1.3 CONTENTS - MISCELLANEOUS HOUSEHOLD ITEMS - FIRE MODULE

Question 1

What are they typical restoration challenges arising from fire contamination? (3)

Answer 1

1. Staining
2. Corrosion
3. Odour Retention

Question 2

What are the effects of heat & fire residues for electrical equipment?(5)

Answer 2

• Heat damage to upper areas of large appliances & melting of plastic components
• Discolouration of casings
• Corrosion of trim
• Damage to electronics controls, wiring & motors
• Odour contamination from spoiled food

Question 3

What are the effects of heat & fire residues for electronics? (4)

Answer 3

• Damage to exterior casing melting of plastic components etc
• If powered on - damage internally
• Heavy deposits act as insulators & heat build up may lead to premature failure of components
• Corrosion

Question 4

Restoration of electrical equipment & electronics?

Answer 4

1. Make an early identification of corrosion risk
2. If high, take measures to control, establish favourable levels of humidity & temp
3. Determine level of cleaning required

Question 5

Natural fibres and man made fibres

What are the effects of heat & fire residues for textiles? (2)

Answer 5

1. NATURAL FIBRES: Less sensitive to low heat, release odours & residues more freely.
2. MAN MADE FIBRES: Soften & distort at low temps, become polarised, retain residues & odours and are liable to discolouration and staining.

Question 6

What restoration techniques would you use for carpets & rugs? (4)

Answer 6

1. Vacuum clean into doorways of less affected rooms (damage limitation)
2. Consider an initial clean of carpets to protect foot traffic during work
3. Cover w protected sheets
4. Clean finally on completion of works if required

Question 7

What restoration techniques would you use for upholstery? (3)

Answer 7

1. Specialist cleaning ASAP
2. Shadow vacuum to remove loose soot
3. Cover w clean dust sheets or polytene

Question 8

What restoration techniques would you use for clothing? (4)

Answer 8

1. Locate & collect during initial stage of works
2. Triage to identify BER
3. Consult w PH to identify what isn’t needed and what is required back urgently
4. Remove restorable items to company premises for processing

Question 9

What restoration techniques would you use for household fabrics?(4)

Answer 9

1. Determine pre incident condition
2. Pre-incident condition will determine most approp restoration method
3. Drapery if in good pre-incident condition may be processed by use of specialist cleaning equip or removed for dry cleaning
4. Take photograph to show length and to avoid dispute after return

Question 10

What restoration techniques would you use for ceramics? (2)

Answer 10

1. Use dry cleaning methods on unglazed or where glazing is worn
2. Clean with alkaline solutions or by use of ultrasonic tank

Question 11

What are the effects of heat & fire residues for ceramics? (2)

Answer 11

• If fired at high temp & well glazed. ceramics are somewhere imperial to heat damage & do not absorb residues
• If unglazed or fired at low temp they are more porous, absorbing fire residues more easily.

Question 12

What are the effects of heat & fire residues for artwork? (2)

Answer 12

1. Paper under glass - usually unaffected
2. Paintings on canvas - often produced by varnish layer which may be removable if damaged, without underlying work being affected.

Question 13

What restoration techniques would you use for artwork? (5)

Answer 13

1. Dependant on value
2. Often can be restored by specialists, must be measured against value
3. Figure out pre-incident condition
4. Use of low pressure air brushing, dry ponging, powder cleaners, moist brush or cotton swab techniques may be approp.
5. Reframing may be required.

Question 14

What are the effects of heat & fire residues for photos? (3)

Answer 14

1. Emulsions swell & can be affected by damp
2. Residues which penetrate the image area aren’t removable
3. Photos vulnerable to fingerprints, bent corners, spotting & staining from handling

Question 15

What restoration techniques would you use for photos? (3)

Answer 15

1. Do not allow to dry before dealing, freeze at low damage to prevent fungal damage
2. Air brushing, dry sponging, putty cleaners, powder cleaners, dry brushing or cotton swabs are suitable for residue removal.
   3.Photo materials can be immersion washed, particular after freezing when the ice formation may separate the time .

Question 16

What restoration techniques would you use for kitchenware? (2)

Answer 16

1. Usually robust, responds well to cleaning. Low value, doesn’t justify extensive works.
2. Untreated woods & plastics prone to odour retention & staining, should be triaged to avoid unjustified costs.

Question 17

What restoration techniques would you use for kitchenware? (1)

Answer 17

1. Ultrasonics and/or washing with a range of alkaline and degreasing solutions.

Question 18

What are the effects of heat & fire residues for documents & books?(6)

Answer 18

1. Usually visible on spines & covers
2. Higher the shelve, more damage.
3. Embrittled paper, not reversible
4. Loose residues can often be removed but absorbed residues may be permanent
5. If appearance not issue, can be cleaned to remove residues, deodorised and returned to use
6. Glossy coated paper much more likely to be damaged as softens and pages stick together

Question 19

What restoration techniques would you use for documents & books?(Packing out, pages & covers)

Answer 19

1. Packing out;
   - Don’t overfill boxes
   - Lay books flat (horizontally)
   - Pack worse contaminated away from separate
2. Pages;
   - Dry sponging , abrasion with soft India rubber erasers or fine sand paper may be used on the blocked page ends.
3. Covers;
   - Absorbent material - dry sponge
   Glossy - consider careful damp wipe cleaning
   Leather - consider using appropriate specialist cleaner

Question 20

What restoration techniques would you use for recorded media?(CD&DVDS/AUDIA/VIDEO TAPES/ VINYL RECORDS)

Answer 20

1. CDS/DVDS;
   - Wear cloth gloves to process these items
   - Clean with alkaline detergent & rise in deionised water
   - Clean inlay card as paper
2. AUDIO/VIDEO TAPES;
   - Inspect for residues inside the cassette case, if contamination present then consider specialist restoration
   - Clean card insert with dry sponge
3. VINYL RECORDS;
   - Dry sponge label
   - Clean grooves with a fine record brush and a solution of neutral detergent
   - Rinse by partial immersion (do not wet label) in deionised water

Question 21

What are the effects of heat & fire residues for recorded media? (3)

Answer 21

1. Heat sensitive
2. Complex internal structures of tape cassettes make restoration difficult
3. CDS & DVDS are less vulnerable

Question 22

Unexpected value of collectibles?

Answer 22

1. Discuss with owner
2. May be high value
3. Restoration must be cost effective