Who doesn’t like fireplaces? Other than having them cleaned and maintained, there’s nothing like sitting in front of one with a good book and a hot drink. It’s also an efficient way to keep your home warm, especially if the power might be out during a snowstorm.
Yet there are downsides to fireplaces. Among them include the strong smoke and ashy smell that wafts throughout the home, making it feel stuffy. The first step is to remove the source of the problem, conducting a deep cleaning and removing the ash.
Odor Persists After the Chimney Cleaning: What to Do
Additional sources of odors can include the following:
- Creosote buildup
- Fallen leaves
- Rotting animals
- Moisture
If the strong odor permeates even after the cleaning, contact a professional chimney sweeper. The solution may include the replacement of the chimney cap to prevent moisture from accumulation within the chimney or animals/debris from falling down the chimney.
Deep Chimney Cleaning
As the smell of smoke from a previous fire permeates the room, it’s time to start a deep cleaning. Within the first four days of your last fire, use a stiff brush and wipe along the interior walls of the fireplace as well as down the sides, removing all buildup of ash and creosote.
Remove the ashes and creosote
Sweep out the fireplace and discard the ashes into a trash bag. You can also sprinkle wet coffee grounds over the ash to prevent it from spreading to other areas of the home. Another option is to vacuum it up.
Know that creosote is a tar-like substance that is produced after a fire smolders and dies. This is a highly combustible substance, especially when it exceeds 1/8 inches. Ensure to take great care when cleaning, and to consult a professional chimney sweeper if you find thick layers of creosote within the chimney.
Clean the chimney and fireplace
Use white distilled vinegar or diluted ammonia to clean the interior part of the fireplace. This will also take care of strong odors produced from lingering ash. Simply add two cups of white vinegar to one gallon of water, dip a scrub brush in the bucket, and use it to scrub down the insides and bottom of the fireplace as well as the grate to remove the remaining ash. To remove the buildup on the brush, rinse it often. You can also use all-purpose cleaner instead of vinegar.
Clean the Carpets and Upholstery
Even after the hard work of deep cleaning the fireplace and chimney, you still notice the strong odor lingering in the home. This is because the odor particles might have become lodged within the carpeting, walls, or other porous surfaces of the home.
While a carpet or upholstery cleaning service will quickly take care of this issue, you can make this a DIY project and sprinkle baking soda or an odor-neutralizing powder over the furniture, rugs, and upholstery. Allow it to sit for at least one hour to absorb the odor particles and then thoroughly vacuum the powdered areas, going over each section more than once. Top off the cleaning job by applying an odor-neutralizing fabric spray to give the area a fresh, clean scent to fully remove any lingering odor particles.
Clean the Hard Surfaces
Don’t forget to remove any lingering odor particles from hard surfaces by applying oil soap or diluted dishwashing detergent to a gallon of water. You can also use all-purpose cleaner, oil soap, or white vinegar on hard surface furniture. Steam mops or diluted vinegar are also great odor neutralizers for hardwood floors and tile surfaces.
Finally, don’t forget to wipe down the area with an old, damp rag to remove any of the residue from the cleaning solution. Then dry them with a soft, lint-free cloth. A great option would be a micro-fiber cloth.
Professional Smoke Odor Removal
Nothing can be more frustrating than to discover that all of your efforts to clean the fireplace, chimney, furniture, and carpeting have done nothing but give them a good cleaning. Just when you think that it’s impossible to remove the stubborn odor from your home, there’s one more solution.
A professional odor removal service utilizes advanced deodorizing technology, including ozone generators, hydroxyl machines, and Nano-carbon technology to eliminate all lingering odors from a fireplace.
ServiceMaster Kwik Restore is available in Cary, IL and the surrounding west Chicago suburbs to provide professional deodorization services to finally remove all stubborn odors produced from smoke. Our odor-removing technology is actually designed to remove smoke odors from fires, so you can be sure that removing small odors from a fireplace will be easy. At least for us.
We can also provide carpet and furniture cleaning services to remove any stains or dirt and debris from the carpeting and upholstery while also ensuring that each odor particle is removed.
Contact Us
Give us a call at (888) SM-KWIK1 for a free estimate on any of our cleaning services, including odor removal, carpet, and furniture cleaning.
