Wash Wednesday: Blood

Before having children, I would see the commercials for laundry detergent that bragged they could get even the toughest blood stains out of clothes. I would think to myself, "If you've got that big of a blood stain on clothing, I would think that laundry would be the least of your worries." Then again, I was watching a lot of "The Sopranos" at that time.

And then I had kids. I remember when my oldest child was born and they had to prick his foot for routine blood testing. And I cried. How could they make my baby, my poor poor baby bleed like that??

And then I had two kids. And then three kids. Still, bleeding causes panic. But not as much as before. I find myself (more often than not) saying, "Unless someone is bleeding, I don't want to hear it."

My husband works as a mobile site supervisor for Liveserve Blood Center. You know when your Church has a blood drive? Yeah, he's the guy in charge at it. Quite often he informs me that "I got puked on today" or "yeah, there's lots of blood on my pants". Things that if people didn't know what he did for a living, might question what goes on in our household.

Here are my wash Wednesday tips for blood. Soak it (as soon as possible) in cold water. Before washing, spray 409 on it (yes the kitchen cleaner). ALWAYS wash on COLD COLD and check it (to make sure all of the stains have come out) before putting in the dryer...or, better yet, let it air dry. If it needs to be washed again, the stain wouldn't be dried in by the dryer and you'll have an easier time getting it out.

Another tip, if it is a kid that is bleeding, stay calm. If they see you freaking out, they'll freak out; which increases their blood pressure, and then--you've got it, more blood.

Stay calm, stay cool, stay collected. Blood happens.