Hurricane Season: Salvaging Water Damaged Clothing

Clothing is not the priority after a storm and should not be. But the window for saving it is shorter than most people assume, so this is worth knowing before you need it.

Before the season

The cheapest protection is done in advance and takes an afternoon:

• Move anything valuable or irreplaceable out of the garage, off the floor, and away from ground level rooms and exterior walls
• Get stored clothing up onto higher shelving rather than in floor level boxes
• Photograph your wardrobe. It takes ten minutes and insurers ask for exactly this
• Keep wedding gowns, christening gowns and heirloom pieces somewhere high and interior
• Have anything valuable cleaned before storage, since dirty fabric fails faster when wet

Understand the clock

In warm humid conditions mould can begin within roughly twenty four to forty eight hours. That is the whole window.

The mistake people make is waiting for an insurance adjuster before moving anything. You generally do not have to. Photograph everything thoroughly where it lies, then act. Documented and saved is a far better outcome than undocumented and ruined, and adjusters work from photographs routinely.

The first day

• Photograph before you move anything.
• Separate wet from dry so damp items do not contaminate what survived.
• Do not seal wet items in plastic bags. This is the most common and most damaging mistake. Sealed plastic accelerates mould dramatically.
• Do not wash it at home and above all do not put it in a dryer.
• Get air moving. Fans and dehumidifiers slow the clock while you work out what to do.
• Call a cleaner the same day if you can, even if only to understand your options.

What matters most is the water

This determines almost everything about what can be saved.

Clean water from rain through a window or a burst supply pipe is the best case. Recovery rates here are high if you move quickly.

Grey water from appliances or general run off is more difficult but often workable.

Black water from sewage backup or flooding that has travelled across ground is a different matter. Restoration of clothing contaminated by black water is generally not advisable, and that is a health judgement rather than a cleaning limitation. We will tell you plainly rather than take the work.

On the irreplaceable things

Bring those first. A wedding dress, a christening gown, a uniform, anything that cannot be bought again should be the first load in the car, not the last.

We will also be most careful with expectations on those items, because when something cannot be replaced at any price, an honest assessment before starting matters more than optimism.

Insurance

Most contents policies cover restoration. Keep the photographs, keep receipts, and ask us for itemised documentation. Restoring is usually cheaper than replacing, which serves you and the insurer both.

If you need us

Call 954 983 7519. All restoration is done in our own plant in Miramar. See our clothing restoration page.

La Mar 1 Hour Dry Cleaners, 6430 Pembroke Rd, Miramar, FL 33023. Family run since 1962, which means we have been through a few of these.