How Can I Remove Thick and Sticky Soot from My San Antonio Home Without Damaging Surfaces?

5/26/2020 (Permalink)

Soot is hard to remove. Fortunately, SERVPRO has the experience and equipment to restore your property today!

SERVPRO Relies on Research-Based Techniques, Testing, and Proprietary Cleaning Products to Clean Fire Damage from San Antonio Homes

If you are usually a “can-do” kind of homeowner, you might find it hard to take a step back when fire residues soil your home. Despite your eagerness and work ethic, cleaning up the soot drifted throughout and adhered to your home’s surfaces is not instinctive. The tools and cleaners used for ordinary dirt and grime can make fire residue recovery harder by smearing, setting, and grinding the soot into surfaces.

How Do Professional Fire Damage Restorers Approach Soot Cleanup?

Our Fire and Smoke Restoration Technicians (FSRT) use the principles and elements of cleaning to assess your San Antonio fire damage scene, design an effective plan for mitigation and remediation, and implement it. 

What Are the Principles of Cleaning?

Steps SERVPRO restorers take to rid surfaces of fire damage residues:

• Locate the residues
• Inspect and evaluate the characteristics and durability of the affected surface
• Release and remove residues
• Contain and dispose of the residues

What Are the Elements of Cleaning?

Variables restorers manipulate to isolate, loosen, and contain the residues:

Chemical actions, including:

• Dissolving
• Emulsifying
• Bleaching
• Oxidizing
• Altering pH
• Digesting

Temperature--heat increases the speed of the desired chemical action but cannot be so high as to damage further the surface affected. 

Agitation--dislodges residues and distributes cleaners through movement, including:

• Rubbing
• Brushing
• Water and air pressure
• Sonic vibrations

Time-- also known as “dwell time,” or the period a product is in contact with residues to loosen the surface bond

How Do Professionals Balance the Principles and Elements of Cleaning?

Relying on mastery of the Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification (IICRC) training and on-the-job experience, our managers and technicians mindfully choose products, tools, and techniques. The goal is to remove the fire residue and maintain the integrity of the soiled surfaces. We achieve a balance by pretesting planned interventions in inconspicuous places and continually adapting and adjusting the cleaning process.    

Rely on the experts at SERVPRO of Braun Station to craft an individualized and effective response to a wide range of fire damage cleaning scenarios. Call (210) 267-2159 to schedule an assessment.

More about San Antonio.