Can I Restore My Fire-Damaged Possessions?

4/14/2022 (Permalink)

Learn more about restoring burned items by following our tips.

You may feel that all is lost after sustaining a fire at your commercial building in Sandy, UT. Experiencing such a detrimental disaster can leave you with little to no hope. In fact, you will probably be questioning the future of your business.

Fortunately, all is not lost; fire damage restoration professionals can often rescue, clean and restore contents you never imagined could've survived the harsh effects of the flames, soot and smoke. This is because these specialists have the industrial equipment, high-tech cleaning strategies, such as dry-cleaning, in addition to years of expertise to accomplish the job successfully.

How Are Fire-Damaged Contents Cleaned?

Many of your affected belongings can probably be restored, possibly even to their pre-fire condition. Content cleaning specialists have the expertise and equipment to salvage various types of items that have been damaged by fire, smoke, and soot. Here are the typical steps:

1. Inventorying and Packing Them

After the flames have been extinguished, restoration specialists will begin by performing the pack out process. This procedure starts with the technicians working with you to sort all of your salvageable contents from the unsalvageable. Then, the professionals inventory each item as they carefully load them into boxes to be transported for cleaning and storage.

Virtually any building contents can be included in a pack out. During a pack out, you will often see items including but not limited to:

• Rugs
• Linens
• Curtains
• Home decor
• Books
• Photographs
• Children's toys
• Clothing
• Shoes

Even certain electronics can be sent for special cleaning. They are particularly susceptible to smoke and soot.

2. Transferring Them to a Facility for Cleaning

Once the pack out is complete, the contents are transferred to a cleaning facility. This facility has technicians with the expertise to know the best methods for restoring your possessions. They use state-of-the-art equipment designed especially for cleaning and restoring various kinds of articles.

3. Cleaning and Restoring Them Using Various Techniques

The specialists know the best methods to bring your belongings back to life. They do everything possible to return the property to its pre-fire condition. These restoration strategies include:

• Dry-cleaning (for clothing and other textiles)
• Vacuum-freeze drying (a type of document drying)
• Deodorization (including the use of activated charcoal and Archival MicroChamber paper for documents and other paper materials)
• Ultrasonic cleaning (for non-porous items)
• Sanitization (including gamma irradiation for paper-based materials)

4. Storing Them in a Climate-Controlled Area

After your belongings are cleaned, they are safely placed and stored in a temperature- and humidity-controlled location. They will remain safe in content storage until you are ready to move them back into your commercial building.

5. Returning Them to You

When your commercial property is finally restored, your clean contents will be returned to you as safely as they were packed up and moved initially. Only now, they will be in much better condition since a thorough content cleaning has been conducted.

Every day, technology is making it increasingly possible to salvage damaged contents. Hopefully, you will never have to experience the devastation of a fire. However, if you do, knowing that restoration methods like dry-cleaning and deodorization exist can offer some peace of mind.