What is Soot? Soot is a black powdery or flaky substance consisting largely of amorphous carbon produced by the incomplete burning of organic matter. When fire damage occurs, soot is the mess left behind. The first step of fire damage restoration is soot cleanup.
How Dangerous is Soot?
Because airborne soot particles are invisible, you may unknowingly be affected. Once soot enters your lungs it can cause a wide array of serious health problems including respiratory issues, shortness of breath, bronchitis, asthma, and cancer. Soot is dangerous, which is why, when you need fire damage restoration, you need a team that’s quickly available 24/7/365.
What You Need to Remove Soot
You’re going to need a lot of hot water and a way to contain both the clean and dirty water. You’ll also need high-powered water distribution equipment, a high-powered water vac, enough sizable water containers, and a safe way to transport the contaminated water.
You’ll need a dry-cleaning sponge and a chemical sponge to get into all the textures to thoroughly remove the soot residues. You might think that a regular degreaser is all you need to remove filthy soot stains, but you actually need a commercial soot remover, a product you can’t purchase at the corner store.
Using the correct type of gloves and other personal protective equipment (PPE) is imperative to prevent you skin from coming into contact with the toxic substances present in soot. Fire damage restoration is a hands-on task, so be sure to protect your skin!
Lastly, you’ll need a commercial-grade respirator to safely protect your respiratory system.
The key to complete fire damage restoration is timing. The fire itself can be devastating, but the aftermath from the smoke and soot can be equally devastating to your items, and more importantly, to your health.
Taking on this level of cleaning and restoration requires years of experience, training, and certification. When your home or business has been impacted by fire, contact Northwest ServiceMaster immediately at {F:P:Sub:Phone. We’ll quickly dispatch a team to assess the damage, formulate a plan for thorough fire damage restoration and soot removal, and begin the work to return your property to its pre-loss condition.
