a Koala mattress on a Koala bed frame in a beautiful bedroom with a hard floor and panelled timber wall
Comfier Sleep by Alex Irving 4 minutes

How to get blood out of a mattress

How to get blood out of mattress – like, ASAP. 

You’re minding your own business, having the best sleep of your life, and then bam — you wake up with a bloodstain on your mattress. Great. Here we go again.

Before you go speed dialling Ted Danson and calling the cast of CSI, just know that here at Koala we’re pretty savvy with cleaning up accidental spots. Whether you wanna remove that one bloodstain from your mattress or go absolutely full hog on cleaning the whole thing, we’ve got the hacks that’ll keep you winning and grinning for good.

And if you’re certain there’s no saving your old-school springs, then g’day from Koala. ‘Cause we’ll have you doing belly flops onto your new mattress in no time.

How do you get blood stains out of your mattress?

Act quickly — that’s all we can say. The faster you tackle the stain, the quicker it’ll come away. “It’s like any stain — treating it as quickly as possible is the best advice,” says Koala’s Bedding Manager, Stephanie Roberts-Baxter. “If you have a spill on your mattress, clean it up straight away.”

Here’s what you can do to minimise a mishap:

🧽 Blot the stain. Use a white cloth or paper towel to soak up as much of the blood as possible. And remember, blotting will work better than rubbing.

🧽 Make a cleaning solution. Mix 2 cups of cold water with some gentle detergent.

🧽 Apply the solution. Dip a clean cloth into the solution and gently blot the stain. Work from the outside in so that the stain doesn’t spread.

🧽 Rinse and dry. Dampen a clean cloth with cold water and blot the area to remove any soap residue.

You might be a sucker for soggy cereal, but no one likes a soggy sleep. The last step, regardless of how you’re cleaning your bedding, is to always make sure your mattress is completely dry before burrito wrapping it back inside a fresh set of linens.

How do you get period blood out of the bed?

Stained sheets are one thing. You can chuck ’em in the wash any old day. But if you’ve leaked through the sheets and onto your mattress — yeah, that’s a bugger. Like blood from any other part of your body, get onto it quickly and follow the cleaning steps above.

But we get it, sometimes you don’t always notice that you’ve leaked through the sheets. If you’ve discovered a dried-out stain on your mattress, don’t despair. If you’re tryna tackle a stain as old as time, particularly an old bloodstain, all you’ll need to do is amp up the cleaning solution. 

🧼 Mix 1 part white vinegar, 2 parts water and a squeeze of mild dishwashing liquid

🧼 Pop it in a spray bottle and apply to the stain

🧼 Blot the stain with a clean cloth, and then rinse with cold water.

And remember, before making the bed, dry up that blotted beauty like you’re drying a beach towel in the sun. Like Don would say, is dry, is good.

A double Koala bed and mattress in a teenage bedroom with bedding, throw and cushions
The best way to avoid spills and stains leaking through to your mattress is to invest in a good mattress protector

Protecting your mattress

Now that you know how to remove a bloodstain from a mattress, let’s stop it from happening again. So, what to do? Magic undies? We wish. Instead, cue the mattress protector.

“We’ve got a TPU backing on our mattress protector, which makes it water-resistant — great for when you’ve got kids and pets,” says Stephanie. “It’s completely encased, flippable and protects your mattress from anything burrowing in.” Yep. Add to trolley.

Stephanie also reminds us of the critters that get attracted to dried-up bloodstains and the general debris found in our beds. “When we sleep, we shed a substantial amount of skin, and bed bugs feed off those dead skin cells,” she explains, adding that using a protector is about preventing mould, keeping allergens at bay and improving overall sleep hygiene. Yes please!

Still on the fence about investing in a decent mattress protector? Think about it this way: would you rather clean a mattress protector or an entire mattress? Because while we wish we could stop those nosebleeds and design perfectly leakproof undies, for now, we’ll all have to take our chances and hope that our protective bed linens do their magic while we sleep.

Treat yourself to a freshie

Bloodstain not budging? Time to say toodle-oo to your mattress? Alright, first things first — you’ll need to get rid of it responsibly. Skip the street-side dump, and check with your local council to see if they offer hard rubbish collections or mattress recycling programs.

Next up is to give us a gander. At Koala, we’ve got a whole heap of award-winning mattresses to keep you happy between the sheets. So if our Kloudcell® designs that offer superior support, breathability and durability get you going, we won’t stop you. And if antimicrobial mattresses that keep bacteria, mould and mildew at bay are your thing, we swing that way too. Just grab your Great Barrier Mattress Protector on your way out, and Bob’s sure to be your uncle.

Not sure about how you snooze? No worries. Take our mattress quiz and find out the best mattress for you.

Sleep on it

At Koala, we’re all about making life just that little bit easier. That’s why with every purchase made, you get a 120-night trial to test out your items. If you’re not fully satisfied with your purchase by the end of the trial, contact us, and we’ll organise a return and refund.

If you didn’t know what koala-ty was before, you do now. Shop our range today.

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