Here are some tips on how to deal with cleaning up smoke damage in your home.
- Evaluate the Damage. When dealing with smoke damage, you should first look and see how severe the damage is. After assessing the damage, you can determine how much you can fix on your own, and how much you may need a professional to help with.
- Get the right supplies. After assessing the damage within your home, it is important to gather supplies that will help you clean the smoke damage away. Some supplies could include safety goggles, gloves, towels/cloth to wipe down and polish, vacuum, sponge, TSP solution.
- Protect any unharmed surrounding areas. Before you begin to clean the smoke damage, make sure to cover any surrounding area with a drop cloth to make sure that you don’t spread the damage around.
- Start cleaning. To remove smoke damage from furniture, you will need to wipe everything down with soap solution and warm water. You may need other cleaners for specific types of furniture. For walls, you should first give the affected walls a wipe down. then give the walls a more thorough cleaning with TSP solution- one tablespoon of TSP per one gallon of warm water. Wallpaper may have to be repapered, and painted walls should get a fresh coat of paint after cleaning.
- Hire a professional. For any heavy smoke damage, or if you are simply unsure if you have properly cleaned away all of the damage, call a professional to ensure that it is properly taken care of.
