A house fire is one of the worst things that can happen to a household. Unfortunately, they are not uncommon and once in a while, for one reason or another, properties can suffer one. The reason why fires are so bad is that they can quickly destroy a large amount of the structural materials in the household in an irreversible way, but also cause other issues such as water damage, soot pollution, and unhealthy smoke levels.
Smoke odour can linger in the household long after the fire has been extinguished. Even if the fire was small and contained and did not cause any serious damage to your property altogether, the smoke will certainly affect the quality of the air and may even pose health hazards to the inhabitants. In fact, smoke can affect your house even if the fire was in the wild and just happened to be nearby.
There are a few different methods that you can use to get rid of the smoke odour in your house. Whether they are going to be effective, depends on a few factors. Those would be:
- The size of the fire – A large fire will obviously produce a lot more smoke than a smaller, more contained one.
- The length of exposure – The longer the fire has been going on, the deeper the smoke embedded into the household materials.
- The type of materials that burned – Different materials burn differently and produce a variety of smoke when it comes to colour, smell, and even the amount of it.
Here is what you can do to reduce the effects of the smoke inside your house.
Air out the whole place. This should always be the first step you take. Open all windows and remove the screens to improve airflow. You can place fans throughout the house to help the process. Make sure you place them in places where they will be able to ‘’push’’ the smoke and bad odour out of the house. Here is how to do this in the best, most effective way:
- Open your front door and place a large fan right in front of it. Make sure the fan is facing the inside of the property.
- Keep all other windows and doors closed and open one door or window on the opposite side of the house. It will act as an exhaust.
- Turn the fan on high and let it work for about 15-20 minutes. That way, air will be forced into the house and will thoroughly air out all areas.
- Close the window/door and open another one in a different room or area of the house.
Deep clean your whole house.
Airing the property out will help remove a large amount of the smell but in order to properly get rid of it, you should clean everything in your place.
- Remove all curtains, bed covers, cushions, duvets, blankets, and any other fabrics that are in the affected area. Wash all of them and keep them outside until all smoke odours have been removed from the house. Otherwise, they may begin smoking again.
- Wash all windows, window sills and frames. Make sure you shine your windows and restore their transparency. You should also pay a lot of attention to your windows wills and blinds – most smoke will build up there, and they can, in fact, hold a lot of smell. Use a solution of white vinegar and hot water to scrub plastic blinds and a wooden cleaner for wooden blinds. Take the window screens down, place them in a tub and thoroughly wash them as well. Rinse them with cool water.
- Clean all hard surfaces with a solution of water, vinegar, and dish soap. Use this to thoroughly clean walls, ceilings, floors, countertops, baseboards, cabinets, and pretty much any open surface found in your house.
- Deep clean carpets and upholstery. For larger pieces of upholstery or wall-to-wall carpets, use baking soda. Sprinkle it thoroughly and let it sit for a few hours. It will absorb the bad smells. For more effective results, turn to a professional steam cleaning company.
- Clean the HVAC system – Smoke can penetrate into the ventilation system and get stuck in your air vents and filters. Even if your house is cleaned and free of smoke odour, the air coming from it will still smell of fire. Make sure you open, dust, and wash all filters. Replace the filters that can’t be washed.
If the smoke smell remains in your house you may need to repaint your walls to completely get rid of it. First, wash the walls with products that contain ammonia or glycol. Both are very effective in neutralising smells. When you are done cleaning the walls, rinse and dry them. Apply a primer that is designed to lock smells in. Use latex paint to finish the job.