kathleen phegley

We had a fire and found out that white vinega.r and water work real good to remove smoke smell. also washed clothes,drapes by putting vinegar in the wash

jbj137

When my houe caught fire on 1993 the cleaning company
had some kind of spray (don't know what) but they sprayed it in the vents.

At times (especially when it rains for a long time)
you will get a faint smoke smell forever.
J J

whatever

I was told by a mechanic that would get cars were people had passed away and not found for a few days that they would put a few open bags of charcoal in there and let it sit a few days and that would work.

quiltmagnet

If you have insurance they will send cleaning people out and they will clean your drapes,walls etc. When we had an electrical fire I remember my husband rushing home and he reversed the window fan to pull out of the house and it took all that smoke out. We have A/C now.

jquilt214

Insurance company should arrange a company to come in and clean and take care of everything. That is why you carry insurance. Be sure to document everything they do and ANYTHING they remove and take out to clean. This is not something you want do yourself unless you are forced to. Insurance should cover it or the biggest part of it. Good luck.

katier825

I know they WILL come out and clean, it's figured into the adjuster's estimate...I was just looking for ways to save a bit because the policy is NOT for replacement value, it's for cash value minus depreciation and deductible...we will probably have to come up with some of our own money to do the more critical repairs. This will be tough because we won't be collecting any rent until it's fixed. Maybe I just feel like I should be doing something physical since I don't have any money to send them...I feel terrible that the kids (my son & his family) are basically homeless now.

carla m

my mil had a fire several years ago we did alot of the cleaning ourselves clothes and linens we washed with gain detergent and a cup of white vinigar. we pried the cds out of a melted plastic stereo all 100 of them and washed them in dawn dish soap so be careful what you throw away febreeze
is awesome too. we saved alot of stuff the ins co wrote off there saving her a bundle in replacement cost.
carla

ScrappyAZ

We had a fire in our home a few years ago. Our insurance agent was a tremendous help. He arranged for a fire restoration company to come to our home. The fire was four days before Christmas, and we were expecting out of state guests. We had to totally trust the company to make our home inhabitable in three days.

First, they brought in an ozone machine that sucked in all the smoke. We had smoke damage in every single room in the house. After the ozone machine did its job, the restoration company brought in ten people to hand clean the walls (they used an amazing dry sponge), windows, ceiling fans, baseboards, eating utensils, plates, bowls, etc. They explained using the dish washer is a bad idea because heat would further set the smoke smell into the plates, bowls and glassware. The supervisor also recognized that my quilts were special and had them professionally cleaned by a company that specializes in tapastries and quilts. It was a challenge trying to get our house ready for company without continuously bumping into the ten cleaning people, but they knew we were working with a deadline, and they worked hard to get the job done in spectacular fashion.

Having a house fire is never fun, but I hope you have the same wonderful experience as we did with the professionals who took care of our home.

Shocked Quilter

My house was skunked,,,really no joke...3 years ago. The insurance overed about $14,000. in the clean up. The skunk go into the trunk line of the A/C unit and panicked when the heat came on. NO words can tell you how bad it was. We were out of the house for almost 3 months. They ran a clean air machine for 2 weeks,,, snd all clothing, bedding, etc, was hung up inside. Hotels use the small version to get air hotel runs where smokers have stayed. I had to throw away food that was in boxes,, plastic containers, etc. I can not recall the name of the air cleaning machine, but call ServePro, or a company like that and they can tell you.. sorry about you loss. There were 4 houses skunked in our county that year. I had never heard of it before,,but believe me,,I know now.. You need "All Perils" on your home owners policy to cover the total cost of clean up.

be a quilter

You might try using a small crock pot with baking soda and water. If you have use of the electric that is. It helps to absorb smells.