Accidents happen no matter how hard we try to avoid them, so a fire is something we can all be in danger from despite our best efforts. When a devastation of that sort happens to a home and it survives it we often need to take care of the horrible mess left behind. This means cleaning up the smoke damage on the concrete and brick walls of our home and more.

The following tips aim to give you some insight into what you can do to clean everything up to levels that would allow habitation again.

• Prepare some safety equipment, such as gloves and a face mask. You will need those to protect yourself from the dust and possibly worse that has remained after the fire.
• Begin cleaning carefully, but as soon as possible. Cleaning right away will help you remove the damage faster, as letting it sit will only make things more difficult in the end.
• Use proper ventilation around the home, either by opening every window you can or by using fans to circulate the air. Smoke can completely permeate any room, from the smallest to the biggest so you will find it easier to clean if the air is flowing.
• Remove any leftover perishables, such as food that may have suffered smoke exposure. Depending on how long they have stayed in the home they may have even started rotting, so their removal is a must.
• Buy a copper or brass-specific cleaner to clean up the damage from any items made of these metals.
• Use a vacuum cleaner to remove the soot from the fire, but make sure you have done so after a safe time has passed and any embers left from the fire are completely gone. Use the nozzle a few inches from the soot and carefully suck everything up without applying pressure as you will only rub the soot into the floor or surface itself.
• Disinfect and clean up the appliances thoroughly, as smoke can sneak inside them and cover their inner workings, preventing them from the safe operation. Open them up and clean up their insides as well.
• Make sure you change the air filter of your air conditioner if it has survived the fire, as the smoke would have made it caked with soot.
• Clean up the walls marked and discolored by soot and smoke. You can do that with some rubbing alcohol or paint thinner, though in all likelihood you will have to repaint the walls.
• Wash and deodorize all fabrics, linens, and any clothes that survived and were exposed to smoke. Much of the materials present around our homes can become toxic while exposed to high temperatures. They would have seeped into your clothes and fabrics so make sure you clean them the right way. You can dip them in a mixture of detergent and warm water for a whole night to eliminate the smell, then wash them completely.

After a fire or smoke-damaged property, you can be left with damaged items, a large amount of cleaning and repair work, and a lingering unpleasant odor.  You may need fire and smoke damage restoration services.  Certified technicians will assess your property, restore any damaged areas and remove residues, odors, dust, and other harmful particles to prevent allergies and further damage to your home.

About Vince Sandri

Vince Sandri is a content writer and blogger with more than 12 years of experience. His expertise is in creating content related to disaster restoration, including information about preventing and reacting to natural disasters like flooding, water damage, fire and smoke damage, mold growth, storm damage and more.
Vince has been the main contributor to RestorationMasterFinder.com since 2014. Over that time, he has written numerous service pages and blogs for disaster restoration providers featured on RestorationMasterFinder.com. Vince has done extensive research and covered a wide range of topics relating to disaster restoration to help homeowners, business owners, and property managers better protect their property. He understands the problems that disasters like flooding, fire, smoke, and mold can cause as well as the best ways to respond to these issues to limit the damage.
Vince completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at Aurora University and his master’s degree at DePaul University. He has been writing SEO website pages, blogs, and press releases since 2012. Vince is also a musician and can be seen playing in the Chicago, IL area.