Removing soot from household textiles

3/1/2021 (Permalink)

Before carpets, draperies, upholstered furniture and clothing can be deodorized or cleaned, the soot must be removed. Because soot is oily, it easily stains items. This is why upholstered furniture, curtains, and other textile items should not be touched after a fire. If a professional fire restorer is hired, they will remove soot with a heavy duty vacuum.

If you don't plan to hire a professional fire restorer, some of the soot can be removed by holding a vacuum cleaner nozzle slightly off the surface of an item to be cleaned. It is best not to use vacuum cleaner attachments with brushes or upright vacuums because the brushes tend to force soot into carpets, upholstered furniture and curtains. Cover carpets with plastic after removing the soot. The plastic will prevent workmen, inspectors and visitors from grinding dirt into the carpet. After the soot removal, the smoke odor will need to be removed.

 https://extension.missouri.edu/publications/gh145

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