How To Clean Items Damaged by Water

6/12/2019 (Permalink)

All electronic items should be safely unplugged

The aftermath of flooding, natural disasters and even a broken pipe can devastate personal property, sometimes to a point beyond repair. For all salvageable possessions, follow the tips below to restore them as best as possible.

Attempting Restoration

Restoration, in any case, is involved and arduous. Should you decide to restore items damaged by water in the home, the following steps should be enacted.

1. Begin by turning off the power to affected rooms in order to prevent electric shock.
   
2. All electronic items should be safely unplugged and only handled by trained professionals.
   
3. Move desired furniture, bedding, carpeting, carpet mats and other possessions outside for drying in the open air.
   
4.  Hose off and scrub items to remove impurities.
   
5. Scrub items with disinfectants designed to treat the type of furniture being cleaned.
   
6. Clothing can be sent to dry cleaning specialists to remove stains and dirt.
   
   

Many items may be irreversibly damaged from water in the home. Therefore, you have to determine if saving damaged items through professional assistance is worth the effort.

Contacting Your Insurance Agent

You may not have to worry about restoring replaceable items if they are already covered under an insurance plan. If you are covered, be sure to document what items are damaged and take plenty of pictures.

Replacing Documents

With paper-based possessions — documents, books, photographs, etc. — the renewal process requires a professional water damage restoration service for best results. Through proven freeze-drying techniques, professionals can either return restored documents to you or convert them to digital files. Another great benefit of using professionals is that they have the technology to remove bacteria and unsafe chemicals from contaminated documents while protecting the integrity of the paper itself.

If you live in the Tullytown, PA, area and experience massive amounts of standing water in the home, you must act quickly if you want to salvage your belongings. By following the steps above, you can eventually restore furniture, documents and personal belongings to their pre-disaster levels, allowing you to focus on repairing the rest of your home.