Smoke can smell awful if left unattended for so long. Apart from the stench, over exposure to smoke can cause dangerous health problems. From a smoky kitchen to a full-on fire, your home can become subject to smoke stains. After a fire and smoke incident, you should not hesitate to carry out professional fire damage repair work. This helps protect the structural integrity of the building. Not only that, it protects your lungs.
So what are the steps to take after smoke stains in the home?
The cleaning Process
Cleaning following a smoke stain can be an overwhelming task. When a fire breaks out, many chemical reactions occur. When a fire occurs in the home or anywhere, all materials caught up in the fire reacts differently. For this reason, they produce different types of smoke.
There are two common types of smoke: dry smoke and wet smoke. Burning woods produce dry smoke. It leaves grey, dry, powdery soot behind. Cleaning dry smoke is the easiest compared to wet smoke. Wet smoke is thick and black. In the wake of a wet smoke, it leaves behind residues that can easily smear during the clean-up. You will need a fire damage repair expert when dealing with the two common types of smoke as they both cause health problems.
A fire damage repair expert begins the restoration process by first removing the visible soot. They remove non-visible residue using chemical treatments specifically designed for such purpose. Remember, smoke removal is not an easy task hence it is not something homeowners should undertake. This is a job for a professional. These experts will remove all the residue using advanced cleaning techniques.
What to Do After a Fire Incident?
Are there ways you can save some items from damage after a fire, at least before the experts arrive at the scene? The good news is that there are things you can do to restore some items yourself. You can clean affected clothing yourself, but bear in mind that they can be harmful to health. If you are keen on doing this yourself, then you may need to gear up. Come with your protective gloves, respirator, goggles and lots more. These PPEs are important if you are keen on cleaning the smoke residue yourself.
Vacuum will come in handy for cleaning. The vacuum will get rid of soot on clothing and fabric covered furniture. Do not bring the vacuum hose too close to the cleaning surface to avoid smearing the soot further. After removing the soot, the next step is to remove the odor.
No doubt, you can cover up smoke odor using fragrance but this only does the trick for a short period of time. Getting rid of smoke from your cloth is not the responsibility of a dry cleaning service provider. You can actually do this yourself. With four to five cycles in your washing machine, your cloth will be as good as new.
However, you need a professional fire damage repair company to remove the soot and smoke in your building after a fire.
