When To Use An Odor Counteractant

After a fire one of the lingering reminders that will permeate through the entire house is the sharp smell of smoke and other burnt chemicals. It’s a smell that will remain until some sort of action is taken to get rid of it. Unfortunately, smoke odor is not a substance that can be easily removed because it permeates into every surface it comes in contact with. Air fresheners will only mask the odor and are largely ineffective over longer periods of time – the smoke odor will return when the effects of the air freshener wear off.

In order to perform an effective smoke damage remediation job you will require an odor counteractant. These products have been designed to do more than simply mask the smoke odors, they are active and work by introducing live bacterial cultures and free enzymes to attack the odor molecules to break them down completely.

There appear to be quite a lot of products that claim to be able to work as odor counteractants and they should be worth considering when faced with the prospect of having to start a fire damage restoration job.

Look at the JonDon Unsmoke 9D9 Odor Counteractant: this is a product to use for the initial suppression of charred and burned surfaces. You can also use it to clean walls, upholstery and carpet in conjunction with other cleaners. The counteractant is sprayed onto the surface affected by the smoke odor with a pressure sprayer or, if using it with the wall or furniture cleaning solutions it can be mixed as required. The dilution quantities advise to mix 1 to 3 ounces per gallon of lukewarm water. This is a product that has been made specifically for eliminating smoke odors during the process of conducting fire damage restoration.

Another product that looks as though it could perform a similar type of job is the Citrus Neutrox Odor Counteractant Concentrate which is a water soluble odor counteractant that works to destroy odor molecules produced by organic and non-organic sources. This is another product that can be diluted and used with other cleaners. According to the product MSDS sheet the product contains no hazardous ingredients so it is a stable product to use too.

These types of products are also often referred to as malodor counteractants and they are often used when dealing with other situations where unpleasant odors are common such as when working with cadavers, animals and bars and restaurants that are constantly filled with smoke odors.

Remember, if you are trying to clean up smoke damage and you have to attack the smoke odors that seem to have seeped into every surface in the house you will not be achieving anything by attempting to clean those surfaces with straight disinfectant and air fresheners.

Products like the odor counteractants mentioned above will break down the molecules producing the odor and give you the result you are hoping to achieve. When choosing the counteractant you will use try to go for a product that specifies it is odor-neutral. Sometimes the smell of the cleaner can be more overpowering than the odor that is being removed.