Bloodstains on your pillow first thing in the morning may be caused by a myriad of things, I would imagine it would be easy to panic, but hopefully, the problem does not have any sinister origins.
Nosebleeds are common at night, resulting from the mucus membrane drying out and becoming irritated. Blood flow is minimal but does stain your pillow, which adds to the stress.
A simple remedy for the nose bleed could be to place a humidifier in the bedroom overnight. A small amount of humidity will help stop the mucus membrane from becoming dry, and luckily, the nosebleeds will vanish permanently.
However, the problem of the blood on the pillow remains and needs to be addressed.
Bloodstains are devilishly tricky to get rid of once dried into the fabric. There are many old wives’ tales of removing blood from fabrics, and unfortunately, they are just old housewives tales and rarely work.
Why Is Blood So Hard to Remove From Fabric?
I’m not a doctor, nor do I work in the medical profession.
Blood chemistry is a complex subject, but in a nutshell, blood is made of three significant components.
Haemoglobin, the red part of blood, plasma when separated from haemoglobin, is a clear to yellowish fluid. Plasma contains salts as ions, proteins, and fats and many things that mean nothing to me. The third part of the components is platelets to make our blood clot when we have a wound.
The combination of these three components, when spilt onto fabrics or porous service, creates the perfect storm for staining. These stains can only be removed with determination, and we need to break down the proteins, fat, and many other tough to remove elements.
Methods to Break Down Blood Stains
It is suggested that tenderising meat powder is a good place to start. It seems feasible that making meat tender by breaking down proteins may indeed just do the trick and remove a dry bloodstain.
However, from experience, I only found this to be moderately successful, and the tenderising powder left a residual bloodstain.
For me, the best solution was to mix in baking soda, washing liquid such as you clean your dishes with and the trusted hydrogen peroxide.
Agitate the concoction of baking soda and dish soap into the stain. After five minutes, add a small amount of hydrogen peroxide, agitate vigorously and leave to settle for a few minutes.
After a few minutes, wipe clean. If the stain remains, try again. With persistence, the stain will come out.
Leave the pillow to dry in a well-aired room, or if so desired, place the pillow in a washing machine and wash on the recommended settings for a clean, stain-free pillow.
Don’t be tempted to use neat bleach on a pillow. Bleach is too harsh and will damage and weaken the fabric.