Restoring Smoke-Damaged Textiles
Toxic smoke, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and particulate matter are generated from numerous building materials, contents, and household products during a structure fire. These chemicals interact to create a vast array of carcinogens, poisonous gases, acids, and other toxins that can cause acute and chronic illnesses, cancer, and even death. Clothing, textiles, and other soft goods are highly susceptible to smoke saturation, retention, and contamination during and after a fire. In many cases where clothing or soft goods are exposed to the toxins generated by a fire, they are placed in an ozone chamber for a couple of days and cleaned using commercial-grade laundry detergents, among other methods. Although an item may appear clean and have a fragrance that can be identified as clean, the real dangers are toxic VOCs that may be camouflaged or microscopic particulates that may be embedded in the material. This means that before cleaning an entire house full of smoke-damaged clothing or textiles, restoration professionals should have a couple sample articles cleaned and then analyzed by an independent laboratory to see if the cleaning and deodorization process works. If the sample articles come back free of toxic residues or VOCs, then the cleaning processes are effective. However, if the items come back contaminated, they may need to re-evaluate their cleaning methods.