How To Remove Blood Stains in Dry Cleaning

You Missed A Spot!!!

As an owner of a dry cleaner your spotter will encounter a fair amount of stains of the albuminous type.  These stains are best described as egg, yolk, milk, ice cream, certain food stains and blood (stains that are byproducts of the human or animal body).  These stains can prove to be a challenge for your spotter, but by following the proper procedures, they will be able to remove the majority of these stains and you will be able to return the garment to your customer restored to like new condition.  As with all stains, there is a standard procedure that you should use when attacking these type stains and as always, you should pretest the stain removal procedure on an un-exposed area of the garment before moving on to the actual stain. 

Let's take a look at how to remove the most common of these albuminous stains, the blood stain.

Stain Removal Agents Used In the Removal of Blood Stains:

• Neutral lubricant
• Protein type stain removal agent
• Digester
• Bleach (sodium perborate or hydrogen peroxide)
• Levelling agent

Steps In the Removal of Blood Stains:

1. Pretest in an un-exposed area of the garment using the following procedures to see if the garment will withstand the stain removal procedure.
2. Place a towel under the stained area.  Wet the area with steam.  In some cases, this may be all it takes to remove the stain. 
3. If the stain remains, remove the towel and apply neutral lubricant to the stained area.
4. Tamp lightly with the spotting brush.
5. If the stain remains, remove the towel and reapply neutral lubricant.  Then apply a stain removal agent designed for removing protein type stains. 
6. Tamp lightly with the spotting brush.
7. Place a towel under the area and flush the area with steam.  In many cases the stain will have been removed at this point.
8. If the stain remains, remove the towel after thoroughly flushing and wet the stain with digester. (Thorough flushing is imperative in order to ensure the digester works properly.)
9. Using 2 folded towels, preheat the towels with dry steam.  Apply a heated towel on the top surface of the stained area.  Apply the other heated towel to the bottom side of the stained area.
10. At this point, set the garment aside.
11. After 10 minutes have elapsed, apply digester directly to the stained area again.  Reheat the top towel and replace it on the stained area.
12. Allow the digester to work 10 minutes. 
13. After the 10 minutes have elapsed check to see if the stain has been removed.  If not repeat steps 11 and 12.  (Some stains may require more time, but this is a very effective way to remove blood stains.)
14. If after several attempts using the digester and towels, the stain has not been removed, bleaching may be necessary. 
15. Apply 3% hydrogen peroxide.
16. Flush thoroughly with steam, feather and dry.
17. Apply levelling agent and dry clean.

The blood stain is a very common stain found in dry cleaning. It is also a stain that you must be able to remove with a very high degree of success. By following these procedures you should achieve that high degree of success and be on your way to being known as the dry cleaner that gets the stains out.