Short answer
Warm your hands, prick the side of a fingertip with the provided lancet, let free-flowing drops fill every printed circle completely, then dry the card flat for the full instructed time before sealing.
Dried blood-spot cards screen blood-borne infections, HIV, syphilis, hepatitis, and substitute for a clinic blood draw when collected correctly.
The rejection reasons are always the same: squeezed-out diluted drops, half-filled circles, and cards sealed while still wet.
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See Tests & Prices →Step by step
- Warm up first. Wash hands in warm water for a minute, then hang your hand below heart level. Cold fingers produce nothing but frustration.
- Prick the side, not the pad. The side of the ring or middle fingertip hurts less and bleeds freely. Use a fresh lancet, one firm press.
- Wipe the first drop. It carries tissue fluid from the puncture. Dab it away, then collect the clean flow that follows.
- Fill circles completely. Touch the hanging drop to the circle and let blood soak through; fill each circle edge to edge without layering drop on drop.
- Dry flat, untouched. Lay the card flat for the full instructed drying time. Usually hours, not minutes. Do not stack, fan with heat, or seal early.
- Seal with desiccant. Once bone dry, seal the card with its drying packet and post promptly.
What blood testing covers: Blood Tests for STIs: What They Detect.
What ruins cards
- Milking the finger. Aggressive squeezing floods the sample with tissue fluid and skews results.
- Layered drops. Adding a second drop atop a half-dry one creates uneven saturation the lab cannot punch reliably.
- Humidity and heat. Drying in a bathroom or mailing on the hottest day invites degradation. Cool, dry, and prompt wins.
- Wrong infection expectations. Blood spots never detect urethral, throat, or rectal infections. Pair with swab or urine sampling when exposures span sites.
After mailing
Track the order until the lab confirms receipt, then watch for the result notification through the program’s secure channel.
Reactive blood results, especially syphilis and HIV, always route to clinic confirmation; a home card starts the pathway, it never finishes it.
Troubleshooting poor blood flow
Cold hands, dehydration, and tentative shallow pricks produce the smeared partial spots laboratories reject.
Warm hands under running water first, drink water beforehand, and commit to one firm lancet press on the fingertip side rather than hesitant scratches.
Gravity assists enormously: hang the hand below heart level and massage gently toward the tip between drops.
When flow stalls mid-card, switch fingers with a fresh lancet rather than squeezing the original puncture into submission. Squeezed tissue fluid dilutes samples and degrades results.
Most programs allow contacting support mid-collection for guidance, and replacement cards cost far less than submitting a compromised one.
A second attempt done correctly beats a first attempt forced through.
When to seek care
Now if you have symptoms, are pregnant, experienced assault, or had a known high-risk exposure. Clinic today, not a kit next week.
Otherwise order after windows close, follow the instructions literally, and route every reactive result to confirmatory testing.