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Smoke Damage Cleaning Products – What to Use in Your Home

When it comes to smoke damage both soot and smoke odors need to be cleaned up to get rid of smoke damage. To understand why you need to know that “smoke damage” has both an olfactory and visual component – that is, you can smell it and see it. The soot that a burning fire leaves behind needs to be cleaned up as a part of smoke damage restoration, as is the smell that smoke leaves behind.

Now, when thinking about soot and smoke odor, cleaning up soot is much easier to do yourself than cleaning up the smell that lingers after a fire. Soot can be removed with a mild all-purpose home cleaner as well as special soot removal cleaner mixes. A simple dish soap and warm water combination may be enough to remove soot, or you may find that you need to use a mix of 4-6 Tablespoons of tri-sodium phosphate (TSP) + 1 cup of bleach for every gallon of warm distilled water. If you would rather not mix your own cleaner, some home improvement stores sell premixed soot cleaners by the jug either online or in-store.

However, smoke odor is much more difficult to handle yourself because it typically requires professional-grade equipment that is just not readily accessible to homeowners. Smoke damage cleanup is customized for each homeowner depending on what was damaged inside the home and the home itself. Simply opening all the windows and using fans to push air out won’t help get rid of smoke odors. That’s why a smoke remediation company will likely use odor eliminators and un-smoke products as well as a host of smoke removal methods like ozone treatments and hot thermal fog treating in your home to get to the source of the odors. But depending on what else needs to be addressed, they may also need to do things like document drying, artwork restoration, contents restoration, electronics cleaning, or ultrasonic cleaning.    

Additional resources:
Getting Rid of Home Fire Soot
Home Candle Smoke Dangers
How do you Recover after a Home Fire?
Who can do Home Fire Damage Clean Up?
Smoke and Fire Remediation Explained
Fire Damage Clean Up Companies
Advanced Fire Restoration Tips
Who Does Smoke Damage Clean Up?
Local Smoke Remediation Services
Cleaning Up Soot
How to Clean Up Smoke Damage