I promise I'm not a masochist. But when I saw this duvet cover on West Elm's website, I had to have it for my bed. Was I worried about the big white section of the cover? Of course! White anything (clothes, bedding, pillows, blankets, etc) make me and my always-bleeding body very nervous.
So I set off in life with my new amazing bedding, constantly aware of my bleeding tendencies while on the bed. Here are a few things I did to avoid getting blood on the bed:
1. If I was laying on the bed and had exposed scabby skin, I'd put an unimportant blanket between the bed and me.
2. I could say I avoided scratching while in bed, but we all know that's probably not totally true. Also, I have little control over what I do while I sleep! Plus, sometimes a scab bleeds even when you don't scratch it. I did try a little to not scratch, though.
3. I would cover my body with longer sleeved shirts and pants if I was laying on the bed. So blood wouldn't go directly on the bed if I bled.
Unfortunately, I didn't consider my being in the bed with my arms out of the sheets IN DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE WHITE SECTION of my gorgeous duvet cover. Hence, this morning's bloody mess.
It ended up being a scab on my upper right arm that got me. Without thinking, I scratched my arm and placed it onto the cover. Nooooo! Here's what I quickly did:
1. Before doing anything to the stain, I got on Google. I didn't know exactly how to remove a blood stain from cotton sheets, but I knew that without confirmation or advice, I could inadvertently cause the stain to set in with whatever ill-informed method I tried. According to the world of the internet, rinsing the stain with cold water is almost always the first step.
2. I removed my duvet cover and put the bloodied section under cold water for about five to ten minutes.
3. I went to the sink to remove the duvet cover and start on step two - I was going to wash it with shampoo. Then, a miracle happened. I couldn't even find the stain to start step 2! The cold water totally removed the blood on its own! Success!
CRITICAL: Rinse the stain in cold water AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. The longer the blood is in the sheets, the harder it will be to remove it.
Thankfully, my husband saw the stain right away and I happened to bleed in the morning, not in the middle of the night. From now on, I'll be checking the duvet cover and sheets for blood when I make the bed every morning ... because I of course make the bed every morning like a responsible adult. ;)