The Strangest Cleaning Tip a Woman Used to Remove Period Stains From Her Boyfriend’s $10K Mattress

Anyone who menstruates has likely encountered the unexpected challenge of dealing with blood stains. Despite our best efforts to prevent them, they can happen unexpectedly, like this one woman who accidentally stained her boyfriend’s costly mattress. Seeking a solution, she turned to the internet for effective cleaning hacks and found a surprisingly cheap one.

Internet user Substantial_Tip_3227 asked the subreddit r/CleaningTips for help. Her post gathered more than 10,000 reactions and almost 2,000 comments. Many people were outraged about how someone would use such an expensive mattress without a cover.

Typical suggestions, like using hydrogen peroxide, lemon juice, or crushed aspirin, can be found easily through a quick Google search. But one internet user shared an unconventional method for eliminating period stains. This method involves utilizing a product we always carry, regardless of our location, and best of all, it costs nothing — saliva, also known as spit.

Surprisingly, saliva can effectively erase blood stains. But there’s a catch: it must be the saliva from the person whose blood stain you’re trying to remove.

Saliva contains protease enzymes capable of dissolving blood. To eliminate a blood stain, apply saliva to the affected area and rub it for approximately 30 seconds. Follow up by adding hand soap or dish soap, if accessible, then rinse the area thoroughly with cold water.

When the woman got offered a tip that said, “You should try using your own spit,” she thought it came from a creep. However, when others shared the same hack over and over again, and after trying different cleaners without any luck, the woman gave in and tried the weird hack. “Spit, I just spit on it 🙈😹 Aim and shoot 💦. I had a tiny cloth rubbing after each spit. I am forever changed.”

Check out more effective cleaning hacks here — some of our favorites involve lint rollers and making the bathroom smell fresh.