The aftermath of a house fire can seem overwhelming at first. If the fire does not destroy your home, it may seem like the smoke will. Soot stains are carb residue that remains after the fire. It’s challenging to remove and can leave odors in your home after a fire. If you are figuring out how to clean soot off walls, rest assured that you can effectively restore your living space. At Steamatic Kansas City, we recognize the stress and anxiety that may follow a fire incident. For homeowners, understanding how to clean walls after a fire requires attention to safety, thorough preparation, and comprehensive cleaning procedures to ensure the entire situation is managed efficiently.
Start First with Safety
Before diving into the cleaning and restoration process, it is crucial to prioritize safety.
After a fire, several potential dangers exist, and neglecting safety precautions can lead to serious health risks or further damage. Soot from a fire may contain sharp or dangerous debris, and structural damage is always a concern as surfaces may continue to corrode.
A variety of personal safety gear is necessary: rubber gloves, safety glasses, dry sponges, and crop cloths, to name a few. Appropriate ventilation and face masks are also crucial because there is a risk of inhaling harmful particles. So once you’ve gotten the clearance from professionals to enter your home again and you have the appropriate materials, it’s time to start the process.
Clearing and Preparing the Area
If portions of your house are unaffected by the fire or smoke damage, properly sealing them off will prevent soot from entering other rooms. Then, if some personal items and valuables survived the fire, it’s best to move them away from damaged areas. Clearing any debris would be the next step. Sometimes, you can do this by yourself, but it’s easier to go with professionals for the best results.
Our team is certified in fire restoration and prepared to support you during this process – our detailed content restoration allows us to inventory and protect your possessions throughout the process to reduce stress.
Once you’ve been able to move what you can, it should be safe to put on your safety gear and get started.
Cleaning the Walls
Soot stains can be tough to get rid of after a fire. With rubber gloves, you can often start the process using a dry sponge, also known as a chemical sponge. With the dry sponge, it’s best to begin wiping the walls from top to bottom, overlapping strokes until the sponge is used. The difficulty is in the type of walls you may have.
If your walls are plaster, water, and water-based solutions are avoided as they could cause the soot to take hold permanently.
Our team, thankfully, knows the best cleaning methods for removing soot from walls after a fire.
For drywall, the safest option is to use a bucket with water and enough dish soap until the water is bubbly to clean off the soot.
Keep in mind, however, for drywall, this is still to be done after you’ve been able to dry sponge off all the soot.
If you’ve put in enough elbow grease and the soot still isn’t budging, we can help!
Steamatic Kansas City Has the Help You Need after a Fire
After a household fire, cleaning the smoke and soot left behind is just one step in fire restoration. It is a detailed process that requires extensive knowledge and expertise to ensure the process is done safely and thoroughly to prevent further property damage and avoid potential health risks. Your and your family’s safety is important; we take your cleaning and recovery seriously.
Steamatic Kansas City is available 24/7 to assist with your restoration needs. Working with experienced professionals after an unexpected disaster is the safest and quickest way to begin recovery and regain control of your life. For 75 years, the Steamatic story has been to provide innovative, superior cleaning and restoration services. Contact us immediately to learn more about our fire and smoke damage restoration process! We are here to protect your home and your peace of mind. Reach out today to get started!
Image Source: GirtsPa / Shutterstock
