Looking to learn how to get rid of smoke odors in your house after a fire? You’re in the right place. A fire can be devastating, leaving physical damage and a lingering smoke smell that serves as an unwanted reminder.
This comprehensive guide walks you through targeted cleaning solutions to eliminate smoke particles and odors. Let’s dive in and make your home smell fresh again.
Why Does the Smoke Smell Linger?
Smoke odor from a fire can be particularly tenacious, clinging to various surfaces in your home. This persistence is due to several factors linked to the nature of smoke and its interaction with materials:
- Variety of Burned Materials: The difficulty in eliminating the smoke smell depends on what was burned. For instance, burning plastics can produce a more stubborn odor. Common household items like area rugs, furniture, and drapes readily absorb smoke particles, making them susceptible to lingering odors.
- Particle Size and Penetration: Smoke is composed of tiny particles, some extremely fine. These particles can easily penetrate porous materials and adhere to surfaces at a microscopic level, creating a challenge in odor removal.
- Complex Chemical Composition: Smoke is a mix of various gases and solid particles, many of which are volatile and odorous. These complex compounds can be absorbed by porous surfaces and trapped, making the smell persistent.
- Influence of Temperature and Humidity: The behavior of smoke odor is influenced by temperature and humidity. Higher humidity levels can intensify the smoke smell, as moisture interacts with the smoke particles, causing them to adhere more firmly to surfaces.
- Porosity of Materials: The more porous a material, the more likely it is to absorb smoke particles. Fabrics, upholstery, carpeting, and wood are prone to trapping smoke particles within their fibers and structure, allowing the odor to penetrate deeply.
Preparation for Damage Assessment
Before assessing fire damage in your home, it’s crucial to prioritize safety. Equip yourself with appropriate protective gear:
- Personal Safety Equipment: Before entering the property, always wear a mask and goggles specifically designed to protect against fire-damaged residues.
- Protective Clothing: If possible, wear long-sleeved clothing. This minimizes direct skin contact with smoke particles, which can be harmful.
Read more: Is the smell of smoke after a fire harmful?
Assess the Damage
Fire damage can vary greatly, so approach the assessment process without preconceived notions:
- Mental preparation: It’s important to remain calm and objective. Removing smoke odor can be challenging, so being in the right mindset is essential.
- Initial Questions: Before delving into odor removal steps, consider the following:
- Duration of the fire.
- Extent of damage to your home.
- Type of paint on your walls (e.g., latex).
- Types of materials burned (wood, plastic, upholstery, etc.).
- Thorough Inspection: Conduct a detailed walk-through of your home. Note the severity of smoke damage in different areas, such as larger vs. smaller rooms. Check your HVAC system, furnace filters, window screens, and air filters for soot or ash. Keep a pen and paper handy to record observations, which will help devise a comprehensive cleaning plan to tackle the smoke odors effectively.
Basic Clean Up
After analyzing your place and deciding to clean up yourself, you’re probably wondering how to start. The tips below are a great way to begin, but you might need to take additional steps or research smoke odors.
Before starting, you’ll want to ensure you have the right cleaning products. Though scented candles might seem easy, the smoke smell won’t go away. You’ll want baking soda, white vinegar, dish soap, and warm water. You’ll also want rags, vacuums, and trash bags on hand to get rid of things.
Step 1: Remove Household Items
Before beginning the clean-up process, you’ll want to remove as many household items as possible. Whatever smells like fire smoke should be moved outside. Separate your belongings into two categories: salvageable and destroyed. Be honest; if cleaning the smoke odors is a hassle, put it in the damaged pile.
Carpets, wallpaper, building materials, and insulation can’t be recovered. Furniture, clothing, and linens can be cleaned offsite and removed immediately to remove the smoke smell. Leave the objects out in the fresh air to help lift the stink. The fewer objects with smoke particles left in your space, the easier your odor removal will be.
Step 2: Open All Your Windows and Doors
The fresher air you let into your space, the more smoke particles will be pushed out. If you can, open your windows and doors wide. Ensure the weather is neither too hot nor too cold since bad weather can make the smoke smell worse.
Use fans to keep fresh air flowing through your home, or open all the windows while cleaning. Make yourself a ventilation system by setting up an exhaust fan at your front door. Face the fan towards your interior to suck as much outdoor air into your space as possible. Ozone generators are also an exceptionally manageable way to clean the smoke odors from your home. You want to prioritize keeping your space’s air quality high to eliminate smoke odors.
Step 4: Consider Your Options
Once your furniture and any items with a lingering smoke odor are off the property and you have a ventilation system in place, the cleaning can commence. We’ve listed four courses of action available for you. Decide which works best for you, or if none of them seem applicable, feel free to do further research.
DIY Cleaning
If you are ready to remove the smoke smell from your property, you’ll want to ensure you have the right tools. Before anything else, sprinkle baking soda on all the surfaces you will clean. The powder helps to lift smoke smells and any residue. Afterward, rub white vinegar and warm water on the surfaces slowly. After a couple of minutes, the stain and odor should clear. Alternatively, you can utilize dish soap to remove stains.
Dry Cleaning
Dry cleaning is a cheap alternative to hand washing all your clothing and smaller items. However, your local dry cleaner cannot restore larger furniture items. Also, be prepared to wait for the company to complete your smoke odor removal order.
House Tent Fumigation
Though house tents are generally used to eliminate insects, they can also clear fire smoke residue. In this scenario, you’ll want to combine your tent with an ozone generator to eliminate the odor from items that can’t be taken to the dry cleaners.
For this method, renting a machine will cost you less than purchasing the product for one-time use.
Thermal Fogging Machine
A thermal fogging machine uses pressurized air to disperse deodorant droplets throughout your home and remove the smoke smell. If you want to utilize this machinery, consider calling a professional.
Read more: Does insurance cover smoke damage?
Don’t Wait, Call an Expert
You don’t need to live with the lingering smoke smell that reminds you of a past tragedy. Call the team at All Dry USA today to schedule an appointment and reclaim your home. The company works directly with your schedule to ensure all smoke smells disappear.