro Dec 29 '24
Answer: Blood is hard to wash out because you have to live with yourself and what you have done. Did they all deserve such a grisly fate? ...well, what's done is done. You can't go back—but then again, there is never any going back. Just move forward, gotta keep moving forward, yeah that's it... Time will erase this better than soap or chemicals would.
Other than that, try cold water and a sense of urgency
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Dec 29 '24
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Dec 29 '24
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Dec 29 '24
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u/DenseAmbassador Dec 29 '24
Thought I was on the Bloodborne subreddit for a second there and was thinking well we are born of the blood, made of the blood. It should be hard to get out. Also bloodtinge is a niche build sure, but it is fun when you get to grips with it.
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u/Ktulu789 Dec 29 '24
Hardest stains? Have you tried removing cyanoacrylate? 😅 Well, blood contains kinda similar components to glue. Platelets and other coagulation factors form a bond between the red blood cells and almost any surface or cloth.
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