Cleaning Up Smoke Damage In Your Home
Wednesday, June 25th, 2008One of the first things that you need to do is find any food items that have had their seals broken and throw them away, since they may have been contaminated with soot in some way. Any open containers of pet food should also go. You should also go into the bathroom and remove anything there such as toothpaste, cosmetics, and etcetera that have had their seals broken. These items are not safe to use and should be thrown away.
Clearing the air of the home comes next. The air filter on your furnace might need to be changed out and the filter on your air conditioner should also be changed. Open the doors and windows of the home to allow the home to completely air out. Use fans to help with this if there is no wind to do the job for you.
Vacuuming furniture, carpets, and anything else that has collected soot should be the next thing to do. Try to avoid walking on carpet if you can, since this will set the soot particles deeper into the fabric and this logic also applies to vacuum cleaners that brush the carpet as you run them.
If you have house plants, wipe these clean of soot, since these kind of particles can kill them.
Some items in your home will tarnish and etch if they are not cleaned quickly after the soot falls on them. These can include marble, porcelain, stainless steel, formica, and chrome. Wooden surfaces need to be cleaned with wood soap and removing odors with a cleaning chemical that contains an orange smell should help.
Cleaning wallpaper and paint with soot on them can be a tricky business. Call a local paint or wallpaper store for advice on how to clean these, if possible. Try to clean it in an inconspicuous area first. Sometimes trying to clean it will only smear it around and re-painting the wall is the only option. Wallpaper will have to be taken out most of the time, since it will absorb odors when it becomes dirtied with smoke.
Anything that smells like smoke should be cleaned thoroughly. Putting out a few bowls of vinegar around the house will help to absorb some of the odor out of the home. Vacuuming does not typically remove the smoky odor from the home. Most appliances can be wiped off with a vinegar and water solution (ratio of 1 cup vinegar to one gallon of water) to help remove the smell.