Blood, Sweat and No Tears!

Removing Blood from Fabrics - Base Costumes Cotton and Velvets

Well today I had a challenge! Removing fake blood from our costume fabrics. In the show there will be a few scenes involving blood and the Director has specifically said to Bethan that he wants blood to be in the show. This hasn't given us an easy job as there are many characters that this will affect.

I went and spoke to the Make Up course at AUB to ask about the different types of blood they use for performance. They gave me a list of the three main ones they use:

Pro Blood Dark, Kryolan - Cheap Cost - 1 Litre £30 (Sugar/Water/Alcohol) Base.

Special Film Blood, Kryolan - Medium Cost - 250ml £17 (Water/Glycerine) Base. Good for mouths/noses.

Non Drying Stage Blood, Mouldlife, Kensington Gore. Professional - Expensive Cost - 50g £8 (40  degrees standard washing instructions).

I methodically put each type of blood on the velvet and cotton fabrics we would be using for our costumes. Then using several detergents and stain removers I tested each stain removal technique to see what would work best. Surprisingly they all removed the blood fairly well, some better than others. The most effective blood and stain removal was the Cheap Pro Blood with hot water and Ariel hand wash.

This was such an interesting task! Bethan was very pleased that the cheapest blood had the best stain removal. I have learnt that within costume the knowledge of stain removal is so so important! Especially when you are involved in textiles or supervising, or even running wardrobe. I will take this knowledge with me an apply it to my next work.