What to save vs. what to toss
Streets in floodaffected areas throughout the Houston area have growing piles of sodden debris filled with old carpet, damaged furniture, moldy drywall and ruined baseboards.
Just be careful what you toss. Standing floodwaters make us want to pitch everything, but don’t react so quickly.
Carpets and furniture that have held contaminated floodwaters for days surely have toxins we don’t want to keep. But things salvaged quickly from rainwater may be worth a second look.
Mehdi Abedi of Pride of Persia Rug Co. said he’s been fielding phone calls and picking up wet rugs for the past week.
Some are worth cleaning and restoring, some are worth repurposing and others simply can’t be saved.
The first test of a rug’s future is simple: Take one corner of the rug and pull on it as hard as you can. If part of the rug’s fibers are left in your hand, haul it to the curb. If it stays intact, the rug has a chance, Abedi said.
Then, take photos of your rug and call a rug store or rug cleaning company. Let them assess the damage and go from there.
“When people call, I ask for pictures or, if they’re close, I go there and look at it. Sometimes they say ‘it’s my greatgrandfather’s rug,’ ” he said. “I say ‘I will do my best and if I fail, we both will sit down and cry.’ Sentiment means something.”
Another test of the rug is whether any dye has run. If it’s red, you’re in luck. If it’s blue, you have another decision to make.
Abedi explained that running red dye is easy to remove during cleaning. Blue dye, however, is not. It can be sent to a specialist who will bleach the rug to get the blue out, but it will soften the color of the entire rug — which may mean it no longer matches the room for which it was meant.
Rug materials matter, too. Silk damages more easily, wool less so. Synthetic rugs are the easiest to save.
There’s also the sniff test. If it smells bad and has mildew, throw it out — it’s likely been contaminated by elements in floodwater that you don’t want to think about.
If you call a rug cleaning or restoration company — call three and compare prices — be prepared to ask some questions:
• How much do you charge? (Abedi charges $3 per square foot, and he said if someone asks for more than $7, you’re being gouged.) Depending on the value of the rug and its replacement cost, you will need to decide if cleaning is worth it. • Will my rug be sanitized? • Do you guarantee your work?
• Can you store my rug until I am back in my home, and how much do you charge?
• Do you pick up and deliver and how much do you charge? (Abedi charges $50 inside the Beltway and $75 outside; that’s for the round trip.)
• Will you provide paperwork I can give to my insurance company?
If only part of your rug is damaged, you may want to consider cutting it down to a smaller size and having it rebound, Abedi said.
“There’s more potential for saving rugs than people think, but the longer they wait, the less the chance,” he said.
Here’s more advice for what to keep or toss. Wood floors: Floors soaked for days will probably have to be replaced. If the water receded quickly, you may be able to replace some solid-wood boards and refinish the rest, if you get it dried out quickly, according to Steve Pine, senior decorative arts conservator
at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, and president of the Texas Cultural Emergency Response Alliance. Use fans in every room to speed the drying. If weather permits, leave doors and windows open so air can circulate.
Composite flooring, though, is made of wood, filler and glue and will become pulpy. It likely is ruined.
Wood furniture: Solidwood furniture that was removed from water quickly may be able to be saved, Pine said. The longer it sat in water, the longer it will take to dry out; some might take weeks.
Finishes may survive; those that are blistered will need to be redone. Wash furniture with soap and water or Murphy Household Cleaner Oil Soap.
Remove drawers from case pieces and take out any wet clothes or textiles. Also, remove any knobs and drawer pulls, if they’re metal and they corrode they can stain your wood.
Any furniture made with particle board — even expensive veneered pieces — are probably toast. They simply can’t survive sitting in water for a long time. Upholstered furniture: Think of upholstered furniture as a sponge. If it’s been in standing water, you’ll need to remove the outer fabric and inner padding and throw them away. Clean the frame to avoid mold if you plan to have it reupholstered. Before you make a decision, assess how much it would take to refinish and reupholster a piece compared to its replacement cost.
Mildew: For furniture that didn’t stand in water but has mildew, take it outdoors to clean the surface with a brush or broom to remove loose mold. Vacuum the surface fabric to pull mold out of the fibers. Dispose of the vacuum cleaner bag carefully to avoid spreading mold spores. Wipe any remaining mildew with a cloth dampened with detergent suds. Avoid soaking the fabric and getting water into the padding. You can also wipe it with a damp cloth dipped in a solution of ¼ teaspoon chlorine bleach and 1 cup water.
Carpet: If they were covered in floodwater, get rid of them. That water likely had contaminants from gas and oil, possibly even sewage. Get it out of your home. If all that came in was rainwater and that was minimal, they may be salvageable. Remove carpet from the floor and drape it over something outdoors. Rinse with a solution of 2 tablespoons liquid chlorine bleach to 1 gallon water and then let it dry before having it professionally cleaned. Throw away any wet padding. Hire pros to lay the new padding and the cleaned carpet for best results.
Mattresses: Throw them out. It’s likely cheaper to buy new mattresses rather than cleaning and renovating them.
Bed pillows: Feather, polyester or foam-rubber pillows may be salvageable. Brush off surface dirt and wash pillows by machine or by hand using a disinfectant. Rinse with warm water several times. Squeeze or spin excess water from the pillow and dry it in the dryer or line dry. Foam or urethane pillows should be dried away from heat and light.
Photographs: Wet photos can be saved. Any wet photos that are stuck together can be dunked in a bucket of clean water and swished around until they separate. The same can be done for photos in frames that have stuck to glass.
Once they’re separated, lay them flat and let them dry out. If you have bigger worries at the moment than saving photos, put the wet photos — yes, even ones stuck together — in a resealable bag and put them in your freezer to deal with later.
If your photos are damaged, the image and memory can be preserved by photo restoration experts. Textiles: This category is tricky. Cotton is sturdy, wool will shrink. Silks can be damaged and turn brittle if exposed to sunlight. Whatever you’ve got, look at the label for handling each item, whether clothing, table linens or anything else. If it’s dry-clean only, let it dry and take it to a dry cleaner; let them see if they can save it, Pine said.
Older, more fragile table linens should be removed from cabinets or drawers and taken someplace to dry. If you can’t carry them to safety as they are, then put them in a plastic trash bag and carry them in the
bag. You don’t want to damage things as you’re dragging or carrying them out of a home.
Fill a clean bathtub with cool water and rinse dirt and other things from textiles before laying them flat to dry. You can also use a fine spray from a garden hose to clean fabrics. Be gentle; don’t wring or twist fabrics to get them to dry more quickly. Framed art: Immediately remove art from its frame unless the image is stuck to the glass. If it’s wet, rinse off mud or dirt with a sponge and distilled water. Anything stuck to glass should be kept in the frame and dried glass-side down.
If paint on any art is cracking, flaking or damaged, don’t try to clean it. Instead, consult a professional conservator.
Let pieces air dry without exposing them to heat or sunlight.
Books and documents: If books have become dirty and rinsing is necessary, do so with the books closed. Insert wax paper between leather, cloth or paper materials that are tacky or sticky.
To dry out books, pack them spine side down in a single layer in sturdy containers. (Stack, but do not crush the books.) Then place the container in a freezer with a frost-free setting on the lowest possible temperature. This drying process can take weeks or months.
Silver: Any silver pieces with hollow spaces such as sockets, handles or rims should be checked for water. If you shake it and hear water swishing, contact a qualified restorer or silver dealer. Items with no hollow spaces should be rinsed to remove dirt or grit. Then wash with a cellulose sponge using warm water and an antibacterial agent that is phosphate free and is not lemon scented. Hand sanitizer will also work. Dry it immediately with a soft cotton towel and store it in a resealable bag with an antitarnish strip and silica gel. If rust has developed on knives coated with silver, contact a silver restoration specialist because they likely will need to be cleaned and replated or replaced with stainless steel. Do not use steel wool to remove rust.