Soot and smoke residue varies greatly and depends upon what substances have burned. A couple of weeks ago, we were called into a particularly badly damaged home. The fuel-oil furnace started on fire and burned extremely fast and hot--flames burst through the duct work of the entire 2 story home with hot, heavy black smoke billowing throughout. Amazingly, the fire department was able to extinguish the fire before the entire structure was engulfed in flames! Although most of the textiles were not actually burned or scorched, most of the clothing and textiles were infiltrated and heat-marked with black soot.
Treasured Garment Restoration was able to filter through the garments and restore them. We were even able to get most of the blue jeans and some shirts and sweatshirts back to the family within 24 hours so they could have some clean clothes to wear (other than the clothes on their backs). The home owner also had several vintage hand-made lace doilies and embroidery that we were able to salvage.
There were 4 of these hand-made vintage placemats sitting on the table. We cleaned one to test the best methods to use for restoration for the rest of the vintage fabrics. The homeowner almost cried when she realized that she wouldn't have to say "goodbye" to all of her sentimental hand-made textiles! Sometimes, it just make us feel good when we are able to find a bright spot for the homeowners in such a dismal situation.
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