10 Smoke Damage Cleanup Tips

After any fire, particularly an oil or grease-based fire, even a small one, there is almost always smoke damage to the walls and ceilings of the building. Thankfully, in many cases, when smoke damage is limited, you can often clean up the damage so that there will be little to no sign of the fire. To help you out, we’ve assembled a list of 10 tips so that you know how to clean up smoke damage:

Smoke Damage Restoration 

Tip #1: Make Sure the Building is Safe

It may be tempting to get right to work on the smoke damage clean up right away after a blaze. After all, the longer the smoke damage is left to set into the building, the more difficult it will be to remove. However, it is important to make sure that the fire that caused the smoke damage in the first place is well and truly out.
After a blaze, if the Fire Department was called in, wait for a firefighter to give you the okay to move back into the building. If the blaze was small enough to handle on your own, ensure that the source of the fire is completely extinguished, and that there are no embers that could re-ignite. It does little good to begin cleaning up the smoke damage from one fire if another one starts.

Tip #2: Wear Protection

As with any cleanup process that involves contact with chemicals, it is a good idea to wear appropriate protection. This goes double for dealing with the soot left by a fire. As you clean up the smoke damage, soot particles may be released into the air, where it can irritate your eyes and skin, or even be inhaled, triggering asthmatic attacks. Sometimes, the chemicals used in smoke damage remediation can be just as hazardous to your health as the soot and smoke from the fire itself.
To limit your exposure to toxic substances and prevent potential problems, it is a good idea to wear:

• Comfortable clothing that covers as much skin as possible (long pants, shirt, shoes, etc.).
• Gloves (to protect your hands from chemical exposure).
• A facemask/respirator (to filter out chemicals and soot from the air you breathe).
• Goggles (to keep soot and stray splashes of chemical cleaner out of your eyes).

Wearing the appropriate protective wear will help you avoid injury while you work to remove the smoke stains from the building.

Tip #3: Start as soon as Possible

The more time that soot and smoke damage is allowed to set, the harder it will be to clean out once you start the smoke damage restoration process. If smoke damage is left untreated for long enough, the soot stains may become permanent.
Also, the unpleasant odor emitted by soot is an indication that you are breathing in soot particles, which could be harmful to you and others, triggering asthma-like symptoms. For people who already suffer from respiratory problems, the soot particles can cause a full-blown asthmatic attack. The sooner the leftover soot and smoke damage is cleaned up, the less risk of health complications that you have to face.Read More