How and how to wash off soot and soot after a fire in an apartment, wet and dry cleaning
In what life situations a person does not fall. After a fire in the apartment, everything is covered with soot, soot. There is a burning smell, it is even difficult to breathe. Similar situations occur in private homes, where the room is filled with smoke due to a faulty stove or chimney. A problem arises as to how and how to wash off the soot so that the walls and furniture in the house become clean.
Coaching
It is necessary to start cleaning the apartment even after a minor fire with preparatory measures. It is better to prepare everything in advance for successful washing. At the same time, they take into account the rooms in which the surfaces need to be cleaned, the material from which they are made.The amount of soot and its quality play a role. It is necessary to clean everything so that soot particles do not eat away at the walls and furniture.
The degree of pollution of the apartment
The quality of soot cleaning in an apartment depends on the degree of its deposition on the surface. If everything is covered with a thick layer of soot, the furniture will need to be cleaned by a professional. Some objects will have to be discarded. After all, they will give off a smell in the apartment for a long time, which is difficult to eliminate.
get out of things
Before cleaning, they take everything out, completely emptying the rooms. This makes it easier to deal with basic dirt. If there is a possibility and the weather conditions allow it, then they take objects, things out into the open. In winter, you can go to the balcony or the loggia, in the basement.
Removal of curtains, drywall, carpets, baseboards
A room free of furniture is freed from those things that cannot be washed immediately:
- If the window curtains are only dusty, they can be washed thoroughly in an automatic machine. Covered with a thick layer of soot can no longer be cleaned. You should say goodbye to them.
- Walls, plasterboard products are dry cleaned. But the vapors eat them away deeply, so it is better to replace these parts of the interior with new ones.
- Carpets strongly absorb odors and soot particles, so they must be removed. It is worth giving them to the dry cleaners.
- The question of whether to tear off the baseboards should not arise. To prevent soot from remaining inside, they are removed. It is better to replace them with others over time. The plastic can be washed and put back after cleaning.
All work is carried out with a mask, glasses, gloves.Doors and windows must be open.
Aeration
It's hard to work in an apartment with a lingering burning smell. Therefore, it is necessary to leave it for a day or two with the windows open. Non-aggressive air freshening fluids can also be used.
Inventory
For cleaning you will need tools to use them to remove most of the dirt.... You must have, in addition to the usual containers, brushes, a vacuum cleaner. After all, they start with the dry cleaning of the layers of soot.
bowl, bucket
The container is chosen for washing in such a way that it is convenient to hold it in your hand when washing ceilings or windows. You need a bucket for the walls.
A vacuum
The vacuum cleaners pass along the ceilings and walls as soon as the cleaning begins. It should be plain, no detergent. The brushes are resistant, so that the dust is well cleaned from the surfaces.
rags
For washing you need soft cloths that absorb moisture well. They will need to be changed several times as they become dirty. Therefore, it is worth buying a special cleaning cloth in the store.
Broom
They sweep small dirt with a broom, sweep the floor. After the procedure, it is washed off, dried and continued to work.
Scoop
It is advisable not to sweep the soot from the walls onto the floor, otherwise the resulting layers will be difficult to remove. Therefore, a large spoon is needed. Then they sweep the floor dry, immediately removing the soot.
Hard bristle brush
After superficially sweeping the combustion area, the surfaces should be cleaned with a dry brush. Effort should be made to wipe off stubborn dirt.It is necessary to perform with a brush with sharp strokes from top to bottom.
Brushes and spatula
Layers of soot should be removed with a spatula. The removal of deep dirt with the tool is successful. Then the small particles are swept away with a brush.
Roller, tray for him
A sponge roller impregnated with special dry cleaning products is available at your hardware store. It comes with a soot collection tray.
Cleaning algorithm
Once the inventory is ready, put on a work coat or overalls. Hair is tucked under a scarf or hat. They use a mask and goggles, and rubber gloves on their hands.
Garbage disposal
All things should be taken out at the time of general cleaning. No need to leave curtain rods or plastic baseboards damaged by fire. The same applies to a partially damaged stretch ceiling. It will need to be torn off and removed. Tear up damaged linoleum or tiles from the floor. All things, carpets, upholstered furniture are given for cleaning to professionals.
Dry cleaning of premises
You need to start cleaning with a dry method. If the floor is in a normal state, then it is covered with a sheet of paper or film. Secure the edges of the blanket with masking tape. First, they clean the ceiling and the walls with a vacuum cleaner. Then remove the remnants of wallpaper with a spatula. From top to bottom, it is carried out vigorously with a hard brush. We must try not to rub the soot into the structure of the surfaces. For cleaning, you can use rollers with sponges soaked in special solutions.
With a broom, they sweep all the soot from the floor with construction debris, scraps of wallpaper.
spring cleaning
The main part of the cleaning, the most laborious, consists in removing the soot from the ceiling and the walls. Here you will need to use a large amount of lukewarm water with a cloth. The rags and water will need to be changed constantly as they get dirty. It is necessary to carry out the work slowly, thoroughly, so that the wall after washing looks clean, without soot. Water alone is not enough here: you will need special detergents.
Do-it-yourself washing liquids
Folk remedies are used to clean the walls of soot. They can be found in any housewife. But they use them according to the rules in order to achieve a positive result from cleaning.
Sodium carbonate solution
Soda ash is poured into hot water. For 0.5 liters, 2 tablespoons of the product are enough. Dampen a cloth or brush and move it along the walls with sweeping motions. You can not rub the soot on the surface, otherwise it will be difficult to wipe it off later.
Dish detergent solution
Soap solutions are prepared from warm water with the addition of dishwashing liquid. In 5-7 liters you need to dissolve 1 tablespoon of concentrate. First they wash the ceilings, then the walls and the floor with a rag. But in the end you need to dip the brushes in the solution and rinse.
Toilet bowl cleaning solution
It is necessary to choose alkaline compounds, since the soot in the room becomes greasy to the touch and is difficult to process. If you use "Domestos", it will not only clean contaminated surfaces, but also disinfect them, eliminate the unpleasant odor.
Professional formulas
If it is not possible to invite employees of cleaning companies to restore order in the dwelling after a fire, smoke, you can try to return the apartment to normal with chemicals specials. They are produced to remove traces of soot, soot on various surfaces.
"Bitumaz"
The product contains 30% alkali, therefore safety precautions should be observed when using it. Before use, dissolve 10-100 ml of concentrate in 1 liter of water. Apply to soot-contaminated surfaces using a brush or sprayer. After keeping the solution for several minutes, rinse with clean water.
Mazbit+
Reinforced concentrate with alkalis, organic detergents, suitable for removing soot from the walls of rooms, stoves. The product is odorless, so it can be used indoors. It is applied by roller or brush. After 20-30 minutes, rinse or clean with a hand tool.
Facade cleaner n°2
Indispensable assistant in cleaning parts from soot, combustion is a concentrated alkaline solution. For use, a dilution of 5 to 25% in water is required. On heavily contaminated surfaces, apply the concentrate without dilution. Keep it for 5-7 minutes, then rinse it several times with clean water until the soot disappears completely.
BZH-20
The foamy concentrate will help in the general cleaning of the premises, smoked from defective stoves, after a fire. Dilute the cleaning fluid with lukewarm water 20-40 times if working by hand. On walls and ceilings, keep for 3-5 minutes until completely washed off. Can be reused as a cleaning concentrate. Then the solution should not exceed 2% concentration.
"Clean-deso"
The universal cleaner has a slightly alkaline composition. Liquid in water dissolves well.The effectiveness lies in the fact that the concentrate cleans all types of surfaces with high quality. Enough 25-500ml per bucket of water. You can use the product at the end of the general cleaning to clean the walls. After that, the smell disappears, the room is disinfected.
How to purify the air
In a smoky apartment, the house smells of burning for a long time. After cleaning, you need to try to get rid of it.
Special means for combating odors after a fire
You can eliminate the smell after smoke, fire by different means:
- Put a pot of water on the fire, pour vinegar into it. For 3 liters of water, you need 1 liter of acid. After boiling, leave a small fire and keep the container for 2 hours.
- Whole coffee beans or ground powder are scattered on saucers and left in the rooms of the apartment for a day.
- Pieces of lemon and orange are thrown into the water and boiled for 10-15 minutes. You can light the dry rind of any citrus fruit.
- Boiling the cloves will also remove the smell.
- A salt solution (10 tablespoons per liter of water) is left inside overnight.
- Fresh herbs of sage, mint, wormwood, fir spruce branches, pine are laid out on paper. As the herbs dry out, the strong burning smell will be replaced by a pleasant aroma.
You can safely choose any method. If the cleaning is carried out correctly, the fire will have no consequences over time.
Using the ozonator
The fumes are altered with the help of a special device that treats the premises with gaseous ozone. Rooms are cleaned within 3-10 hours.Before the procedure, house flowers are removed, pets are removed. It is best to turn on the device after wet cleaning. It is strictly forbidden to stay indoors during the operation of the ozonator. A large amount of ozone will cause disturbances in the functioning of the human respiratory system.
Features of washing various surfaces
In the same house there are coatings of different materials. Therefore, you need to know how the soot is washed off from each of them, in what way.
Laminate and plastic
You can remove soot from floors and furniture using solvents. They easily remove soot from laminate flooring. And plastic coatings are wiped with a rag soaked in kerosene. It also cleans up well with industrial alcohol.
Plastic
Window frames are cleaned with glass cleaner. It cleans the material well with soda slurry or Pemoxol products.
Glass
The blades are cleaned with crumpled paper. Then rinse with window cleaning fluids. It is necessary to carry out the operation several times, changing the cloths.
Wood and metal
Soot strongly eats away at wooden coatings. You will need to remove the top layers with sandpaper or a grinder. Both river sand and brick chips are suitable. But polished and varnished surfaces cannot be cleaned in this way.
Metallic coatings will easily wipe off soot if brushed with soapy water and baking soda.
Water color
Ceilings and walls are cleaned with an industrial alcohol solution. If the soot is covered with a thick layer, it is better to remove the top layer of paint. The whitewash can be washed off with lukewarm water and the walls can be renovated.
Brick
Bricks are washed from burning with soapy water. If the soot layer is strong, wipe it with vinegar, having previously moistened with water. Then it is carried out with a brush on the masonry.
General recommendations
It is possible to avoid the occurrence of burns in rooms with a fireplace or stove, provided that the rules for the use of heating installations are observed. It is important to clean the chimneys in time. To do this, burn the soot with aspen wood, potato peelings or salt. You can also buy special products for cleaning pipes from soot.
To wash soot from surfaces, use ammonia. It is added to water during wet cleaning. Ammonia, as well as soda added to the water, will eliminate the pungent smell of smoke and burning. At the end of washing the apartment, you need to use a sealant. It is applied to the walls, then priming them. Do not forget that they begin to free the house from soot, soot with dry cleaning, then with the help of wet cleaning.