Understanding how ultrasonic cleaning restores hard contents
Fast and effective technology saves insurers money by restoring instead of replacing items.
Fire and water cause enormous damage to countless homes every year. Beyond structural damage, they also impact contents causing contamination that can prove very difficult to restore. Property losses from fire topped $19 billion in 2016 according to the Insurance Information Institute, while water damage and mold costs the U.S. insurance industry $2.5 billion annually, reports the Water Damage Defense.
Hard contents such as silverware, pots and pans, dishes, tools and jewelry affected by fire, smoke or water damage can often be restored through various cleaning methods. By restoring rather than replacing contents, insurers can reduce costs and waste and help insureds put their lives back together as quickly as possible with their own personal items returned to pre-loss condition.
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Traditional cleaning methods
Hand-cleaning is the original and most common form of restoring hard contents, but the process of physically removing contaminants with tools and cleaning detergents is tedious and time-consuming. While there will always be a need for highly-skilled and properly trained hand-cleaning technicians in a modern restoration facility, it may not always prove to be the most cost-effective solution. When an item has intrinsic or sentimental value, or is fragile, hand-cleaning may be the best option, but many hard contents don’t fall into those categories.
Unfortunately, many items damaged by water or fire cannot be effectively hand-cleaned. There may be nooks and crannies within the affected items that just cannot be reached by hand or even with small, specialized tools. When items are submerged in water or enveloped by smoke, contamination can creep in everywhere.
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Restoring hard contents
Another option is ultrasonic cleaning, which employs high-frequency pressure sound waves that create millions of microscopic cavitation bubbles in a tank that agitate against the solid surfaces of submerged items. These constantly imploding bubbles provide the most thorough cleaning process available. Although the technology is powerful enough to strip off years of carbon deposits from automotive engines, today’s ultrasonic cleaners designed for the restoration industry keep many factors, including power output, to a safe range for most common household goods.
There are several advantages to using ultrasonic cleaning to restore hard contents: It gets consistently superior results, it works effectively 24/7, and it allows restorers to clean multiple items simultaneously, minimizing human error and inattention to detail. The microscopic cleaning action reaches every crack and crevice. Anything submerged in the water is thoroughly cleaned.
This option can also provide significant cost savings to insurers. A restoration contractor received about 400 badly rusted industrial rods from a claimant at an estimated replacement cost of $350 each. These items could withstand cleaning temperatures of 165 degrees, making them an ideal candidate for ultrasonics. The original parts were cleaned and returned to the policyholder for a quarter of their replacement value, saving the carrier 75% on the dollar.
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How it works
There’s no need for a lot of pre-treatment with ultrasonic cleaning. Restorers might use an air compressor to blow away soot and dust, or rinse items in the sink with hot water. Next, they go into the pre-wash tank, which is set at approximately 125 degrees, sometimes higher for industrial items or lower for delicate items. The tank will have a detergent with the water at a dilution rate described by the manufacturer. Items spend three or four minutes soaking in environmentally safe solvents before being transferred to the ultrasonic tank.
The initial pre-wash stage handles most of the cleaning, however the ultrasonic cleaning drills deeper. Every aspect is carefully controlled, including the temperature, the pH level of the detergent and the power of the sound waves, so cleaning starts at the least aggressive level and increases as necessary. After three minutes in the ultrasonic tank, the item is rinsed in warm water, placed in a dryer to remove the moisture, and prepared for packaging and shipping back to the policyholder.
Since certain items cannot be cleaned adequately or cost-effectively by hand, ultrasonic cleaning gives adjusters more options and flexibility. It can save carriers time and money, while delivering a better customer experience for homeowners.
Rob Reynolds is director of operations for Stanley Restoration of Cedar Hill, Texas. He is also a Restoration Industry Association Contents Council Member, a former Restoration Industry Association Forensics Council Member, and an ECONA Network Advisory Council Member. Contact him at rob@stanleyrestoration.com.
Ken Campbell is vice president of ECONA Network, the largest contents claims network in North America with over 265 certified cleaning and restoration contractors. He has 25 years of experience in restoration and property claims management. Contact him at ken.campbell@econanetwork.com.