Before

After

Soot Stained Block Wall From Electrical Fire

This fire started from a dehumidifier that had an electrical issue causing the unit to smolder and melt the plastic. Soot from an electrical fire or from melted plastic leaves a greasy residue that stains and smears if you try to wet clean it. Cement block walls should never be wet cleaned because the surface is porous and the stains will set into the block. Dry cleaning methods would not work with the greasy residue and painting over the wall left a chance that smoke odor could return on a hot humid day. Painting covers the stains however it does not remove the odor. The most effective option for this project was soda blasting. The room that was effected with the greasy residue was completely contained so that no soot or soda particles traveled thru the rest of the home. Negative Air (Hepa Air Filtration Device) was running during the soda blasting procedure. Soda Blasting removes a small layer of the material surface allowing stains to be removed. Using Baking Soda as a blasting medium also helps with deodorization.