Identification of Blood Stains on Different Fabrics after Washing with Routinely Used Detergents in India

Blood is concerned to be major evidence during crime scene investigations and can play an important role to trace and to link or eliminate a suspect to a crime. Often criminals attempt to remove these blood traces from the crime scene by partial or complete washing through detergents or acids. Many presumptive tests are used to detect the blood stains from different garments or clothes. In this study, prior to applying Kastle-Meyer (KM) tests in different types of fabrics, all the 8 different varieties of fabrics were washed with different commercially available detergents. The fabric soaking time with various detergents may also affect the removal of blood stains. Ariel (detergent) showed the best results in removing the blood stains from all fabrics, whereas cotton-brasso fabric showed the maximum retention of blood after washing with all detergents. Terrycott and silk-polyester had the minimum ability to retain the blood stains.