Which Closet Items Can Be Kept After Fire Damage?

9/22/2020 (Permalink)

Contact SERVPRO for fire damage restoration services.

Mississauga Residents Are Concerned About Fire Damage To Clothes and Cosmetics.

As anyone living in Mississauga knows, your clothes and cosmetics are a vital part of your day! Whether you are high fashion or comfortable and casual, getting dressed is part of every day. Clothes can be costly, so naturally, you want to take good care of them.

If your Mississauga home suffers fire damage, you might wonder whether to try and salvage your clothes and cosmetics, and linen and accessories. There is quite a lot of conflicting information out there. Let us take a look at the SERVPRO approach.

Is it safe to use cosmetics after a fire?

SERVPRO recommends you toss all exposed or soiled cosmetics after a fire. We understand this is frustrating as cosmetics are not cheap, and you do not want to pay to replace all of your makeup, shampoo, soap, and other personal hygiene items. However, even if cosmetics look undamaged, the fire and heat can affect them:

• Heat can damage plastic cases and break their seals so that microbes and other nasties can get in
• High heat can also change the chemical composition of cosmetics and make them unsafe to use
• Tiny particles of fire-fighting chemicals can penetrate cosmetics packaging – these can irritate your skin and scalp
  

Whether your cosmetics are lightly smoke-damaged or look as though they have escaped unscathed, it is safer to replace them.

What about my clothes?

Some restoration companies will tell you that you cannot save your clothes after fire damage because of soot particles and fire-fighting chemicals. However, SERVPRO of North Mississauga uses a uniquely powerful washing system called ESPORTA, capable of handling soot damage and lingering chemicals.

The ESPORTA system is suitable for:

• Clothing items of all kinds, from casual jeans to smart business suits
• Textiles such as duvets, blankets, towels, and other linens
• Accessories including coats, hats, scarves, and canvas shoes
• Sports equipment such as jerseys or padded hockey equipment

If your clothes are visibly burned (as opposed to soot damaged), it is usually best to dispose of them. However, for soot damage, ESPORTA can help restore your clothes “Like it never even happened.”

Why does SERVPRO use ESPORTA?

Most traditional washing machines rely on agitation to clean clothes. The engine spins, tumbles, or paddles the clothing items while soaking them in water and detergent. This method has been used since before the second world war and is inefficient.

ESPORTA uses a hydraulic cleaning action, which pushes the detergents into the fabrics and pushes out the contaminants. This is much more effective than other methods – the ESPORTA system cleans up to 90% of items with soot, grime, mould, or odour damage. And it does not merely leave the things clean – it leaves them food-grade clean.

ESPORTA has other advantages, too:

• It uses detergents that are free from dangerous solvents and phosphates, so it is kinder to the environment
• It uses as much as 50% less water than traditional wet-washing methods, so it reduces water waste
• The hydraulic action is much gentler on your clothes than conventional agitation

When will I get my clothes back?

SERVPRO technicians will remove your damaged clothes and textiles from your home as soon as we can, to prevent further soot stains. We take your clothes to our off-site cleaning facility. We aim to return your items within two weeks – we also have an emergency 72-hour service for essential clothing so you can go on with your life.

We take inventory of all textiles and clothes before we pack them out and move them to our cleaning facility. You can rest assured that we will return every item in better condition than it left.

What about drapes and other textiles?

Your clothes and linens are not the only delicate items that can be affected by soot damage. We can also restore larger things like drapes, mattresses, and rugs. We also take care of fire-damaged furniture.

Our policy is to restore and clean wherever possible, and only replace items when there is no other option. This is more cost-effective for you because it is cheaper to clean items than it is to buy new ones. Salvaging everyday objects can also help with the stress of fire damage because the losses do not feel as massive when you still have some well-loved personal belongings and keepsakes around.

We clean drapes and furniture using a range of cleaning methods, such as HEPA vacuuming, hot water extraction, and ultrasonic cleaning. We can also clean and refinish lightly damaged wood surfaces and scrub soot from metal. We dry each item after cleaning and deodorize it to leave it fresh.

For help restoring your closet after fire damage, call SERVPRO of North Mississauga at (905) 238-7376.