Jolie Kerr is a cleaning expert and the author of the New York Times bestselling book, My Boyfriend Barfed In My Handbag ... And Other Things You Can't Ask Martha. Her work has appeared in GQ, Cosmopolitan, The New York Times and Town & Country. A graduate of Barnard College, Jolie lives in a tiny Manhattan apartment with her five vacuum cleaners.

Blood is one of the trickiest stains to treat. Like other bodily fluids, such as vomit, urine, and sweat (sorry!), blood is a protein stain. But unlike other protein stains, blood stains change over time, as oxidation of hemoglobins begins to happen when blood exits the body, causing blood stains to morph from bright red to dark brown.

Additionally, there are so many ways to remove blood stains, and many of the methods are quite unconventional. You might have heard a dancer tell you that spit is the way to remove blood stains from the ankles of tights or recall your grandfather making a paste of meat tenderizer to slap on a blood-stained pillow. But which methods actually work?

A tricky thing about blood stains is that there are so many solutions that people swear by, from crushing up aspirin to make a stain poultice, to soaking a blood-stained item in milk. Figuring out which of these methods to use can be confusing.

Two things to know about these types of stain treatments: 1. They work, and 2. No single method is the exclusive remedy for blood stains. To be sure, some are better than others. To find the best one for your needs, consider what has been stained, how large and/or set-in the stain is, and which products you have available to remove the stain.

Some, but not all, of the methods you might hear about for removing a blood stain include:

While each of these methods work to varying degrees, we'll provide how-to instructions for the three most common blood-stain removal methods, as well as tips for removing set-in blood stains and blood stains on white clothing.

Soap and water is the best way to remove most blood stains; this is especially true of fresh blood stains on clothing or other small items like pillowcases.

Start by flushing the blood stain with cold running water. If possible, run the water through the back of the stained garment, so that the stain is pushed away from the fabric rather than through it. You might find that simply flushing the stain with water removes it.

Using your thumb and forefinger, rub a small amount of liquid soap, such as hand or dish soap, into the fabric. If using bar soap, wet the bar and rub it directly on the stain. Work the soap into the stain using your fingers and, if possible, rub the stained fabric against itself.

Alternate massaging soap into the stain and flushing the area with cold running water to push the stain out of the fabric.

Repeat as needed until the stain is gone, then flush with cold running water to remove the soap residue and launder the garment as usual.

Hydrogen peroxide is an excellent blood stain remover that works well on both fresh and set-in blood stains. However, hydrogen peroxide can have a bleaching effect on some textiles, so it's important to perform a spot test before using it for stain removal.

Test the hydrogen peroxide in an inconspicuous spot to make sure it doesn't cause color loss.

Apply hydrogen peroxide to a light-colored cloth and gently dab at the stain. For larger stains, use a spray bottle to mist the area with hydrogen peroxide. For smaller stains, use a cotton swab to dab the hydrogen peroxide on the stain.

Once the stain has been removed, dip the cloth in clean water and rinse the area to remove residue from the hydrogen peroxide.

Enzymatic stain removers, including those formulated to clean up pet messes, break down blood stains in launderable garments.

Before applying a stain treatment, flush the stain with cold running water.

Apply an enzymatic stain treatment to the stain; more set-in stains might benefit from the use of a laundry brush to penetrate and break down the stain.

Launder the item, as usual, using cold water and the machine's regular setting, unless otherwise specified on the garment's care tag.

After laundering a blood-stained item, check that the stain was fully eliminated in the wash. If there is still staining, do not put the item in the dryer, as heat will set the stain.

When it comes to removing blood stains from white clothes, it's important to apply a stain treatment and launder the garment as soon as possible. When washing blood-stained whites, it's best to avoid using chlorine bleach, which causes a chemical reaction that can deepen protein stains like blood. If you're unable to immediately launder a blood-stained garment, dab the stain with water or, if possible, flush it with cool running water.

Before applying a stain treatment, flush the stain with cold running water.

Apply an enzymatic stain treatment to the stain; more set-in stains might benefit from the use of a laundry brush to penetrate and break down the stain.

Launder the item, as usual, using cold water and the machine's regular setting, unless otherwise specified on the garment's care tag.

After laundering a blood-stained item, check that the stain was fully eliminated in the wash. If there is still staining, do not put the item in the dryer, as heat will set the stain.

Soaking a heavily blood-stained item in an oxygen bleach solution is a hands-off way to remove stains from bulky or large items, like white jeans or hoodies, or large stains from smaller items, like a white tee that's borne the brunt of a bloody nose.

Soak a stained item in any vessel large enough to hold water and the item in need of cleaning, such as a kitchen or bathroom sink, a utility sink, a bathtub, a bucket, or a wash basin. If you have a top-loading washing machine that allows for it, you can also soak the item right in the washer's basin.

Fill the basin about halfway up, and no more than ⅔ full, with hot water, leaving enough room to fully submerge the item.

Oxygen bleach should be dissolved in hot water; if the garment in need of soaking cannot tolerate hot water, allow the solution to cool before introducing it. Follow the package instructions for dosing.

Place the item in the oxygen bleach solution, using your hands to fully submerge it. Then, use your hands to agitate the item so that the solution can penetrate its fibers.

Allow the item to soak for an hour up to overnight, then launder as usual.