We have soot smoke on the walls and on the ceiling. How can we remove it?
By Gr from Wisconsin
Try magic eraser! It was the only thing that worked for me. But I also used it on the wood, smooth mantle. So I'm not sure for walls or ceilings.
TSP- trisodium phosphate, local hardware store, inexpensive. I've been using it for years heavy grease soot, wood, bricks wall, metal and laundry stains.
Here are the questions asked by community members. Read on to see the answers provided by the ThriftyFun community.
I have just painted my rooms in my house and over the winter I burn candles. Now I have black soot like material on my walls. Anyone have any easy idea on how to get this off? I work 65 hours or more a week at the hospital as a registered nurse and I don't have too much spare time
Rubbing alcohol on a clean rag. If you put it in a spray bottle you will get drips.
cj
The first thing I try for wall and ceiling stains is a (generic brand) Mr. Clean-type eraser. It's not failed me yet.
Watch out for that rubbing alcohol tip, it took the soot off, but it took the paint with it. Amy
We had a chimney fire 6 years ago, and a crack appeared in the chimney. We could see it on the outside. We got it fixed just a 1 year ago, but obviously left it too long. The chimney has a bedroom on either side of it, and we can smell soot when the fire is on. The builders could only go so far in the chimney. Soot must of fallen outside the flues. I'm worried about this odour. If I put my nose to the walls I can smell it.
Do you think putting plaster board on the walls in the bedrooms will help, and skim over it?
By Teresa
I agree with the previous person. You should not smell any soot in a bedroom if the fireplace and chimney are working correctly. Suggest you have the entire chimney and fireplace inspected with a new estimate for any needed repairs.
Get the chimney insulated. They put an inflatable rubber tube down the chimney, pore a thermal cement down around it. When set they deflate the tube and remove it leaving a sealed smoothed chimney.
The prior tenants in an apartment heated the place primarily with a wood burning stove. The walls now have a lot of soot on them. We anticipate painting and question should we clean the walls first or prime/seal them and then paint.
Thank you in advance for your help.You will want to clean and then prime. There is a play dough like product that you rub over the walls that takes up the soot.
You need a special soot sponge and rubbing alcohol.
Step 1
Vacuum obvious pieces of soot.
Step 2
Wipe the stains away with a dry cleaning sponge.
Step 3
Dip a clean cloth in rubbing alcohol and use it to dab and blot the stains if some soot is still left on walls.
I would like to know how to clean soot off of the walls.
By blake from Flowood, MS
TSP does work but it will make you cough. Definitely wear gloves or your skin wil get irritated. This is not your regular cleaner.
How do you clean black soot from a grease fire off textured walls?
By Brass from IA
Textured walls will be hard to clean. But you could try a dry cleaning sponge. They are chemically treated and work well to clean soot and smoke damage from fires.
You could also try a mix of tri sodium phosphate and water.
My neighbour burns nice aromatic candles in a very small space of his studio apt. The walls are coated with this black haze.
I have tried everything I can find with not much results. Any new ideas? Grateful for submission. :-)Vacuum the walls first. Then make a solution of mild detergent and wash the walls, starting from the top to the bottom.
If you are trying soap and water, I strongly recommend trying it in a very small, out of the way place first as having tried this, some paints will be damaged by the water. I think my den paint was a satin finish and water left it all wonky.
It is best to try a dry sponge first and gently wipe downward (put newspaper on the floor to catch the dirt). If that does not work, there is a store made brand of sponge designed especially to remove soot--it is a little pricey:
www.walmart.com/
If you can, suggest the neighbor may want to to try soy or beeswax candles and move them away from the walls. This may stop this from happening again.
Safety first!!
You do not say what type of wall you are trying to clean so be sure to check out whether any suggestion is okay for the type wall you are cleaning.
Be careful with water and if you do try water be sure the cloth/sponge is just damp and never dripping.
With any cleaning method it is always best to test a small area first and be sure to wait an hour to see if it is working correctly.
This is an ad for dry cleaning sponges which are highly recommended but they do have to be replaced. They cannot be cleaned with water but can be trimmed and reused. If trying this method you will need several sponges.
www.amazon.com/
There are several sites that have suggestions with easy instructions so you might want to read some of these.
homeguides.sfgate.com/
www.wikihow.life/
Cleaning walls covered with aromatic candle wax soot.
I have actually tried everything under the kitchen cabinet
and then purchased A box of 'Magic Erasers' with not much results.
How do I get the smoke damage (black) off my painted walls from the winter use of the woodstove? Any suggestions please?
By Becky R.
Good old fashioned distilled vinegar and water solution and some elbow grease.:-)
I would try "20 Mule Borax" - I know it works on cigarette smoke. Dilute in water according to instructions and also pour some dry into a small container. Once you've wet your cloth/sponge and squeezed it almost dry dip it into the "dry" borax and start washing. Hope this helps.
How do you get the black soot off the wall and ceilings when the furnace blows up and blows it out the vents?
By Susan
Get some Arm and Hammer eraser sponges, they have something of the same product in Dollar stores.
What is the best cleaner to remove soot off painted walls?
By Ed
Look for a product at the Dollar Store called Totally Awesome. I have used it for everything from washing mechanic greasy clothes to hard water stains. It's named as it works.
The ceiling (white) and painted walls beneath the edge of the ceiling are marked with the blackish soot from burning scented candles. What is the best way to remove the soot without making it a blackish sooty mess?
My mom had a fire and I had a fire. I also helped my daughter buy a house from an older lady who smoked for 35 years, 24 hours a day. Her house was gross as I am allergic to smoke and throw up. So for my daughter the first thing I did was hire a professional to clean the duct work and the vents. It is worth it. Then not having a lot of money or help I knew a retired, nice, man who helped people all the time and had helped me with an older camp. He had used my alum boat a few times. So I offered him my boat and he thought about it overnight and told me yes the next day. He was an oil man and I bought tools as we needed them. I am kind of creative and I can scrub, hold things up , measure and paint. For the smoke, yucky soot stuff Run to the store and buy Krudcleaner. It is a spray at the lumber yards and the stuff melts and runs on the walls. She had paneling and sheetrock. They do not make sheetrock or paneling the way they use to... Never use water on your walls unless you put all kinds of fans in the room. I used rags and threw them away. Do not save your rags after cleaning soot as it will hurt your washing machine. You could also have reactions with your cleaning supplies. I also used a yellow liquid that was great called Awesome in a spray. The stuff is great. You will use elbow grease. I used many cheap sponge mops and just sprayed the stuff on the sponge and used my painters ladder. All I use was a quality paint from Better Homes and Gardens. I think Wal-Mart use to sell it. I bought the primer and paint in one. On the sheetrock in the bedrooms and one bathroom it just took one coat. I have to tell you that I pray often, ask many questions and read. Now for the paneling I bought the same brand paint but had the primer tinted to the paint color. I used one coat of the primer and then the paint. On the ceilings after cleaning some of the rooms I was not happy so I used a tinted, whited ceiling paint. It took one coat and I bought the least expensive brand. This house had been empty for 3 years and no ac was on. Then they let me turn it on before we closed. Everynight when I left fans of all sizes were running of every size along wit h the ac. You can be so creative if you just stop and listen to yourself. Save pics and write notes about everything. Now comes the sad part after a fire. Everything can not be saved. You have to experiment with things as far as cleaning and always wear gloves. The firemen told me to use All liq detergent and vinegar as soon as possible so I had 3 friends washing for me. My aluminum windows pitted as it got so hot. So many things have reactions to soot. They had to change all my windows. If you have a very shiny finish on ceramics and things like that it will wash easily. But do it as soon as possible. Plastics and woods are another thing. You just have to try different things. The air outside for airing out things after you wash them is a must. If you have any questions feel free to contact me. God bless
ThriftyFun is one of the longest running frugal living communities on the Internet. These are archives of older discussions.
My boyfriend turned the wrong burner on the stove on, which happened to have a plastic Folgers coffee can (empty) on it.
My husband and I are buying a house. On one of the visits to the house we saw what we thought was dirt on the walls and the carpet. Since then we have discovered that it is more likely something called black soot deposition.
How do you get soot from ceilings and walls off after a kitchen grease fire?
