Smoke damage

[jyaam4]

We had a fire on Wednesday involving a clothes dryer. While the fire didn't come near the guitars, the smoke/soot traveled through the house via the air conditioner ducts. Now the guitars (6 of them, only 2 in cases) are covered in soot and smell strongly of smoke. The strings have a layer of grime on them. One of those outside of the case is a Gibson acoustic. Does anyone have any idea how to safely clean them? What kind of cleaners can be safely used? Anyone ever had to deal with this?

[justashop]

Hi
You might give the white sponges, I think they are sold Under the Mr. Clean brand a try.
I remember seeing professional fire damage personnel using white sponges to remove the smoke soot and smell from walls. As always test a small area first.
Brent

[fazool]

Originally Posted by justashop

Hi
You might give the white sponges, I think they are sold Under the Mr. Clean brand a try.
I remember seeing professional fire damage personnel using white sponges to remove the smoke soot and smell from walls. As always test a small area first.
Brent

Magic Erases. Apparently I work with the guy who invented them...or he is a professor where I am an industry advisor. Small world.


Anyway no don't use those - those are micro abrasive and will dull your finish.
First vacuum everything out.

Do not yet use anything wet. It will dissolve the smoke particles and then the wood will absorb that in.

Do NOT use anything wet

!


remove all the parts (strings, bridge pins, nut, saddle, maybe even tuners. Wash all that stuff.

Vacuum the guitar inside and out.

Then get some cans of air (dusters) and blow the insides while a vacuum hose inside sucks away the air.

Do not use air fresheners or febreeze!

Once you get that out you will need an ionizer to get the resto f the smoke particles off - they work fantastically well and you can rent them

[jyaam4]

Originally Posted by fazool

Once you get that out you will need an ionizer to get the resto f the smoke particles off - they work fantastically well and you can rent them

Ionized.... Where can I get one and what do they look like? Forgive my ignorance, but I have never seen one. Also, how do they work exactly? By the way, thanks to everyone for replying.

[Ned Milburn]

I have never needed to clean smoke damage, but in my business I often have to clean pretty grimy guitars, including nicotine stained instruments. Usually, I just use my standard guitar cleaner/polish (Imperial Hand Glaze by 3M, which used to be re-branded by D'Addario as guitar polish). When heavy cleaning is necessary, I use a drop of dish detergent in a small bowl of warm water. Use cotton balls for both the polish and the soapy water, but dampen only. You don't need to make them wet.

[jeff crisp]

As far as dealing with the inside goes an open box of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda) is a common trick employed to remove smells from a fridge. I would probably try to blow out any soot and ash first. If vacuuming be careful not to leave smudge marks.

[Badcrumble]

Maybe try find a local luthier. Most workshops will have a big dust collector You could use to suck the surface dirt, and compressors that you could use to spray Air into and onto the guitars.