8 Tips for Cleaning Smoke Damage

2/24/2022 (Permalink)

Follow These Tips for Cleaning Smoke Damage in your Rocky Mount, NC Home.

One of the most challenging issues to deal with after a fire is smoke damage. Stains and smells can linger for months or even years without proper cleaning. These tips can help you get your home odor-free.

8 Smoke Cleaning Tips

Smoke and soot damage can easily penetrate porous materials, such as curtains, carpets, furniture and clothing. Damaged areas may appear blackened or scorched or the damage may not be visible.

1. Sort Through Your Belongings

The first step in the smoke cleaning process is to go through all of your smoke-damaged possessions and sort them according to what you want to save and what you can throw out. You may want to take photos for your insurance company before you discard anything and talk to your adjuster to make sure that the insurance company doesn't want to see your stuff before you toss it.

2. Inspect Your House

Even if the fire was only in one room, there could be smoke damage throughout your home. Smoke tends to drift on the air and can spread surprisingly far from the location of the fire. Pay special attention to ceilings and walls. This damage often looks like black dust, black streaks or discolored paint.

3. Open Some Windows

Open as many windows as you can and turn on some fans to let some of the smoke smell out. This should reduce the amount of smoke odor you need to remove.

4. Remove Soot and Ash

Wear protective gloves, eyewear and a mask. Use a vacuum to remove loose soot around the damaged areas. A dry-vac works best, but you can use a regular vacuum with an attachment hose if you don't have one. Do not just push a vacuum over soot and ash. This can grind it into the surface.

5. Clean the Walls

Vacuum any large pieces of soot from the walls. Use a dry-cleaning or soot cleaning sponge to gently remove smaller amounts of soot from the surfaces. Next, use a soot cleaning solution and a rag to wipe the walls. Paint thinner or vinegar can also be used. Finally, use a degreaser or mild dish soap and hot water to scrub the walls and then rinse with hot water.

6. Clean Windows

You can clean smoke from windows by using a soot cleaner and then a degreaser. Wipe with a cloth or paper towel.

7. Clean Ceilings

The process for cleaning ceilings is similar to walls. Because you will be working on a ladder, it works better to go through all of the steps in each section, instead of trying to do each one for the whole ceiling.

8. Remove Odors

Minor smoke smells may be neutralized by using a bowl of baking soda or white vinegar. Stronger odors may require ozone treatment. If you are having trouble removing odors, you may want to contact a smoke remediation company in Rocky Mount, NC, to assist you.

Lingering smoke odors and soot stains can be difficult to remove. However, if you follow the cleaning process outlined in this guide, you should be able to eliminate most of your smoke damage.