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Removing mildew and smoke odor from canvas prints


8 years 1 month ago #475576 by JD Imagery
I have a client who had fire damage in their home and due to the fire department spraying water and the smoke, all their canvas prints were either destroyed or have a very strong mildew and smoke odor to them.  I'm trying to help them out and keep cost down by offering help on preserving the few that are salvageable.  

The rest, I'll be jumping into my hard drives and getting new images printed on canvas for them.  Fortunately, I have been their photographer for many years, and I still have nearly all their lost photos on my backup hard drives or in cloud storage.  

Back to the their canvas that smells of smoke and mildew, is there a way to clean these, remove the smoke with out ruining the prints?  

Thanks in advance!  
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8 years 1 month ago #475588 by Soccer Mom
Dense smoke that comes from a serious fire like that?  I'd be surprised if you'll be able to flush that out.  I'm clueless on this one.  
Canon 7D, 18-55mm, 55-250mm, 70-200mm L f/2.8, 100mm and 17-55mm f/2.8
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8 years 1 month ago #475602 by msmith55
As far as the smell goes, try putting the prints in a large plastic tub and sprinkling baking soda around them. Leave them in there for a few weeks and the smell should be much, much better. As for the smoke/soot/water damage...not sure on that one. I know for cigarette smoke there's a solution you can develop using dish soap and distilled water, but not sure that's powerful enough for fire damage. Anyway, hope that helps, and good luck!
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8 years 1 month ago - 8 years 1 month ago #475612 by Roblane
Man, that is going to be tough bud.  Would scent balls work?  
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8 years 1 month ago #475622 by cabbot
I've heard that the powder you sprinkle on your carpet to get rid of pet odors works well for removing smoke and mildew smells. Not sure about the soot and other damage. Good luck, let us know how it turns out.
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8 years 1 month ago #475638 by Joves
This is one of those things that is not a DIY thing. You need someone who does actual art restoration. In which case it most likely would be cheaper for them to get them reprinted. Their insurance should cover most of the cost for that.
The following user(s) said Thank You: icepics
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8 years 1 month ago #475684 by Jim Photo
:agree: 100% agree with Joves, have a professional work on getting that odor out.  It's going to be a PITA and you might as well have a pro deal with it.  
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8 years 4 weeks ago #475946 by Ian Stone
Uphill battle on this one.  I have closes that have gone through a wash and still smell like smoke.  So tough to get out.  Good luck with that.
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8 years 4 weeks ago #475953 by Vahrenkamp

Ian Stone wrote: Uphill battle on this one.  I have closes that have gone through a wash and still smell like smoke.  So tough to get out.  Good luck with that.



My thoughts as well, will be a tough one
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8 years 4 weeks ago #476017 by Flying Pig
Would storing for a few weeks in plastic bag with moth balls work? 
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8 years 4 weeks ago #476020 by Joves
No Flying Pig as I said it will most likely be cheaper to have them reprinted when it comes down to it.
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8 years 4 weeks ago #476200 by icepics
I think Dennis (Joves) is probably right. The only thing that came to mind is sometimes with a musty odor you can wrap something in newspaper and keep changing out the paper - but I don't know if that would be good to have newspaper up against a print and it may not work for smoky odor.

I remember when there was major storm damage on the east coast, some time afterwards there were art galleries/museums that had information on restoration. Seems like inkjet prints for the most part couldn't be restored but wet prints done in a lab or darkroom could, but that was from water damage.

Probably reprinting might be the best option.
Sharon
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8 years 3 weeks ago #476234 by Kenta

Joves wrote: No Flying Pig as I said it will most likely be cheaper to have them reprinted when it comes down to it.



Assuming all are still available.  
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8 years 3 weeks ago #476387 by Todd Knight
If you have the images, I would let your clients know they can either spend money on the old shots and trying to remove the smell.  Which realistically I believe would be a waste of $$.  I don't think that odor will come out.  Spend that $$ on new prints and be done with it. 
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