CHICAGO — Contents restoration — the professional cleaning and restoration of personal property damaged by fire, smoke, and soot — is a specialized discipline that can save homeowners tens of thousands of dollars compared to full replacement, but it requires expertise to determine what can be successfully restored and what must be discarded.
The decision to restore or replace a content item depends on the type and extent of damage, the value of the item, the cost of restoration, and the item's sentimental value. As a general rule, hard goods — including furniture, appliances, electronics, and kitchenware — are more likely to be restorable than soft goods such as clothing, bedding, and upholstered furniture.
Electronics that have been exposed to smoke and soot require specialized cleaning to remove corrosive particles before they cause permanent damage. Ultrasonic cleaning — which uses high-frequency sound waves in a cleaning solution to remove contaminants from electronic components — is the most effective method for restoring smoke-damaged electronics.
Clothing and textiles that have been exposed to smoke can often be restored through specialized dry cleaning processes, including ozone treatment and thermal fogging. However, items that have been directly exposed to flames or that have absorbed heavy smoke deposits may not be restorable to a condition that is free of odor.
Contents restoration companies typically work under the direction of the insurance carrier and the homeowner to develop a contents inventory that identifies each item, its pre-loss value, the cost of restoration, and the recommended disposition. The IICRC's Contents Loss Specialist certification program provides training for technicians who specialize in contents restoration.
