Removing Bloodstains from carpet can be a real pain to clean up, especially if you don’t get it before it sets in. So what to do if you accidentally cut yourself, or get a nose bleed and then have dripped blood onto your carpet. It’s not a pretty sight, but it does happen from time to time.
Blotting the Blood Stain
Assuming that the blood on the carpet is still fresh, i.e., it has not yet dried or set it, then blotting it away immediately is the 1st place to start. As with any fresh stain, time is off the essence. This is because the longer the blood remains there; the more stubborn would be its stain. First off, grab some tissues or paper towels and begin to blot it up. Only blot it, do not wipe it, because if you wipe it, you will increase the stain area, which will make your job of cleaning more difficult
How you blot it up matters. Begin at the outer edges and work your way around the stain while moving toward the center. As your working your way in, use only enough pressure to where the blood starts socking into the tissue or wipe up cloth. Do not push too hard, because you will push more of the blood deeper into your carpet. As your cloth soaks it up,be sure to swap out to a new one to insure a better cleanup.
Rinsing the Blood Stain Out
Now that you have the portion of the blood that hasn’t soaked into the carpet removed, your next step is the use a damp cloth or tissue to rinse out the stained area. Water is your first and best agent for removing bloodstains on carpet.
Now this is important… ensure that it is cold water you use, and not hot or warm, because the stains would become more stubborn with hot water as blood is primarily a protein with some iron. Again, you want to blot the area in the same manner as above to remove the excess blood as you go.
Don’t skimp on the water, the more the better. If you have a wet vac, or a shop-vac, you can use these to rinse and suck up the excess water. If not, an old towel will do the trick. Keep rinsing the carpet, and removing the water, until the bloodstains are no longer visible.
Ammonia Can Clean Blood Stains
If the carpet still shows signs of the bloodstain, then apart from water, a solution of ammonia and water can be used for removing bloodstains.. For this, approximately 1 table spoonful of ammonia would be required. This quantity should be diluted in a cup of water. The resultant solution needs to be sprayed or worked into the bloodstains.
You can immediately begin to blot this solution up as I suggested above. Now be careful with this, ammonia can be hazardous and shouldn’t be inhaled. If you do not have ammonia on hand, a good alternative is Dish-washing soap, or even a laundry cleaner.
Rub the soap solutions with your finger in the region where there are bloodstains. Take care not to let the stains expand, i.e., spread. After a couple of minutes, scrub the region of bloodstains with a sponge.
Now soak this region of the carpet, and blot it with cloth. Use a white rag or light colored rag that does not leave any dye. Repeat this process until the rag used for blotting does not show any more stains.
Drying the Carpet to Prevent Wicking
The process of drying is not over yet. Cover the region where there were bloodstains with a rag, switch on the fans, and keep on blotting until the carpet is dry. This should block the occurrence of any residual stain deep in the carpet fibers from wicking. (the drawing up residual stain particles from deep within)
If you find that you can not, or do not want to do this yourself, please give one of our Dallas carpet cleaning professionals a call. We would be happy to clean it up for you.
Now that you have removed all the blood from your carpet, If you haven’t done so already, you had better see someone about that nose bleed. 
