Cleaning Guides

How to Get Blood Out of a Mattress

Fantastic Team
Published: Mar 25/2022
Last update: Sep 24/2025Array
6min read
Views: 183

Blood stains on your mattress are inevitable, wouldn’t you agree? Accidents do happen, regardless if it’s a surprise visit from Aunt Flo, the scab of the wound you got the other day gets scratched open, or maybe even a nose bleed. So, having a couple of blood cleaning tricks up your sleeve is helpful.

Unlike the bedding, which you can strip off the bed and put into the washing machine, things with a mattress are a bit more complicated. Maintaining a mattress clean will require some effort and the proper methods.

There are quite a few natural cleaning methods and home-found ingredients that can help you with removing blood stains from your mattress, and save both your mattress and the bedding.

So, if you:

Have a freshly stained mattress with blood that you want removing;
Have just discovered some old blood marks on your bed piece;
Want to learn about different natural solutions that are effective blood stain removers;

Then, this post is just for you. Read our handy tips to learn about how to remove blood out of a mattress!

How to clean blood off a mattress?

You spend a lot of research time and money to get the perfect mattress to aid your sleep. Of course, you wouldn’t want to see all those resources go to waste by having your beautiful mattress ruined by a blood stain that looks like it came straight out of a horror movie.

Luckily, there are ways to remove blood from a mattress. Some methods will work better than others, depending on how long the blood stain has been sitting on your mattress.

1. Act quickly if possible

Dealing with fresh blood stains is much simpler. Usually, cold water and light blotting can be used to remove the blood while it is still wet. But if you let it stain sink in, it will seep deeper into the mattress, making it much more challenging. Therefore, as soon as you notice a stain, grab a cloth and start blotting right away.

2. Blot the blood stain, don’t rub

When a stain appears, resist the urge to scrub. Rubbing can push the stain deeper into the mattress fibres, making it much harder to remove later. Instead, focus on gently blotting — this lifts the stain without spreading it, giving any cleaning method you choose afterwards a much better chance of working.

3. Choose your method to remove blood from the mattress

Once you’ve blotted up as much blood as possible, it’s time to tackle whatever’s left. This is where the fun part begins – there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, and luckily, you probably already have some of the ingredients at home.

Cold water – Here, the cleaning procedure is pretty straightforward. Just grab a clean towel, run it under cold water, squeeze out the excess and dab the stained spot. This method is ideal when the blood stain is fresh.
Once you have treated the blood stain and rinsed the cleaning solution of the mattress, you can take a dry towel and blot any excess moisture. By doing that, you will help with the drying process and also any excess blood that has remained will be lifted from the fabric.
Enzyme cleaner – With this cleaning product, you need to remember that more is actually more when it comes to efficiency. The bigger the stain, the more product you will want to use. The goal will be to saturate the area of the blood stain well. Enzyme cleaners rely on “good” bacteria to break down and consume organic matter, such as urine, food, blood, etc. and of course, they need time to do that. So, let the product sit for 5-10 minutes before wiping it clean. This way the stain will be removed more easily along with any odour that comes with it.
Baking soda – For this method, you need to mix some cold water with the baking soda until it reaches a paste-like consistency. Once ready, spread the mixture over the blood stain and let it sit for at least 30 minutes. After that proceed with rinsing the area with a clean cloth or towel soaked in cold water.

Corn flour mixture – Similar to the baking soda method, here you’re going to combine corn flour and cold water till the mix becomes like a paste. Use a generous amount of the mixture to coat the blood-stained area. Leave to air-dry and then remove the corn flour with a vacuum cleaner.
Hydrogen peroxide – Simply apply a small amount of hydrogen peroxide to the stained area. Leave to sit for up to 20 minutes. It is among the stronger methods that will break down even dried blood. Once the time is up, dab clean with a wet cloth, dipped in cold water. Be careful when using hydrogen peroxide because it can bleach things.
Talcum powder – This is another easy method that can provide a great result. Mix talcum powder with cold water till a thick paste forms. Once you get a homogenous mixture, apply to the blood stain and leave it until dry. Similarly to the corn flour method, you will want to brush off or vacuum the dried crumbs from the dried mixture.
Meat tenderizer – It may sound strange using this cooking supply, but this can be your saving grace for more stubborn blood stains. Basically, meat tenderizer breaks down the proteins in blood making it easier to lift from the mattress fibres. Simply make a paste by mixing meat tenderizer with cold water. Apply the paste to the stained area and leave to sit for about an hour. After that dab the area with a damp towel till you have removed all the product.
Ammonia – If faced with a stubborn blood stain, this powerful cleaning method is the one you can turn to. Dilute a tablespoon of ammonia in a cup of cold water. Put on some protective gloves before you move on to using the ammonia. Dip a towel in the solution and dab on the stained area until the blood is removed. Leave a window open to air the room and let out the strong smell of ammonia.

4. Dry thoroughly

Once you’ve lifted the stain, don’t skip drying – any leftover moisture can lead to smells or mildew. Press a clean, dry towel onto the area to soak up as much water as possible, then let the mattress air-dry completely. If you want to speed things up, a fan or a hairdryer on a cool setting works well. Just avoid heat, as it can set any remaining stain.

5. Repeat if needed

Some stains are stubborn, and that’s totally normal. Don’t worry if the blood isn’t gone after the first try. Often, it takes a second or even third round of cleaning to fully lift it. Just repeat the process, and bit by bit, the stain will disappear.

Tip: This process works the same way for getting rid of period stains on mattress. Enzyme cleaners or hydrogen peroxide might work slightly better on older period stains because they break down the extra proteins. Because period stains can sometimes be a bit stickier or darker, you might need to repeat the process a couple of times, but the overall approach doesn’t change.

how to get dried blood out of mattress?

When it comes to blood on a mattress, it’s best to clean it as soon as possible while still fresh. However, that is not always possible. Sometimes, we are in a hurry and dab it off real quick with the idea to clean it later and sometimes, we find out about the stain quite some time after it has occurred.

Fortunately, there is a great method to use when it comes to getting dried blood out of your mattress with just 3 ingredients:

Corn flour
Hydrogen Peroxide
Salt

Once you have those acquired, follow the below steps:

Step 1: Making the mixture

Mix ½ cup of corn flour and ½ cup of hydrogen peroxide. Stir well and then add 1 tablespoon of salt.

Step 2: Application

Apply the ready mixture to the blood stain and let it sit for half an hour.

Step 3: Scrub away the blood stain

Using an old toothbrush, gently scrub the stained area, rubbing the mixture into the fibres of the mattress.

Step 4: Rinsing out the area

Use a clean rag, dampened with cold water and dab the treated area until the cleaning mixture as well as the stain are removed.

If after using this cleaning method the blood stain is still not entirely clean, you can repeat the steps until the stain is no longer noticeable. The longer blood has been left untreated, the more stubborn it would have become and consequently harder to clean.

Can’t get the blood out of a mattress? Book a professional!

It’s okay if you decide you’re not up to the task. A blood stain can seem very intimidating and tricky to successfully remove from the white fabric of your mattress. This is where the mattress cleaning professionals come in!

The Fantastic experts have industrial-grade detergents at their disposal that have a special formula to help treat different stains, including blood.

The expert will start by pretreating the blood stain(s) on your mattress with the special cleaning solution. After this, they will proceed to extract the stain using the hot water extraction method. Using specialised equipment, the professionals will inject hot water into the fabric and then suction out the moisture along with the dirt.

This will leave nothing behind but cleanliness and a fresh scent! If the particular fabric of the mattress doesn’t allow steam cleaning, we also offer dry cleaning techniques as an option..

It’s important to leave the stain alone until the professional comes. Trying to clean the blood can result in sealing it into the fibres and reducing the chances of the professional cleaner to fully remove the blood stain.

Need a professional?

Find a professional to take care of any mattress stain.

Takeaways

Decide if you will rely on a DIY method or hire a professional before proceeding to treat the blood stain.
Always use cold water when it comes to cleaning blood stains out of a mattress, as warm water will seal the stain and make it harder or impossible to remove.
When cleaning a blood stain, dab instead of scrubbing to avoid spreading the stain.
Depending on the stage of the blood stain and the material of your mattress, different methods will work

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Did you recently have to deal with a blood stain? Which was the method that worked best for you? Let us know in the comments below!

Image source: Shutterstock /FotoDuets