Figuring out how to get fake blood off skin can be a challenge if you’re not using Gravity & Momentum blood products. Maybe you’re an actor in a play, or a movie, or a TV show. Maybe you’re involved in some sort of medical, law enforcement, or military training regimen. Maybe you’re just recovering from a Halloween party. Whatever the case, read on to learn how to get fake blood off skin.
But first…
Blog Post Notes
- These are not instructions for how to clean Gravity & Momentum blood products off skin. Gravity & Momentum blood products do not stain and come off skin with warm water. For instructions on how to clean up Gravity & Momentum blood products please see our how to page.
- Proceed with caution and awareness of how your skin feels. If at any time you feel discomfort such as itching or burning, stop immediately, rinse the affected area thoroughly with water, and (if necessary) seek medical attention.
- Be very careful around your eyes. Even the safest cleaning methods on this list can be harmful to your eyes.
- Any cloth, cotton ball, makeup remover pad, etc. that comes into contact with the blood stain stands a good chance of becoming stained itself. Do not use your good towels, for example, to clean up stain residue
How To Get Fake Blood Off Skin Safely
Wait It Out
Patience is by far the safest method when deciding how to get fake blood off skin. If the blood-stained area is not visible and/or you’re not in a position where the stain will cause a problem (e.g. going to work with fake blood stains all over yourself, or needing to be blood-stain free before you put on your play all over again tomorrow night) then simply waiting a few days for the stain to fade away is your best option. Your skin naturally sheds dead outer cells as it produces fresh new cells, so if you’ve got the time, just let your body do its thing.
Makeup Remover
This one is pretty self-explanatory. Makeup remover is designed to get colored dyes off your face, so for removing fake blood stains from facial skin this is a good place to start. Use as directed on the package.
Oil-Based Products
There are a number of household oil-based products that can speed the process of removing a fake blood stain from your skin such as petroleum jelly, baby oil, and olive oil.
- Gently rub one of these oil based products into the blood-stained area with a makeup-removal pad or a cotton ball. There’s no harm in using your fingers, but if you use your fingers the stain may transfer to your fingertips while you’re rubbing the product in.
- As you gently rub the product into your skin, you might see it start to discolor. This means it’s working and lifting the stain out. If the stain is stubborn, you can leave these oil-based products on your skin for extended periods of time, even overnight.
- If you decide to sleep while covered in one of these oily products, be sure to cover the blood-stained areas with breathable fabric (such as cotton gloves for your hands) if you don’t want to see oil stains on your bedding.
- When you’re finished remove excess product (if there is any) with a wet washcloth.
Note: We are referring in this section to oil based products that typically come into contact with skin. Please don’t use motor oil, machine oil, etc.
Toothpaste
Toothpaste is a mild abrasive, so for the most part you’re gently exfoliating the skin that is stained instead of actually pulling the stain out of the skin. Don’t exfoliate too much or you’ll irritate your skin.
- Grab a non-gel tube of toothpaste, preferably one with baking soda.
- Depending on the sensitivity of your skin, use your finger, a cotton ball, a makeup remover pad, or a soft-bristle toothbrush to gently rub the toothpaste into the blood-stained area in a circular motion.
- Rinse with warm water.
Shaving Cream
This works pretty much the way you think it would. Get some non-gel shaving cream and dispense some into your hands. rub the shaving cream on the blood-stained area as you would with soap. Rinse with warm water.
Lava Soap
Lava soap is a heavy duty cleaner originally brought to market for folks who get grimy at work, such as mechanics, painters, and construction workers. These folks get all sorts of grease, paint, and other gunk on their hands while working.
Lava soap is abrasive, so use caution and don’t exfoliate too much, especially on more sensitive areas of skin.
Lemon Juice
Lemon juice is not so much a stain remover as it is a bleaching agent, so it won’t remove the stain, but it might make it faint enough to deal with until your body naturally replaces old skin cells with new ones over the course of a few days.
You might want to try lemon juice before you exfoliate instead of after. If you got too far with exfoliation and take off too many layers of skin putting lemon juice on top of that will most certainly not feel good.
How To Get Fake Blood Off Skin Not-So-Safely
These methods for how to get fake blood off skin utilize products that are not meant to be in contact with skin in concentrated fashion, or not meant to be in contact with skin for an extended amount of time. Definitely do not use any of these methods on your face, and proceed at your own risk.
Detergent
Laundry and dish detergents can be helpful in getting fake blood stains off of skin, but they aren’t designed to be in contact with skin in a concentrated fashion for an extended period of time.
- If you’re going to try detergent find one that has no fragrances or dyes to minimize the number of chemicals coming into contact with your skin.
- The longer the detergent stays on your skin, the more risk there is for skin irritation.
- You can also mix equal parts detergent and baking soda together into a paste. Baking soda adds a mild abrasive element, which can help with exfoliating external layers of skin that are stained, but the abrasive increases the risk that the chemicals in the detergent will irritate your skin.
Cigarette Ash Paste
We’d love to know whose idea it was to try doing this in the first place.
Take some cigarette ashes (we do not advocate actually smoking a cigarette to accomplish this), add a bit of water and mix to create a paste. Apply the paste to the blood-stained skin and let sit for about 15 minutes. Rinse with warm water.
It’s Too Dangerous… Just Don’t Do It
Is getting a stain off your skin important? Sure. Is it important enough for you to risk severe skin irritation? No.
Nail Polish Remover
Nail polish remover will remove both dye and dead skin cells, but can start to irritate even non-sensitive skin in as little as 30 seconds. Removing temporary stains from your skin is simply not worth the irritation risk that nail polish remover poses. We’ve seen other lists that indicate this is a viable option. We care about you and don’t want you to hurt yourself. Just don’t do it.
Conclusion
Use Gravity & Momentum stage blood and you’ll never have to worry about stained skin again.