 | Jeff Chester
is president and owner of ACT Inc. Advance Catastrophe Technologies Incorporated. Jeff has written training materials and procedures pertaining to the many facets of restoration including mold, fire, water, and smoke damage. Jeff is a member of The Association of Specialists in Cleaning and Restoration, Inc., The National Institute of Disaster Restoration, The Mechanical Systems Hygiene Institute and The Water Loss Institute. Jeff can be contacted at his office at (316) 262-9992 or you can e-mail him at act@actcat.com |
Carpet Cleaning & Restoration
2002-05-01 08:53:00
Getting rid of the smoke
: We recently purchased an older motel. Many of the rooms have the smell of old cigarette smoke. Is there a sure way to get rid of the smell? We have been told that ozone will work. What is it? How do you use it?
Jeff Chester
Question: We recently purchased an older motel. Many of the rooms have the smell of old cigarette smoke. Is there a sure way to get rid of the smell? We have been told that ozone will work. What is it? How do you use it?Answer: Ozone is one of many methods available for odor control. The best place to start for your motel is the normal cleaning process. Cleaning or replacing the carpets, cleaning or repainting the walls and cleaning the AC/Heaters. If you are planing to keep the beds and soft furniture you should have them professionally cleaned as well. As far as the ozone is concerned it can be very effective in controlling smoke odor. Some companies use commercial ozone generators for fires and other odor problems, where each job is evaluated on a case to case basis. What Is Ozone? Well the technical answer is: Ozone is known in the chemical chain as 03 or the third atom of oxygen. Ozone can be produced in several ways: (1) corona discharge (ozone generator), (2) ultraviolet lamps, (3) lightning, and (4) sunrays. Most commercial ozone equipment use the corona discharge method, which uses oxygen from our atmosphere, and passes it through an electrical charge which splits the oxygen atom to create a third atom. The third atom combines with the opposite atom, making three atoms of oxygen (03). This third atom is a very powerful oxidizing agent. When this atom comes in contact with a smoke odor (hydrocarbon), it breaks down the hydrocarbon into carbon dioxide and moisture. Any excess ozone will revert to oxygen in a very short time and then combine with the normal air in our atmosphere. It works well!
