Fabric restoration

Fabric restoration

Fabric restoration is the process of refurbishing fabric items after they have been affected by fire, smoke, water, or mold. Restoration specialists use technologies and procedures to restore fabric-related items to their pre-loss condition. These processes are specifically designed and tailored to address the challenges posed by particular types of damage. In addition to concerns with an item’s appearance, considerations such as smell and structural integrity are taken into account. The smells associated with fire and water related disasters are often dealt with by subjecting the item(s) to ozone treatments that break down the foreign particles that cause the odor.

Items commonly encountered by restoration cleaners include but are not limited to:
*Cushions/pillows
*Shoes/Boots
*Belts/Suspenders
*Purses/Bags
*Flags
*Wedding Gowns
*Rugs
*Leather and Suede Garments
*Fur Garments
*Stuffed Animals
*Dolls
*Blinds/Shades
*Decorative Valances
*Tapestries
*Linens
*Bedding
*Drapes

Fire Damage

In addition to the damage caused by the actual flames of a fire and the immense heat that can reach portions of the structure not directly affected by the flames themselves, household fires usually contain hundreds of noxious chemicals which can saturate the items within the structure - as well as the structure itself. This smell is unpleasant for anyone, but is especially unbearable for anyone who has recently experienced a fire because it will often immediately trigger a powerful recollection of the tragedy.

That is why it is important to remove all of the odor-causing particles from clothing and other fabric items retrieved from a smoke and fire damaged building. An important way in which fabric restoration specialists differ from retail cleaners is that while the latter will charge for any attempts at cleaning - whether successful or not - certain restoration specialists will only charge for their services if they are successful in restoring the items to their pre-loss condition or better.

Water Damage

In addition to the obvious harm caused to dry clean only garments and textiles by immersion - prolonged or otherwise - even fabric items that are intended for machine washing can be damaged by the effects of a flood. Damage can include colors becoming faded or otherwise altered within a particular article of clothing, dye transfer (bleeding) between articles, and the distortion of fabric that causes it to become rough and/or twisted.

The key to successful restoration after a flood is that the situation be responded to and dealt with immediately. The longer items are left submerged, the greater the likelihood that the damage will render the items non-restorable.

History

While the concept of laundering clothes has been around for eons and dry cleaning has been around for hundreds of years, the concept of a a cleaner specializing in the cleaning and restoration of clothes and other fabric items after they have been affected by fire, smoke, water and mold is a fairly recent development. In the United States, such companies have been around for approximately 20 years.

Over that lifespan, the industry has made great advances in technology and in techniques in order to effectively and efficiently restore a victim's items to their pre-loss condition.

Most of a restoration cleaner’s business comes either from an insurance company or a restoration contractor, but victims of a fire or flood are able to contact them directly as well.

The services offered by a restoration cleaner are almost always covered in a homeowner’s insurance policy.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Building restoration — describes the process of the renewal and refurbishment of the fabric of a building. The phrase covers a wide span of activities, from the cleaning of the interior or exterior of a building such as is currently underway at St Paul s Cathedral in… …   Wikipedia

  • art conservation and restoration — Maintenance and preservation of works of art, their protection from future damage, deterioration, or neglect, and the repair or renovation of works that have deteriorated or been damaged. Research in art history has relied heavily on 20th and… …   Universalium

  • Conservation-restoration — Removal of adherent surface deposits by physical chemical means (by cotton swab). Church of Suceviţa Monastery, burial chamber. Romania, Suceava. Conservation restoration, also referred to as conservation, is a profession devoted to the… …   Wikipedia

  • Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum — The Historic Aircraft Restoration Museum, located at Creve Coeur Airport in Maryland Heights, Missouri, is a museum dedicated to restoring and preserving historical aircraft. The airplanes in the collection are all fabric covered, and most are… …   Wikipedia

  • Neues Museum Restoration by David Chipperfield, Berlin (Germany), 2009 — Historical Context The Neues Museum (New Museum) is one of five museums in the Museum Island World Heritage site of Berlin, Germany. Friedrich Wilhelm IV, the “Romantic on the Prussian Throne”, envisioned Museum Island as an internationally… …   Wikipedia

  • Dry cleaning — (or dry cleaning) is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using a chemical solvent other than water. The solvent used is typically tetrachloroethylene (perchloroethylene), abbreviated perc in the industry and dry cleaning fluid by the… …   Wikipedia

  • Ozone — For other uses, see Ozone (disambiguation). Ozone …   Wikipedia

  • Mold growth, assessment, and remediation — Mold assessment and mold remediation are techniques used in occupational health: mold assessment is the process of identifying the location and extent of the mold hazard in a structure, and mold remediation is the process of removal and/or… …   Wikipedia

  • Smoke — is the collection of airborne solid and liquid particulates and gases [ [http://www.fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/fire95/PDF/f95126.pdf Smoke Production and Properties ] SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering] emitted when a material undergoes… …   Wikipedia

  • Ros Tapestry Project — The Ros Tapestry Project is a major community arts and history project centered around the town of New Ross in County Wexford, Ireland. The project is dedicated to producing a tapestry in fifteen panels which tells the story of the coming of the… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”