Smoke Odor Elimination – Manchester, NH

When your smoker friends invade your home with the offensive smell of cigarette smoke, it can clings to your drapes, carpets and furnishings like pits to a peach. After the socializing is over, the smell still remains. Smoke odor elimination can be done at a small level on your own. Here are a few things you can do to clean the air. Ventilate your home, weather permitting; open doors and windows. Leaving a bowl of white vinegar in each affected room can help, as can boiling orange or lemon peels.

What causes smoke odor damage?

Cigarette smoke isn’t the only cause of nasty clingy, smoke odor. If you’ve dealt with a recent fire, whether from a small pan fire, faulty electrical wiring or being in the path of a forest fire, you’re home can be overrun by choking smoke odor. Even if you had a fire in one room, let’s say your kitchen (many fires begin here), the smell isn’t restricted to this room. Smoke travels, especially if a forced air furnace or air conditioner is running.

Do-it-yourself smoke odor removal

Smoke odor elimination can be a DIY project if the odors are not that persistent and there are no accompanying issues present such as soot or water damage. Most fire, water and smoke damage situations should be left to disaster restoration professionals. However, if you wish to go the DIY route there are a few potentially helpful tips to try.
To deodorize carpets, sprinkle with baking soda and vacuum after it has set for 24 hours. Upholstered furniture can be sprinkled with baking soda as well and left overnight outdoors and vacuumed with a soft brush attachment. Curtains, drapes, beddings and clothing can be laundered with your normal detergent. Adding a cup of vinegar to the rinse cycle can help remove smoke odor. Make sure to read and follow all the manufacturer’s instructions before cleaning and deodorizing.
To clean hard-surface floors and walls, add ¼ cup of household ammonia to a bucket of water and use a cloth or sponge to gently wash the affected areas. You can also mix ½ cup of baking soda to a bucket of warm water to clean appliances, countertops, cabinets and other nonporous surfaces with a sponge. The bottom line when it comes to smoke odor elimination is that is can be a lot of work. Not all DIY attempts will be completely successful so that is why professional smoke odor cleaning companies exist.

Calling disaster cleanup and restoration professionals

Damage caused by flames and heat are not the only issue in a fire. Acidic soot can cause serious, ongoing damage to a home. It can form a thick layer that is exceptionally difficult to remove and may permanently damage textiles, furnishings, carpeting, walls, appliances, and fixtures. While there are some things you can do on your own to get rid of smoke odor, it’s always best to call a professional to make sure all surfaces are completely clean and the odor is permanently removed.

Smoke odor elimination in Manchester, NH

There’s only so much you can do as a homeowner in the area of eliminating smoke odor yourself. The rest should be left to the professionals. Soil-Away Cleaning and Restoration is the ideal company to call. IICRC certified technicians will clean and deodorize all affected areas resulting in either neutralized or removed noxious smoke odors. Their restoration technicians will thoroughly deodorize the entire property including areas in which smoke can pass through walls and tight spaces. In these instances Soil-Away will use a thermal fogger which can neutralize smoke particles and their odors. They have the know-how as well as the right equipment to rid your home of smoke odors. Call Soil-Away at (603) 641-6555.
Written by E. Aceves