How to Salvage Smoke Damaged Clothing
People who have had to deal with a fire in their home know how hard it can be to salvage smoke damaged clothing. It can be an emotionally difficult process to have to sort through your clothing to see what, if any, can be salvaged. Try the following suggestions to see which one will help salvage your smoke damaged clothing. Does this Spark an idea?
Things You'll Need
- Detergent
- Household bleach
- Tri-sodium phosphate
- Sodium
- Water
- Plastic gloves
Instructions
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1
Sort each piece of clothing that has smoke damage to evaluate its possibilities for salvaging. Take the clothing outdoors and shake any loose soot and dirt from the clothing. In addition, make two piles of clothing, one for washing and one for dry cleaning.
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2
Soak the clothing that is washable in a laundry detergent. You may have to soak only 1 or 2 items at a time to be able to see how the clothing is responding to the detergent. Be sure to rinse the clothing thoroughly after soaking. You will probably have to wash the clothing items many times to get all the deep seated smoke and soot from the fibers of the fabric. Only dry the clothes after you have washed the clothing as many times as you deem necessary. Use appropriate amounts of bleach if the fabrics are bleach safe.
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3
Wash clothing that is extremely smoke and soot damaged with a mixture of 4 to 6 tbsps. of TSP--tri-sodium phosphate, with 2 tbsps. of sodium, then 1 cup of household chlorine bleach and 1 gallon of water. This solution should be mixed thoroughly. Then soak the clothing or wash in a machine washer, rinse well and dry thoroughly. It is advised to wear plastic gloves when handling the chemicals in the solution.
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4
Take dry clean only clothing to a reputable cleaners that handles restorative care for smoke damaged clothing. Not all cleaners do this, so be sure to check around to make sure that you are using a dry cleaners that uses some sort of an ozone treatment to salvage smoke damaged clothing.
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Tips & Warnings
Beaded trims, metal belts, buttons and some types of clasps may have to be replaced on some pieces of clothing as the smoke and soot may have caused damage that cannot be reversed or repaired.
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Comments
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mountainman41
Dec 02, 2009
The STEP 3 will EXPLODE if you mix those chemicals. DO NOT follow the directions. It is unlikely that you will find someone to sell you SODIUM, but it will explode if it touches water. It must be kept immersed in an oil or kept in an inert gas. They probably meant to say some sodium compound, but did not do that. Only those with advanced chemistry knowledge should handle sodium. And when I say handle I mean without touching it. Sodium does not occur naturally in nature. It must be separated from a sodium compound in a lab. It is a silvery metal so it would never be measured in teaspoons as this post says.
