# Fake blood on paper. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 25, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-blood-on-paper/434905 "2008-01-25T01:42:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![TheVioletCreep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eb8c5e/32.png) [@TheVioletCreep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheVioletCreep)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-blood-on-paper/434905/1 "2008-01-25T01:42:23Z")
Is there anyway I could use house-hold products to make authentic looking blood stains on a sheet of paper? Any suggestions would be wonderful. Say thankya! ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-blood-on-paper/434905/2 "2008-01-25T01:45:09Z")
The problem is getting the aging effect right. Fresh blood is bright red but turns dark muddy brown as it dries. So do you want old dried blood stains or fresh wet ones? ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-blood-on-paper/434905/3 "2008-01-25T01:49:26Z")
[QUOTE=TheVioletCreep] Is there anyway I could use house-hold products to make authentic looking blood stains on a sheet of paper? Any suggestions would be wonderful. Say thankya! [/QUOTE] What do you have planned? I love this board! šŸ˜ƒ ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-blood-on-paper/434905/4 "2008-01-25T02:01:52Z")
Well, your local Asian market may sell pigā€™s blood in the freezer section. Thatā€™s remarkably similar to human blood and will make stains that could accurately be described as ā€œauthentic looking blood stainsā€. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-blood-on-paper/434905/5 "2008-01-25T02:24:22Z")
On the other hand, if you want the fresh, wet look and donā€™t want the stench, good fake blood can be made by mixing red food coloring into corn syrup. You can make it darker by adding in a little blue and green if you want that ā€œbeen sitting around awhile but not yet driedā€ look. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2008, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-blood-on-paper/434905/6 "2008-01-25T03:12:20Z")
Why not simply prick your finger? ---
**Author:** ![TheVioletCreep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eb8c5e/32.png) [@TheVioletCreep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheVioletCreep)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-blood-on-paper/434905/7 "2008-01-27T05:46:53Z")
Ha, have been away, I was going for the dried blood, aged somewhat look, handing in an English paper, and the teacher likes outlandish, so yeah, gonna splatter it with bloodā€¦Iā€™ve tried food coloring mixtures, proves to be extremely meticulous, got it right, one slip, totally off completely, there must be an easy way to do this, anything you guys could concoct would be excellent. Say thankya. ---
**Author:** ![Pel2na](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Pel2na](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pel2na)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-blood-on-paper/434905/8 "2008-01-27T07:53:15Z")
[QUOTE=TheVioletCreep] Ha, have been away, I was going for the dried blood, aged somewhat look, handing in an English paper, and the teacher likes outlandish, so yeah, gonna splatter it with bloodā€¦Iā€™ve tried food coloring mixtures, proves to be extremely meticulous, got it right, one slip, totally off completely, there must be an easy way to do this, anything you guys could concoct would be excellent. Say thankya. [/QUOTE] That lets the corn syrup w/ food coloring out. I doubt your prof would be amused if the whole pile of turned-in papers were stuck together. Iā€™d say buy a tube of artistā€™s acrylic paint in the red-brown shade you want. Then thin with water to blood consistency. Make enough to practice on blank sheets (dipping a toothbrush and running your thumb across it makes a nice tuberculosis sneeze-type splatter). The acrylic will dry in a matter of hours, faster with a hair-dryer. Say yerwelcomeya. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-blood-on-paper/434905/9 "2008-01-27T15:18:52Z")
[QUOTE=panache45] Why not simply prick your finger? [/QUOTE] [Snake] Use a pen, Sideshow Bob. [/Snake] ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2008, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-blood-on-paper/434905/10 "2008-01-27T23:18:30Z")
There is an easier method. Buy a small bottle of Betadine. Itā€™s a medical use/ surgical scrub. Itā€™s dark red and especially when dry or semi-dry, appears remarkably like dried blood. ---
**Author:** ![TheVioletCreep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eb8c5e/32.png) [@TheVioletCreep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheVioletCreep)\ **Post date:** [January 28, 2008, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fake-blood-on-paper/434905/11 "2008-01-28T00:58:16Z")
Wonderful suggestions, I think Iā€™m gonna go the Betadine route, since for some odd reason we have bottles of it, thanks again.