Hello
Bronze Post Medal for All Time! 107 Posts March 16, 20180 found this helpful
Best Answer
sorry to hear about your house fire; the same happened to me a few years ago
it really depends on the knick knacks, though. If they're fabric obviously they can be laundered. If they were porcelain i don't see why you could not wash them.
activated charcoal removes smells. you can purchase activated charcoal here: www.amazon.com/.../ref=sr_1_2?tag=thrif06-20 (Affiliate Link) you can leave the knick knacks in an enclosed environment with the activated charcoal and that can remove the smell
this is also a really great site with lots of great dry sponge products and other products to help clean books, paper, etc lots of type of things, some of them specific to smoke damage www.absorene.com/
March 17, 20180 found this helpful
You do not say what type of Knick Knacks you have or whether some are valuable or "sentimental" so just as a precaution, be very careful what types of chemical cleansers you use.
- Here are some suggestions from "after fire clean sites" and some from past ThriftyFun answers.
- Before cleaning with any cleaner, you must be sure the painted design is under the glaze. You can tell this by holding the piece to the light to see if the paint has a shine over it. If not, then the design was done after the firing and may come off with rubbing with any kind of brush or cleaner. Most conservationists use an enzyme cleaner.
- Enzyme cleaners can be found in the "cleaner product" aisles at Walmart type stores, hardware stores and on-line.
- Pet stores also carry these cleaners as they are highly recommended for pet "accident" cleanup and generally considered safe for use on almost anything.
- I believe you could spray your items with this (wait 30-50 minutes) and then wash in mild liquid dish soap and water. Or mix some in water and try that first.
- Be sure to place a thick towel in the bottom of your sink or pan and use a very soft toothbrush to clean the intricate places.
- Example:
- www.walmart.com/.../enzyme-cleaners
- Other suggestions:
- Pine sol and water will peel the smoke and yellow off almost anything; walls, figurines, windows, even fabrics. 1/4 cup into the washer with the smoke smelly stuff, no detergent, no bleaches either. Wash through one cycle, then wash again to remove the pine sol residue, you could use detergent the second time but still no bleach. Whatever the articles were will come out fresh as new. This works for tobacco smoke and smoke damage from a fire. Also works good for mildewed items, just be gentle if the fabric calls for it.
- Water and ½ cup ammonia soak 30-60 minutes and then wash clean.
- Or, try spraying with window cleaner and then rinse.
- Naturally, it would be best to try one cleaning at a time and start with the least "liked" Knick Knack to see what works best.
- Be sure to have good ventilation at all times and wear kitchen gloves and a mask when using any type of strong chemicals.
- If water creeps into small holes, be sure to drain/turn items different ways so all water will run out.
- I do not know if you will be cleaning other areas of your fire damaged home but here is a FEMA site that has some excellent suggestions.
- www.fema.gov/.../tips-smoke-removal-and-fire-cleanup
