Odor Removal

The aftermath of a fire regardless of its size will always have one particular kind of result. Fire damage smell will always be a distinctive result of a fire thanks to the smoke that soaks into every crack and crevice that it comes in contact with. One aspect that will feature prominent in any home restoration, whether it’s a fire restoration or a water restoration, is the need to remove odor from the living space. Odor can arise from many origins such as smoke odor after a fire or a damp mildew odor following a flood. Following a disaster there may be contaminates brought in from outside.

No matter what the kind of odor removal is required, there are some basic principles that will be involved:

1. Remove the source of the odor.
2. Clean the affected surface or material.
3. Treat the surface with a penetrating counteractant.
4. Seal the surface that is being restored if possible.

When there is an odor coming from the carpet it’s a pretty good be that it signals the presence of mold or mildew in the carpet. When the carpet has become wet for one reason or another, such as not being properly dried after washing, the organisms can grow. There are a few simple solutions that can be tried using common household products to remove mold or urine odors from the carpet.

Baking soda is a very popular substance for use in removing odor. The reason why baking soda works is that it is composed of sodium carbonate and it’s this that actively eliminates the odors. White vinegar is another effective odor eliminator through the acidic nature which will kill the bacteria as it contacts it. Similarly lemon will work in much the same way as vinegar. The acid content of lemon will help to counteract the odor in a carpet.

These three products are also simple but effective methods of removing most pet odors from the house, including the odor of urine. Baking soda mixed with water and sprayed over a urine stain will neutralize the odor and will play a big part in cleaning the stain.

Smoke odor removal is another matter altogether. In this case we will talk about cleaning smoke odor following a house fire. During a fire the smoke particles tend to permeate all hard and soft surfaces, moving into the objects themselves where they are trapped, giving off a constant smoky odor long after the rest of the damage has been cleaned up.

To remove the smoke odor you have a number of options at your disposal. Firstly you will need to air out the room as completely as possible to remove as much of the residual smell as you can. It may be necessary to carry out a thermal fogging procedure which will send in purifying mist into the pores of the surfaces affected by the smoke, neutralizing the odor.

Alternatively, you might try using an Ionic Air Purifier which will work constantly to trap and remove odors from the room while releasing purified air back into the room. Some of these air purifiers feature a high-efficiency particle filter (HEPA) which is a very effective filter to use on solid particles.

No matter what kind of odor is plaguing your home, there is usually a simple and effective method for counter-acting it. Usually it is not necessary to go out and spend a lot of money on expensive wonder chemicals that claim to clean and freshen.