The smell of smoke appears in the house for various reasons. The carelessness of the housewife in the kitchen, burnt food in the microwave, a forgotten iron - all this can lead, if not to a fire, then to smoke. Sometimes, to remove the smell of burning in an apartment, it is enough to thoroughly ventilate the room. But unpleasant amber tends to eat into furniture, walls, and home textiles.
Eliminating burning smell is a labor-intensive process. Let's look at several ways to solve the problem.
Features of eliminating odor after a fire
Fire is a real disaster for home owners. Great luck if you managed to save your property. Removing the smell of burning in an apartment after a fire is a very difficult task, but it can be done.
If you can’t get rid of the stench, you will have to use more complex methods. Remember that each material requires a special approach:
- Tile. Try cleaning the tiles with bleach. Rub the smooth surface vigorously. You can also use baking soda. Be careful - aggressive reagents can damage the coating.
- Carpets and upholstered furniture. Sprinkle textile options with baking soda. Don't skimp on the white powder. Leave it overnight and vacuum thoroughly in the morning. If grains get stuck in the pile, the product will have to be knocked out.
- Window. Burnt smells and soot can be removed with a regular glass cleaner. The product can also be applied to other coatings.
- Oven and microwave. Place a saucer with coffee beans or zest inside. Close the door tightly. It will take a few hours for the flavors to take effect.
Special chemicals are sold to eliminate the consequences of a fire. If the smell does not disappear, it makes sense to purchase strong reagents. Read the instructions carefully and follow safety precautions, use goggles, gloves and a respirator. Aerosols are especially effective.
If this measure does not help, the apartment will have to be redecorated. The ceiling will need to be whitewashed, wallpaper re-glued, and new flooring laid.
Step-by-step cleaning
General cleaning, which can be divided into six stages, will help completely remove the smell of burning in the house and bring the room back to life .
- Damage assessment. Burnt items and furnishings must be thrown away. Furniture that needs to be restored can be left behind. If the floor covering (parquet, linoleum, carpet) is damaged, it will have to be removed. Surviving pillows, blankets, and books should be taken out into the fresh air for ventilation.
- Wash. Wash all textiles affected by smoke - towels, robes, aprons. Have your rugs, rugs, and bedspreads dry cleaned.
- Dry cleaning. Remove the burnt wallpaper using a spatula. Brush off large soot flakes. Work lightly without spreading the soot over the surface. Vacuum the walls and floor. Don't start washing without dry cleaning.
- Wet cleaning. Add one teaspoon of ammonia and one tablespoon of vinegar to five liters of water. Wash the floor, walls, ceiling with the solution, wipe the shelves, window sills, furniture. If you are in doubt about the surface's reaction to the solution, test on a small area.
- Ventilation. Open the windows slightly and dry the washed areas. Do not rush to return the items you took out to the room.
- Air humidification. Turn on the humidifier and leave it on overnight. If you don’t have such a device, now is the time to buy it. A humidifier will soften and purify the air. To scent the room, place coffee and zest in different places, and light scented candles.
After a major fire, a complete renovation will be required.
It is necessary to change the wallpaper, re-lay the floors, paint the ceiling. An ignored burnt area of the apartment will become a source of unpleasant odor, toxic fumes and, as a result, poor health.
How to remove burning smell from clothes?
Removing pungent odors from textiles is not easy. The fabric fibers perfectly absorb smoke.
To save your wardrobe, put your clothes in a large bag and pour a packet of baking soda inside. Shake the bag vigorously and leave overnight. Then prepare a solution - 2 tbsp. l. vinegar per 5 liters of water - and soak things. Then wash on intensive cycle. After washing, be sure to use a double rinse and spin at high speeds.
Advice! Children's hypoallergenic powders work well to eliminate unpleasant odors. Even if your children have long grown out of infancy, it is worth having this remedy on hand.
Of course, this method is not suitable for delicate textures, such as silk or fur. It’s better to take capricious items to the dry cleaner. An emergency measure is soaking in cold water, possibly with the addition of drops of citric acid.
After light smoke, it is recommended to put a vase with flavoring in the closet - coffee, meadow herbs. Soak a cotton pad in pine or citrus essential oil and leave it among your things.
What not to do and why?
When you find yourself in a situation where a pan is burnt and the room is filled with smoke, it is important not to make common mistakes:
- Do not handle aroma neutralizers before ventilation. This is ineffective.
- Masking unpleasant odors with air fresheners or spraying perfumes does not solve the problem.
- Odor neutralizers should not be allowed to come into contact with food, as the chemicals can cause serious poisoning.
- You shouldn’t immediately rush to clean the pan - it’s better to soak it first.
- Do not open the doors to all rooms. In this case, the acrid smell will very quickly fill the entire room, and eliminating the fumes will not only be more difficult, but also take longer.
- You should not try to eliminate the burning smell using substances with a pungent aroma - bleach and other chemicals. Such drugs themselves produce fumes that are harmful to health.
Useful tips
Trouble can happen to any housewife. Use simple tricks to help bring freshness back to your home:
- Wet towels and sheets. Hang textiles around the house - wet fabric quickly absorbs odors. You can moisten the canvas with the already known vinegar solution.
- Herbal decoction. Place a pan of water on the fire and pour in the spices and herbs that you can find in the kitchen cabinet. The warm, spicy smell will “overpower” the burnt one.
- Salt. Salt, like soda, should be sprinkled generously on the affected items. White crystals will help remove foreign odors.
- Humidified air. Moisture in the atmosphere helps get rid of the burnt smell. If your household does not have a special device, fill the bathtub with hot water and open the door, turn on the taps in the kitchen. Place several bowls of water in the affected room. A specific microclimate is formed in the room, and the smoke gradually disappears.
The best thing you can do is to prevent fires. Today, home appliance stores sell special timers that are installed on the stove. This approach is especially relevant for older people. Security is a great gift for your grandma.
Fires and smoke, as a rule, bring great trouble to owners. However, if you apply comprehensive measures, you will be able to quickly remove the burning smell and return the house to cleanliness.
How to eliminate the smell of burning in an apartment: natural flavors, folk remedies
Means that will help neutralize the smell of burning in a room
If, after taking all the measures that we have already introduced you to, the smell of burning has not disappeared, try using heavy artillery that will help you neutralize the unpleasant aroma. If this is a kitchen, then ordinary table vinegar will come to your aid.
All you need to do is add it to water at the rate of 60 ml for each liter of liquid, boil it, and then turn the heat to low and go for a walk for an hour and a half. After this time, all you have to do is ventilate the room again and the problem will be solved .
Products that will help neutralize the smell of burning indoors:
- Natural coffe. I would like to say right away that only natural coffee, which is sold in beans or crushed form, has an aromatizing and absorbing effect. If you try to use a soluble product to neutralize the odor, you will not get the desired effect. In order to get rid of the unpleasant aroma, you will need to place from 3 to 7 saucers of coffee around your home. As practice shows, after 10-12 hours the air will clear and begin to smell like a freshly brewed cup of coffee.
- Citrus fruits . They can be used in two ways. If you don't have time, you can cut them into slices and place them in a room where the aroma of smoke is present. If you don’t need to run anywhere, you can, in addition to all this, prepare a decoction of water and pieces of lemon and orange, and using a spray bottle, humidify the air in the room with this liquid.
- Freshener made from cinnamon and cloves. In case you like spicy aromas, you can try to neutralize the burning smell by using the previously mentioned spices. In this case, you will also need to prepare a decoction, pour it into a spray bottle and spray it in the room every half hour. You can also soak several kitchen towels in the fragrant liquid and place them on chairs, a windowsill or bookshelves.
- Herbs and conifers. If you live outside the city, then you can afford to neutralize the smell of burning using natural flavors. For example, you can cut several young branches from a spruce or pine tree and simply place them in the room. If you don’t like the smell of pine needles, you can replace it with herbs. Pick mint, oregano, wormwood, put it all on a sheet of paper and place it as high as possible. The herb will dry, releasing an aroma that will remove the smell of smoke.
Ventilation
Ventilation will help remove any slight odor. The main source is the smoke that envelops the room. It will be necessary to create air circulation, since the soot will instantly eat into surfaces and things. It is optimal to open all windows and doors and turn on the hood.
The use of the air conditioner is possible after ventilation. You will need to isolate the problem room as much as possible by closing the doors. Next, set the ionization mode, or the standard function of the split system. You can additionally turn on a fan to enhance the flow movement.
Strong smoke leads to the formation of a persistent odor, so it is recommended to urgently move light furniture, clothing, textiles to another room or outside. Among the modern means of purifying air flows from burning, suspended particles and dust, special ozonizers are distinguished. The operating principle of the devices is to decompose harmful compounds into safe substances: oxygen, water and carbon dioxide.
Salvage
When the fire is stopped, the windows are open, and a saucepan with aromatic compote is boiling on the stove, you need to start rescuing things.
Take everything you can carry out onto the balcony: curtains, carpets, clothes, bedding, books, soft toys, etc. Wait a while with washing so that the fumes disappear and you can dry things in a room that is not smoky.
- If smoke forms a deposit, then household appliances should also be removed (perhaps temporarily in the entrance). Remove plaque from furniture with a soft sponge and mild soap solution. But if a burnt layer has already formed, then restoration is only possible through varnishing or restoration.
- The ingrained soot on the walls (wallpaper, plaster) is removed by carrying out cosmetic repairs. You can try to save linoleum using household chemicals, but if you are cleaning laminate or parquet, do not forget that it should not be too wet.
- If there is heavy smoke and a layer of soot forms, some furnishings may no longer be salvageable. In any case, first you need to try and carry out wet cleaning with gentle products. Be proactive about deep cleaning by moving furniture and lifting carpets.
Remember that preventing consequences is much easier than eliminating them. Supervise children, do not leave fire-hazardous household appliances on, and do not forget about the stove and oven being on.
Avoid even the slightest possibility of smoke in your home and promptly take all possible measures to eliminate burning and other unpleasant odors.
