- Dec 14, 2009
- 5,675
- 16,692
Wednesday afternoon a dorm room down the hall from me caught fire. Thankfully no one was injured and everyone made it out fine. The fire was contained to the one suite but there was smoke damage throughout my entire floor. So much damage, that my floor (3rd) is not able to live there for the rest of the semester and the entire building is closed for at least two weeks while they clean the lower floors. So they're are a lot of displaced students at my school right now...
At the time of the alarm no one knew it was real, we all thought it was a prank, mainly because it was the first day of classes for the spring semester. And because of that we never shut our bedroom doors or common room doors which allowed the smoke got into our room.
We were only allowed in for ten minutes for the first time yesterday to grab what we needed and to get out. But there is soot everywhere throughout the third floor. My stuff really isn't gone, there's obviously things I need to replace, but most of my stuff just smells really badly. I don't want to throw this stuff out and buy everything new if I can salvage it and wash it.
So my question is this - do any of you know how to wash things affected by smoke and soot? The school has told us that washing your clothes with white vinegar and detergent will get the smell out. So far it's pretty much worked with the few clothes I could grab yesterday. But I'm wondering about the other stuff. Our computers, fridges, electronics. How should we go about cleaning them? What about books and backpacks and purses? Even my cheer bows I have hung up on my wall? Does anyone have any idea or any experience? I really am trying to avoid buying new everything and my friends and I will cherish any tips you might have... Thanks!
At the time of the alarm no one knew it was real, we all thought it was a prank, mainly because it was the first day of classes for the spring semester. And because of that we never shut our bedroom doors or common room doors which allowed the smoke got into our room.
We were only allowed in for ten minutes for the first time yesterday to grab what we needed and to get out. But there is soot everywhere throughout the third floor. My stuff really isn't gone, there's obviously things I need to replace, but most of my stuff just smells really badly. I don't want to throw this stuff out and buy everything new if I can salvage it and wash it.
So my question is this - do any of you know how to wash things affected by smoke and soot? The school has told us that washing your clothes with white vinegar and detergent will get the smell out. So far it's pretty much worked with the few clothes I could grab yesterday. But I'm wondering about the other stuff. Our computers, fridges, electronics. How should we go about cleaning them? What about books and backpacks and purses? Even my cheer bows I have hung up on my wall? Does anyone have any idea or any experience? I really am trying to avoid buying new everything and my friends and I will cherish any tips you might have... Thanks!