Fire damage to my house. Smell of smoke is everywhere.?

Question

Hi i put some peas on the hob and they burnt out as i fell asleep. The fire brigade were called. As a consequence my flat now stinks of smoke. I cant seem to get rid of the smell. I am trying febreeze but it is doing little. I have tried leaving vinegar. Again little.

I cant really afford to get a professional cleaner in. Are there any alternative things i can do?

Answer 1

You will need to repaint the entire house, not just the kitchen area. You will need to wash all linens, bedding and any type of fabrics affected with a splash of vinegar OR abking soda in your wash. Smoke is worse than a fine dust, it goes EVERYWHERE! Pretty much, every surface will need to be cleaned. After that, buy a bag of potatoes and slice them fairly thin. Place them throught the flat on paper towel, napkins, plates... When washing the surfaces, use lemon and/or lime with water mixture. Febreze is a waste of money. It will only last for an hour or so, at best. Spraying the air in the flat with a mixture of lemon/lime water will help for now and be far cheaper than Febreze. They make a commercial smoke/odor remover that does help called Airlift by Spartan. It is very caustic, tho' it does work (use gloves and eye protection!!!). That's what the Big Boys that come and clean up after a fire use. Unfortunately, the carpet will probably have to be replaced. You can try cleaning it with Airlift, but if it got smoked up pretty good in the flat, it's spent. I feel for ya, it's a real mess even for just a little bit of smoke. It's a nasty bugger.
Good Luck!

Answer 2

I'm sorry for your misfortune but, using a professional is probably going to be the only way. If you have carpeting you would have to remove it and replace it. It is just too hard to get smell of smoke out of some things.

Answer 3

check out your insurance.I'm a firefighter & just a few weeks ago i went to a kitchen fire the house stank of smoke(as it would after a fire).they had every thing in the whole house replaced,tv bed even the eletric organ.yours does not sound to be that bad but make a claim that is what it is there for.AND GET A SMOKE ALARM!!!!!

Answer 4

You can't afford a professional cleaner - but you could've bought a smoke alarm!!! Far cheaper than the mess you have to deal with now. Go & get one before it happens again.

Answer 5

Rent a carpet cleaner and try painting, use an oil base paint and the smell will cancel that of the smoke.

Answer 6

Were you not insured ?...I would have had the Good old Bank of Scotland - move me into the Holiday Inn while my pad was refurbished..

Answer 7

burn some scented candles
boil bacon and cabbage for dinner
eat loads of beansand open the windows as much as possible!

Answer 8

try febreeze