After cleaning your carpet, you should cover your floors with plastic to protect them from having any further soil tracked in. This is also under the assumption that your carpets and furniture can be saved. Smoke and soot damage cleaning includes ‘getting rid of’ anything that is damaged and may contain mold. This is another reason why using a certified smoke and soot damage cleaning technician is a good idea. Not only may you not know what type of damage to look for, and an untrained individual may keep too many of their possessions, or get rid of things that don’t need to be disposed of. Smoke and soot damage cleaning also involves removing the odor. If you are attempting a fire and soot damage cleaning without a professional, you should contact a technician for information on using “counteractants” (chemicals that break up smoke molecules to eliminate the odor of smoke). Removing the odor of smoke and soot is not as simple as washing a load of laundry. The odor of smoke is embedded deep into a material, and different counteractants are needed for different types of material. When a professional smoke and soot damage cleaning is taken place, removing the odor is usually done by placing items under a tent with an ozone generator. Smoke can penetrate through walls, so a complete smoke and soot damage cleaning involves the cleaning of household ducts, where the odors can be trapped. A professional smoke and soot damage cleaning team will use a system known as thermal fogging to cleanse your ducts to remove the odor. You may also need to replace insulation in your attic. The best way to find out what needs to be done, and how to do it, is to consult with a smoke and soot damage cleaning technician even if you plan on doing it yourself.