Have A House Fire? Tips For Making Your Home Odor Free And Clean
Having a house fire, no matter how big or small, can cause a lot of damage to a home. Even if a fire is contained to a small space like a kitchen, the smoke can get into every part of your home and cause it to smell like smoke and discolor belongings. Follow these tips for getting your home to be odor free and clean.
Prevent More Damage From Occurring
If you were able to extinguish the fire yourself, chances are that you have minimal water damage, but a lot of smoke in your home. Before a fire and smoke damage restoration company shows up, open windows to get air circulating in your home. The faster you get the smoke out of your home, the better chance you have of belongings being restored from having a smoke smell.
If the fire department used a lot of water to extinguish the flames it will help to actually keep the windows closed, but use a dehumidifier to remove the moisture from the air.
Remove The Smoke Odor
You must understand that the smoke smell has most likely permeated anything that is porous. This includes carpets, curtains, clothing, mattresses, and your drywall. Using air freshening type products like Febreze will only temporarily mask the odor. You will need to have items that were affected properly disinfected to get rid of the odor for good.
A fire and smoke damage restoration company can expose your belongings to an ozone gas, which makes chemical changes to the molecules that cause the odor smell. The ozone gas can go anywhere that air can go, which is why it works so great at removing the odor from those porous items that would otherwise be difficult to clean.
Understand The Types of Soot Damage
The soot left behind from the fire comes in two forms: oily and dry soot. To determine what kind of soot you have, run a finger across the surface . If the soot smears, then you have oily soot. You can clean oily soot using degreasing agents, and you should be able to handle that sort of damage on your own.
Dry soot is much harder to clean, and may require professional help from a fire and smoke damage restoration company. Soot can also permanently discolor your belongings, which may require replacing items completely. For example, soot can permanently discolor plastic items, so your white colored Apple laptop may never be the color it once was again.
With the potential for a fire to permanently ruin so many things in your home, it may be best to leave it to the professionals if you do not feel confident doing it yourself. Contact a service like Nordic Services Inc for more information.
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