Standing water will continue to cause damage in the form of decay, warping, and rust, not to mention the longer-term effects of mold and mildew growth on your family’s health.

Getting the water out of your belongings quickly is the key to salvaging them after a catastrophic event like a fire or flood, and knowing how to handle soot and smoke-damaged articles is equally important. Here are some suggestions you can use to save your belongings in the short term if you are ever faced with such an event, and save them forever by using ultrasonic cleaning technology:

• Drain standing water immediately. Anything that can hold water should be turned over and emptied as soon as possible, including bowls, appliances, electronics, and furnishings.
• Remove waterlogged area rugs, blankets, clothes, tablecloths, and pillows and hang them up in a dry location.
• If you have power, get the air conditioning or heater running, floor and ceiling fans started, and a dehumidifier going.
• Use towels to soak up as much water as you can from furniture, flooring, and carpets. Wring the towels out, and repeat the process as many times as needed.
• Clothes covered with soot and smoke should not be washed, but should be turned over to a qualified restoration company specializing in soft contents cleaning. Soot does not dissolve in water, and will leave fabrics a greasy mess. Hard-surfaced objects, however, like bowls, appliances, and furnishings, can be sprayed with a degreaser and wiped down, but make sure the chemicals are compatible with the surface finishes. Some will melt plastics and paints. Don’t eat from kitchen utensils that have been cleaned in this way until they have been washed in warm soapy water with diluted bleach added.
• Important documents, papers, books, and pictures should be blotted with a paper towel and laid out on a flat surface to air dry. Keep them out of direct sunlight.
• If you have wooden furniture (or furniture with wooden legs) setting on wet carpet, lift each leg, wipe off any surface water, and then place a plastic sandwich baggie under and around it before setting it back down. This will keep additional water from being absorbed into the wood.
• Open as many drawers and doors as possible to promote air circulation and ventilation. This includes all interior doors, exterior doors where possible, and drawers and doors in furniture.

Notice that the words “throw it out” are not included anywhere on this list. That’s because modern ultrasonic cleaning technology makes it possible to save many of the items that previously would have been unsalvageable. Yes, there will still be things that must be discarded, but professional restoration companies equipped with ultrasonic cleaners can help you recover items as diverse as stuffed animals, computers, appliances, and mini blinds. The key is to get the standing water away from your items quickly, and then call a restoration company in short order to help you keep your possessions.

Ultrasonic cleaning is gentle, safe, and incredibly effective. The process can remove the soot and smoky smells left behind after a fire, remove mold and mildew, and safely clean your delicate, irreplaceable family heirlooms. Restoration companies can come right to your door to begin the salvage process and return your items to you, or send them off to a restoration center for special care (like large appliances and electronics). Everything you can save is something you don’t have to go out and buy again, so they can help you keep a substantial amount of money in your pocket.

Following the tips listed here can get you started on the path to saving your personal belongings, household goods, and family keepsakes. Once you’ve taken these steps, however, it’s important to contact a professional restoration company and get them working to return your items to pre-loss condition using ultrasonic cleaning technology.

It was painful enough just replacing those things you could go out and buy, like appliances, dishes, computers, electronics, clothing, and other common household items.

But what about those irreplaceable items, like family heirlooms and your children’s favorite stuffed animals? Those items can’t be replaced. Ever.

Now, however, thanks to recent advancements in ultrasonic cleaning systems, many of those items you once would have thrown into the trash can be salvaged, and at a fraction of the cost of buying new.

After a fire, your belongings will be oxidized, overheated, covered with soot, and waterlogged from attempts to put the fire out. Today, restoration companies that specialize in fire damage can now eliminate the soot and smell from most of those items and return them to their original condition, thanks to ultrasonic cleaning systems and technology.

Those items that are too large or require special cleaning—like large appliances and computers—can be cleaned as well. And yes, they can salvage your precious family heirlooms as well.

The same is true if your home or business is subjected to water damage from a flood. After a the waters subside, your property be covered in mud and smell like dead fish; left alone, bacteria and mold will begin to grow on those items, making them a health risk as well.

Having a mobile restoration company come in and begin ultrasonic cleaning means most of those items can be saved, and they will not be a health risk now or in the future. They will be restored to pre-flood condition, with all the mud and smell cleaned away.

Restoration companies charge only a fraction of what it would cost if you had to buy all of those items again, and they do it using safe, gentle, environmentally responsible ultrasonic cleaning systems that won’t damage even the most delicate and fragile of your items. Mobile units can be used to clean and return your smaller items to you right away.

For larger items, they have central facilities set up that are equipped to handle the size and weight, and still do a thorough cleaning job. You may be surprised to learn that small appliances, large kitchen appliances, radios and other electronics, computers, dishes, kitchenware, drapes, clothes, toys, and even mini-blinds can be cleaned and returned using ultrasonic cleaning technology.

Being the victim of a fire or flood is painful enough for you and your family without the added misery of shopping for a whole household’s worth of belongings, or throwing away Aunt Erma’s favorite carnival glass fruit bowl because it’s covered in soot and too delicate to scrub clean. Fire damage and water damage can now be effectively removed with ultrasonic cleaning techniques. Thanks to this technology, a tragedy, if it strikes, is at least a little less stressful on your family.

Contact us for more information on ultrasonic cleaners. You can also find us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Your biggest enemy when it comes to hardwood floors is water. Those wooden panels nailed to floor – believe it or not – are chunks of trees, cut to size and dried. When water begins to make it’s way into your hardwood floors, those wooden fibers begin to expand, eventually warping your wooden floor. Once this happens there’s really no going back, and you’re looking at an expensive and time-consuming floor replacement.

Wooden floors are sensitive, so it’s important to be cautious of any kind of moisture – from simple spills, abundant humidity, and water seepage from under the floor. In it’s most rudimentary form, water damage is simply the appearance of stains. There are a couple of home remedies to remove these stains. Using toothpaste or a combination of oil and cigarette ash will buff these white stains away. For a more severe stain, you may have to remove the finish on your floor.

In order to prevent small amounts of damage, be sure to coat your floors in a water-resistant finish before installing them. This will help prevent water from soaking in to the grains. You can also wax with a waterproof seal to shore up your defenses. In order to keep your floors in good shape, its ideal to re-apply water-resistant stain every 12-18 months.

If your wooden floors are suffering from major water damage, many professional cleaning services such as Service Master Solutions offer special drying services that can greatly reduce water damage to floors.

– Guest post from Service Master Solutions, Portland, OR.

With a storm this size, the flooding of homes and business is typically one of the lingering effects.

In combination with insurance companies, restoration companies play a significant role in restoring water-damaged contents.

Because ultrasonic technology is routinely used in the cleaning process, important household items such as keepsakes, computers and toys to name a few can now be completely restored.

In years past, an insurance company’s flood analysis would show that only 65-70% of damaged contents could be restored. These items would then be cashed out. However, when ultrasound is used, that same percentage increases to over 90%… saving both money and memories.

“Our goal as a restoration contractor is to return items back to homeowners, not have the replaced,” said Adam Weigand, owner of Paul Davis Restoration of Columbus, OH. “Omegasonics has given us the ability to accomplish this at a very high rate of success, which not only validates our participation in the restoration process, but also leaves the homeowner blown away with what we can save for them.”

Ultrasound utilizes environmentally safe cleaning soaps, heat, water, and sound waves. Restoration professionals across the country have found ultrasonic cleaning technology to be more cost effective and less labor intrusive. Most importantly… it does a better job of cleaning.

For a recommended list of restoration professionals utilizing ultrasonic cleaning technology, please go to this page.