5 Smoke Damage Clean Up Tips To Get Rid Of The Lingering Smell

7/6/2020 (Permalink)

On this job, we had to perform extensive smoke damage clean up.

After a house fire occurs in your home, there will be immediate impacts that can be concerning. 

Fire damage can leave a property owner questioning the next steps in getting rid of the smoke smell in the affected areas. The professionals at SERVPRO know that the smoke smell is caused by smoke damage that has ingrained on your walls and in the fabric of your furniture. Though the smoke damage smell is difficult to remove, it is not impossible. In this post, we will go through 5 tips on removing the smoke smell from your home. We want our Dayton residents to know that fire damage is enough to deal with and that we want to help ease the unnecessary tension caused by the smoke smell. 

How to Quickly Get Rid of That Smoke Smell? 

At SERVPRO of East Dayton/Beavercreek, we have seen black soot covering all of the surfaces of a home after a severe fire occurs. On harder surfaces, we have found that the smoke smell will leave with time, but on softer surfaces (drapes, furniture cushions, carpet flooring), the smells will soak in. Taking specific measures are necessary to remove any smoke damage smells in your home. Here are the 5 smoke damage clean up tips to ease the cleaning process. 

1. Ventilation

After a fire occurs in your home, it is essential to keep every door and window open for a full day so that fresh air passes through the home. Fresh air is critical to remove unwanted smoke damage smells. We also recommend placing many fans facing out of the house to help the ventilation process. Letting a smoke-damaged house breathe will get you ahead of the game before any significant smoke damage clean up occurs.  

2. Home Remedy (Baking Soda)

One of the more natural methods for smoke damage clean up for getting rid of the smoke smell out of soft surfaces (drapes, furniture cushions, carpet flooring) is using baking soda. If you choose to use baking soda, we recommend starting with the carpeting of your home by sprinkling baking soda on your damaged carpets and massage the powder into the carpet with a broom. After an overnight soak vacuum the carpets the next day. The goal here is for the baking soda to neutralize the smoke damage smell. If the smell does not come out in the first round of this method, we recommend doing this over and over until it does. The baking soda treatment does not solely work on carpeting; you can do this method on all of your soft surfaces by following the same procedures. 

3. The power of vinegar 

Your home's washing machine can clean soft fabrics such as drapes, sheets, blankets, and damaged clothing. When cleaning these types of fabrics in your washing machine, we recommend using regular daily washing detergent with a cup of white vinegar. White vinegar is a deep, heavy-duty cleaner that can remove that unwanted smoke smell from any of your damaged fabrics. 

 For harder surfaces (like walls and countertops) affected by smoke damage, we recommend creating a solution to remove the smoke damage smell. The top-secret heavy-duty solution includes a quarter cup of white vinegar and a teaspoon of dish soap for every gallon of water. Once the solution has been all mixed up, place the solution in a spray bottle, and spray every hard solid surface in your house with it. For best practices, give the sprayed down surfaces time to sit and then wipe them with a clean cloth. 

4. Dish Soap 

For all items that are removable and hard like children's toys, light fixtures, and window screens, we recommend soaking these items using dish soap filled in a bathtub. Soak for as long as you need to remove the unwanted smell of smoke damage. 

5. Call you local Professionals.

We understand that we just gave you some home remedies to remove the unwanted smoke damage smell from the surfaces of your home. Keep in mind that smoke damage cleanup is not the most straightforward task to perform, especially when it is extensive. For any smoke damage clean up job, it is best to call the professionals at SERVPRO of East Dayton/ Beavercreek. We have all of the industrial cleaning equipment ready to give all of the surfaces and contents of your home a thorough cleaning. 

Don't Ignore the smoke damage smell in your home

The smoke and soot cleaning trained professionals here at SERVPRO are here to ease your tension after you have experienced fire damage. When we get that initial call, we will come and assess the damage and then create smoke damage clean up plan so that your house gets a thorough clean. Our fire restoration professionals make sure to remove all signs of soot and remove that unwanted smoke smell. We help residential and commercial customers in Dayton, Ohio, restore their affected property. Contact SERVPRO of East Dayton/Beavercreek at (937) 228-3433 for all home restoration needs and questions.

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