Behind-the-scenes look: Textile restoration following a flood
With best practices techniques, most flood-contaminated textiles can be restored to pre-incident condition.
Floodwaters pose immediate dangers to human health because they often mix with contaminants on the ground, including pesticides, sewage, and trash. Even after the floodwaters recede, the microbes and mold that are left behind on clothing and textiles can spur allergic reactions, irritation, gastrointestinal disease, as well as respiratory and soft-tissue infections.
“Damp Indoor Spaces and Health (IOM 2004),” a report published by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, maintains there is an association between the presence of mold or other agents in damp indoor environments and upper respiratory tract symptoms, asthma symptoms in sensitized persons, hypersensitivity pneumonitis in susceptible persons, wheezing, and coughing.
The good news is that with best practices techniques, most flood-contaminated textiles can be restored to pre-incident condition.
While proper cleaning techniques are essential, so is teamwork. A best-practices restoration company serves as an extension of a larger restoration team, including the homeowner, adjuster, contractor, mitigation company and other content-cleaning organizations.
Step one: Collection & sort on-site
The first step in our restoration process is the on-site collection and sorting of flood-exposed textiles. Typically, a customer service representative team enters the affected home, collects items from closets and drawers, sorts and documents them. A quick response is critical to allow contractors and mitigation companies to begin the mitigation and rebuilding processes. Then the customer service team works to capture on-site data. Some restoration providers use proprietary technology to capture and process digital images, an inventory of items, and documentation.
The goal is to collect, clean, and store the garments while also making 14 days of clothing available (rush order) to owners within 24-48 hours. This helps prevent additional living expenses (ALE) for the insurance company and lessens homeowner frustration and inconvenience. Once restored, some restoration companies will store items in secure, climate-controlled warehouses. Moreover, they make sure owners feel welcome to access those items as needed.
During the on-site assessment, the type of water damage is also considered. Category 1 (clean water) originates from a source that does not pose substantial harm to humans. Category 2 (grey water) contains significant chemical, biological or physical contamination, with the potential to cause discomfort or sickness. Category 3 (black water) is unsanitary and contains pathogenic agents from sewage or other contaminated water sources. Although we can restore many Category 3 textiles, they’re typically deemed a total loss because owners are emotionally and psychologically resistant to the idea of reusing these items.
Step two: Sort, inventory & spot
Once the collected textiles are moved to the cleaning facility, they should be electronically cataloged as part of a documented tracking system to create an audit trail. The restoration process of wet items starts with carefully drying them to prepare for cleaning. Best practices involve naturally drying them to prevent shrinkage using dehumidifiers, air movers and controlled temperature, known as vortex drying. Thereafter, dry-clean-only garments are sorted out and loaded into a dry cleaning machine, while the remaining textiles are loaded into wet cleaning machines. Both dry cleaning and wet cleaning are highly effective.
CRDN restoration processes, for example, reduced mold spore contamination by 99.9%, according to a study conducted by Air Quality Management Inc. (IAQ). Moreover, the study found that the garments were all returned to baseline mold levels. In other words, they tested at the same levels as a control group purchased new from a department store.
R.R. Street & Co. Inc. (Street), a leading provider of textile care cleaning chemicals, provides chemical treatments and additives specifically designed to kill microorganisms. “These EPA-registered bactericidal chemicals demonstrate a microorganismal kill rate of 99.9%,” said James Schulte, Street’s lead chemist.
In wet cleaning and dry cleaning, these chemicals work in concert with water or solvent, water or solvent temperature, mechanical action and cycle time to significantly reduce or eliminate bacteria, viruses, and mold in affected clothing. This allows for the complete restoration of cleaning and textiles.
Step three: Dry clean or wet clean
But, what’s the difference between dry cleaning and wet cleaning? Let’s start with dry cleaning.
Garments specified as dry-clean only are loaded into a machine that uses solvents that are free of water. Thus, the term, “dry cleaning.” Some restoration companies clean dry-clean-only garments using one solvent bath. Others use two separate solvent baths. Two is better than one because, after each bath, the solvent is filtered and distilled. By distilling after every bath, contaminants are not redeposited onto clothing. Finally, upon completion of cleaning processes, garments run through an extract and dry cycle. They’re then cooled with circulating cool air and moved to step four.
While some garments require dry-cleaning, the majority are typically wet cleaned and restored using water. They are loaded into a highly programmable wet cleaning machine offering a number of programs. Each program features multiple phases and automatically dictates water levels and temperatures, number of baths and rinses, cycle time, rotation/mechanical action, automatic chemical injection, and extract speeds.
“Wash programs need to take into account all the factors involved in washing, including determining what additives are best for the items being processed, dosing amounts of those additives, water levels, and wash time,” said Schulte. “Wash time is particularly important and, as with any chemical action, longer residence time gives more complete removal.”
Finally, the garments go through an extract cycle before being loaded into a drying tumbler with controlled heat and moisture levels. Then it’s on to Step 4.
Step four: Finish, inspect & store
During finishing, textiles are steamed or pressed to produce results similar to hand-ironing. They are carefully inspected, electronically scanned, and placed in secure, well-lit and humidity-controlled storage environments. This allows displaced owners quick access to their fully restored clothing.
The result: Cost-effective, convenient & accurate restoration of textiles
At the end of the day, cleaning contaminated clothing is significantly more cost-effective and convenient than replacement. In our business, we find that the cost of textile restoration is about 20% of the cost of replacement. These savings work to keep insurance premiums lower. But more importantly, textile restoration gives displaced flood victims quick access to their personal wardrobes, peace of mind and comfort in the restoration of their belongings.
Wayne M. Wudyka (wayne.wudyka@crdn.com) is CEO of the Certified Restoration Drycleaning Network (CRDN), an international organization of restoration specialists highly trained in restoring electronics, clothing, textiles and fabric items damaged by fire, smoke, water, mold and other contaminants. CRDN’s national claims assignment call center can be reached at 800-963-CRDN.
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