Dried Blood on Carpet

Do people call Mr M in for carpet cleaning? A man of even more talents than I realised.

It may help if you say what you attempted. You didn't use hot water, I hope?

Googling "clean blood out of carpet" produces *many* results.

Unfortunately, the longer left, the harder to remove. If it's still red, I would try dampening with plain soap (not coloured) and water, leave for a while (but keep damp), and then try blotting off. If it's brown, then the iron in the blood is now rust, and that's harder to remove. Things like phosphoric acid will react with it, but the resulting products may be no easier to remove from a white carpet. Clear vinegar (acetic acid) may dissolve it, although you might get a resulting green iron compound which may or may not easily blot up.

Whatever you try, testing it on a hidden area is probably a good thing, in case it reacts with anything else in the carpet.

He just waves his magic wand and the stains disappear!

Owain

Hydrogen peroxide (probably still available from your local chemist's). As with any cleaning tactic, it's worth testing a little of it on a hidden area first in case your carpet disagrees with it.

I have not tried anything - the people there at the time did something but I don't know what. And cannot find out for some time.

Oxalic acid is quite useful for iron based stains in wood. effective but not too aggressive. Might work in this instance.

Thanks Bob and Adam.

TMH usually recommends Prochem products, this is what I could find that might fit the bill:

Perhaps, but shortly afterwards there is the appeal for tips on how to remove s**en stains...

I do indeed. I'd suggest;

I don't offer it as a service, I pass it on to Desmond who has the machinery.

I did spend years in the game, hence this;

Well Kipper me capstans!

"Remove Blood, Vomit, ...." I'm afraid that I was too revolted to read any further.

Thank you - duly ordered. :-)

Can't say I am looking forward to the process...

wasn't he on Captain Pugwash

Along with Roger the cabin boy?

I have a feeling that blood will destroy peroxide faster that you can apply it and if it doesn't the oxidation reaction will turn the iron into insoluble ferric form fixing the stain as rust.

Best best is a proprietory blood/protein stain remover which tend to be enzyme based with a reducing agent in. Proefssional cleaners might be able to do better with more aggressive reagents.

Whimp, no kids?

Just don't google on the diseases you can catch from someone elses blood. Wear gloves.

Lets just say SWMBO'd would literally have to be at deaths door for lack of blood before she accepted *any* blood product. Lack of volume pump in more saline, lack of red cells, she'll put up with being anaemic for a few weeks and adjust her diet to include more iron and things to help iron absorption. Low white cells, just hope she doesn't catch anything serious. She used to run the heamatology lab at Barts...