Why hot water is the worst for stains, specifically period blood

Why hot water is the worst for stains, specifically period blood

It's that time of the month. We get it.

And if you've ever gotten blood on your clothes, towels, or sheets, then you know how difficult it can be to get the stains out. You probably also know that hot water is a great way to remove many types of stains—but not period blood.

Hot water can actually make it harder to remove period blood stains. Why? Because heat and protein stains are not friends. The heat of the water causes the proteins in your blood to "set" into the fabric, so they're much harder to get out.

Put some cold water on that stain right away instead. This helps prevent the stain from happening by slowing down the process at which protein-based stains set. It won't get rid of the stain completely, but it will help prevent it from becoming permanent like it would if you used hot water.

Then, when you're doing your laundry, try using cold or warm water instead of hot. It won't make the stain go away, but it also won't set it in deeper (and use a stain remover before you put the item in the wash.

So when cleaning up period stains (and other protein-based stains like spit up or nutella), use cold water instead of hot water!

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