Your Guide to Thorough Smoke Damage Cleaning After a Fire

A fire is devastating to your home or office. When you factor in additional damage from smoke and soot, you’re dealing with a significant hazard to your space.

Smoke can damage areas of your home that were not damaged directly from the fire itself. Smoke damage doesn’t physically damage your structure. However, it leaves behind dangerous soot and a distinct odor.

A paper towel and a little Febreeze won’t do the trick for clean-up. Here’s your guide to smoke damage cleaning.

Tackle the Soot

The soot left behind after a fire is hazardous to breathe. It’s one of the first things to tackle when cleaning smoke damage.

Make sure your home or office is empty of items damaged by fire. Removing furniture you can’t save is the first step to making your space like-new again.

Then, address the soot. The longer soot sits, the more damage it can cause. Soot adheres to a surface, causing more deterioration over time. Here’s how to remove soot from carpet and other surfaces.

• Be sure to wear a respirator or mask to keep the soot from getting into your lungs.
• Start with a vacuum. Use the upholstery brush to remove top-level soot from all surfaces.
• Next, use a dry cleaning sponge to wipe the soot before using water or any cleaners. This keeps the soot from spreading further.
• Follow by washing the area with dish soap, degreaser, or a commercial soot remover.
• Rinse the surface with clean water. Dry with a clean cloth.

Soot cleaning and restoration is a delicate process, but it’s worth doing it right to save your home or office surfaces.

Sack the Smell

After a fire, your space smells like you’re burning a fireplace 24 hours a day. You need to sack that smell right away.

You’ve cleaned the smoke soot—the source of the fireplace smell. However, that smell can linger on surfaces like carpet, upholstery, and drapes.

• Use an odor-neutralizing carpet powder or baking soda to absorb odors in carpets and upholstery. Sprinkle, then let it sit for at least an hour.
• Vacuum away the baking soda making several passes over each surface to remove every bit of it, along with the odor.
• If the odor lingers, repeat that process. With carpets and drapes, it might be necessary to shampoo them after your vacuum process. This helps remove any last pieces of soot, plus sanitizes your carpets and curtains.

As the last step, use a deodorizing or odor-neutralizing spray to add a finishing touch.

Smoke Damage Cleaning is No Easy Task

It’s no easy task to handle smoke damage cleaning after a fire. It can also be an emotional process to salvage and restore your home.

The easiest way to clean smoke damage is to let the professionals handle the job. We work quickly, safely, and expertly to bring your home or office back to life after a fire smoke damage.

Contact us to restore your home or office. We can respond quickly to help you get space back to normal as soon as possible.