Smoke Damage Cleaning Products

In order to perform an adequate cleaning job after fire has gone through the property, your restoration specialist requires proper cleaning products. Part of the restoration work that is required must address the smoke damage that has taken place.

Smoke is the result of partial combustion of the fuel that feeds the fire and forms as visible particles in the air during the fire. These particles are absorbed into just about everything they come in contact with and linger long after the fire has been extinguished in the form of stains or odor. It doesn’t matter whether the surface is a hard surface such as a floor, wall or ceiling or a soft surface such as clothes, carpets or blankets smoke will get into everything and must be dealt with for any hope that it will be removed again.

Smoke damage cleaning products will include chemical cleaners such as the ones that are available from Winsol . For soot stains that have accumulated on the walls and ceilings you would need a dry chemical sponge to begin the soot removal process.

Some chemical products are available as air neutralizers that help you to eliminate the smoke odor from hard surfaces and textiles, speeding up the restoration process. It won’t completely eliminate all smoke odors but it will give you a good start and reduce the time required to complete a thermal fogging of the home.

That brings us to thermal fogging itself. Just as the smoke particles penetrate deeply into the pores of hard surfaces and is then trapped, an effective way to remove the odors is to complete a thermal fogging. Thermal fog replicates the penetration process, only instead of smoke a deodorizing mist is sent into the surface. The fog then attacks the smoke particles and neutralizes them. One complaint with thermal fogging is that although the smoke odor is removed, it is replaced by the chemical odor sued in the thermal fogger. This will dissipate reasonably rapidly but until it does the strong smell may cause distress.

Another product that may be used as part of a smoke restoration is an ozone treatment using an ozone generator. The ozone treatment produces an oxidizing agent that creates an aroma similar to that of a rain storm. The process breaks up the smoke particles eliminating the smoke odor from the room. Clothing and household furniture can be put through this type of ozone treatment by placing them under a tent while the ozone generator is operating.

Removing smoke odor from clothing will be possible through laundering although the success you have will depend heavily on the amount of smoke damage that has been done to the fabric. The majority of clothes can most effectively be restored by using a warm water wash with either a non-built liquid detergent or a low phosphate powder detergent and a liquid chlorine bleach. Tests have shown that the best results can be achieved after the equivalent of 5 washes. One or two washes won’t be enough to give you the level of cleaning that you are seeking.

All of the smoke damage cleaning products needed for a proper smoke restoration can be found quite readily and don’t need a lot of training to use. However, for the best results in performing the restoration it is advisable to talk to the fire restoration experts before taking any action. In most cases, even then, leave it to the people who do that kind of work for a living.

For more reading on this subject:

Smoke Damage Restoration Steps