What happens to blood stains on your carpet and why it is hard to get out:
The last thing we want is not to be able to help you… but we like to be honest with you all; once cleaned, your carpet may look good. Unfortunately, when it’s dry, the blood can wick back.
The reason blood is so hard to get out is due to the reaction the blood has once it is exposed to oxygen. You see the haemoglobin in blood clots when exposed, which is good if it’s a cut on you… but not so great when it happens on your carpet, binding the blood to the fibres. This is also why it’s better to blot and clean before it dries.
Example: Job No 8549
This is what we went out to… as you can see, there was a large amount of blood:
To show an example of this, I will refer to a job we have done recently. We started this job at the end of November and have been once already and are going out again today, 17/11/23, to try again.
- 1st Visit – So, after the first clean, you can see there was no blood. On this clean, they tried all the tricks they had learnt, and after the clean, the guys were very surprised and couldn’t believe how clean it looked. Bearing in mind the stain was dried in, and there was quite a bit of blood. They weren’t expecting it to look so good… very deceiving!
- 2nd Visit – We then got a call back for 06/01/23; as you can see, the blood has started to wick back. This happens very often with a blood stain. More so if it’s a large amount of blood or has been down for a while before cleaning.
- 3rd Visit – This shows what the carpet looked like again, and we did another spot clean using the same techniques as before.
Our Process for cleaning blood stains out of your carpet:
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Step 1:
The first thing we do is wet the area with cold water… we usually use hot water when cleaning the carpet. However, hot water will seal the stain on stains like this, so never put hot on a blood stain first. We then use our van-mounted extraction hose to suck as much of the blood u as we can. Remember, the blood may be a small amount on top. However, you can’t see how big the amount is under the carpet.
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Step 2:
We then use a rust-removing solution as blood is full of iron, so the rust remover will help to try and get it out. The technicians spray the area that has the blood stain. You spray it on the stain, leave for a couple of minutes… then lay a clean cloth on the area and bang with a brush. They then rinse the area thoroughly to ensure all of the rust solutions are removed. Dry as much as possible, and then see what it’s like once dried.
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Step 3:
Very often, a second solution is needed. This step is where the technicians then use our solution called Blitzzz. This solution is a spot remover that we use. Again, we spray and leave for a few minutes. Lay a clean cloth over it and bang with a brush… as before. We then rinse this very well and extract as much as possible before drying thoroughly.
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Step 4: (If needed)
Depending on what the customer has asked for, we would then carry out a full clean, or like this particular job, we dried the area they wanted cleaning, and that was all.
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Step 5: (Again, if needed)
At the end of the clean, we sometimes spray the area with a solution called Envirosafe.
Here is a short Video of what happens to blood on your carpet:
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Written by Tracey Gilbey, Marketing and Admin Coordinator at Art of Clean.
For further advice or information on our Carpet and Soft Furnishing care, please do not hesitate to contact the Art of Clean team on 01223 901551 in Cambridge. Our services include Carpet Cleaning, Upholstery Cleaning, oriental and area Rug Cleaning, Curtain Cleaning, Patio, and Driveway Pressure washing, Leather Cleaning, Stone and Tile Floor Cleaning, and Wood Floor Sanding and Restoration. We also supply new flooring and carpets through our sister company Art of Flooring. Farthings Cambridge provides our Dry-Cleaning service