Follow this process in order to clean books and documents that have been damaged in a fire.
1. Pack out wet books and papers
2. Begin the drying process immediately
If the drying process cannot be started immediately, wrap items in wax or freezer paper and freeze them until ready to proceed.
3. Don't proceed with removal of smoke residue until items are dry
4. Inspect books and papers
Consider the materials, evidence of moisture, and degree of heat and smoke damage.
Wear gloves when handling paper goods, particularly photographs, to avoid transferring the oils in your skin onto the items.
5. Pre-condition and dry-clean lightly damaged items
Pre-condition using a vacuum, lamb's wool duster, dry brush or air wash.
Then dry clean using a dry (chem) sponge, crumbly dough cleaner, art gum eraser or other technique. When cleaning books, remove the book jacket first and clean the inside and outside of it. Then clean the outside of the book itself (binding, edges, covers) and then the inside of the front and back cover. When cleaning photographs, clean the front and back of the photograph, being careful to have a "clean" area and a "dirty" area on your work surface so that you don't re-contaminate items that you have already cleaned.
Replace the cleaning agent (eraser, sponge, etc.) when it is dirty to avoid re-contaminating items.
6. Deodorize items
This can be done with a combination of deodorizing procedures such as thermal fogging, dry solvent-based deodorants, or ozone gas.
7. Deal with filed documents
Have the homeowner identify which documents are a priority (ones they use often) and which can wait.
Check with the insurance company whether they will cover restoration of damaged documents OR copying the documents OR both.
Restore documents by:
- trimming charred edges with a paper cutter
- place trimmed version into a copier and copy to its original size
- re-file documents and return to homeowner
