Actichem Fire Restore 5ltr

Product Overview

Actichem Fire Restore cuts through the tough oily soils created by fire activity and the resulting smoke and soot.

Where a fire has consumed synthetic materials — paint, plastics, rubber — the soot deposits contain significant amounts of oils and resins, and those penetrate deep into porous surfaces. That is why soot on masonry does not respond to ordinary detergents: you are not cleaning off dust, you are cleaning out an oily resin that has soaked in. Fire Restore is formulated to penetrate resilient porous surfaces and release those deposits.

Which pack size do you need?

This is the 5 litre pack. At 1:10 that makes 50 litres of working solution — enough for a moderate job. Structural fire work covers large areas fast, so the 20 litre is usually the right buy for restoration contractors.

Recommended applications

Suitable for resilient surfaces including tiles, concrete, masonry, terracotta, natural stone and unsealed lino.

Most painted concrete floors, powder-coated metals, zincalume, construction timber and structural steel can also be cleaned with Fire Restore, but pre-test for substrate chemical sensitivity first. If you strike a sensitive substrate, try a weaker dilution or switch to Fire Fix.

Benefits

• Built for area — designed for fast removal of soot from resilient surfaces where the areas to be cleaned are large. On a structural fire job the economics are driven by square metres, not by bottles.
• Penetrating chemistry — releases ingrained soils and micro-size smoke particles from porous and semi-porous surfaces.
• Versatile — also effective on general grime and oils on tiles, masonry and concrete outside restoration work.
• Odour control — this is the part people underestimate. Soot removal is odour removal. You cannot deodorise a surface that is still holding oily smoke residue; sealing or fogging over it buys weeks, not years. Effective removal of the soiling is an integral part of eliminating the associated odour.

How to Use

Dilution

• Normal to moderate soil — 50–100 ml per litre of water (1:20 to 1:10).
• Heavy soil — up to 200 ml per litre.
• Sensitive surfaces — always pre-test, and consider a weaker dilution or Fire Fix instead.

Application

1. Cover areas not being cleaned. On a fire job that means most of the room.
2. Only apply solution to an area you can clean and rinse within 30 to 40 minutes. Working in sections is not a suggestion — see the note below.
3. Apply with a sprayer, sponge or scrubber machine. Do not allow the solution to dry onto the surface.
4. Agitate and allow 10 to 15 minutes dwell.
5. Re-agitate areas of heavy soiling.
6. Rinse thoroughly with clean water. A high-pressure washing system gives the best result.

⚠ Why the 30 to 40 minute working area matters

Fire Restore is pH 12.8. If it dries on the surface you have a concentrated caustic residue sitting on the substrate with nothing left to carry it away — which is how etching, staining and coating damage happen, and how a job that was going well turns into a repair. It also makes the residue far harder to rinse.

Work in sections you can finish. On a hot day or in a building with air movers running, make the sections smaller, not larger.

Adding Oxyboost Plus — odour control and stain removal

Oxyboost Plus is a concentrated oxygen oxidising powder. Added to diluted Fire Restore it oxidises malodour molecules and lifts stubborn stains.

1. Mix the Fire Restore solution using warm water, 40–60 °C.
2. Add 10–20 grams of Oxyboost Plus per litre of ready-to-use Fire Restore solution. Stir well to dissolve.
3. Use the solution within 30 minutes. Oxygen chemistry starts working the moment it dissolves — a bucket mixed an hour ago is largely spent, and you are then cleaning with plain Fire Restore while paying for Oxyboost.

Safety

Please read this section before your next job.

This listing previously stated that Fire Restore “is not classified as dangerous goods” and that this makes it “substantially safer in use and in transport”. The second half of that was wrong and we have removed it.

Dangerous goods classification is a transport classification. It describes the risk of carrying a substance in a vehicle. It says nothing about how safe a product is to use, and Fire Restore is a clear example of why the two should never be conflated: it is not regulated for transport, and it is also the most severely classified product in our fire restoration range.

Actichem’s safety data sheet for DR164, version 5.1 issued 24 May 2021, classifies Fire Restore as a hazardous chemical with the signal word DANGER.

• H314 — causes severe skin burns and eye damage (Skin Corrosion Category 1B, Serious Eye Damage Category 1)
• Poisons Schedule 6
• HAZCHEM 2X

⚠ H314 — severe skin burns and eye damage

H314 is a corrosive classification. It is a step above the H315 skin irritation and H318 eye damage carried by Fire Fix: this product will burn skin, not merely irritate it.

The concentrate is pH 12.8. Two things about alkaline burns that catch people out:

• They do not hurt straight away. Acid burns announce themselves; alkali burns are often painless at first, so the natural reaction is to finish what you are doing and wash it off later. By then the damage is done.
• They keep going. Alkalis saponify skin and continue penetrating until they are physically removed. That is why the first aid below says flush continuously, and why a quick rinse is not enough.

Chemical goggles and full protective clothing whenever the concentrate is handled, and whenever solution is applied overhead or by pressure washer. An eyewash unit should be on site. If concentrate contacts skin, flush the body and clothing with large amounts of water immediately and keep flushing.

⚠ Poisons Schedule 6

Schedule 6 brings labelling and storage obligations. Keep it in its original labelled container, store it securely away from food and out of reach of children, and do not decant it into anything unlabelled.

What it reacts with

Avoid acids and oxidising agents. Do not mix Fire Restore with acidic cleaners, and do not add chlorine or hypochlorite products to it. The one addition Actichem sanctions is Oxyboost Plus at the rate given above.

First aid

Eyes. Immediately hold the eyelids apart and flush the eye continuously with running water. Seek medical attention without delay.

Skin. Immediately flush the body and clothing with large amounts of water. Remove contaminated clothing while flushing. Seek medical attention.

Inhalation. Remove to fresh air.

Swallowed. Immediately give a glass of water. Seek medical attention without delay.

Specifications

Fire Restore or Fire Fix?

Both are Actichem restoration cleaners. They are not interchangeable, and the difference is significant.

Reach for Fire Fix first. Where it will do the job it is the lower-hazard product by a clear margin, and it is the one suited to carpets and fabrics. Fire Restore is the right tool when you are working oily soot out of masonry, concrete and stone over large areas — not the default for every fire job.

Related Products

• Actichem Fire Restore 20 litre — the same product in the bulk pack.
• Actichem Fire Fix — the lower-hazard restoration cleaner. Read the comparison above.
• Actichem Oxyboost Plus — oxygen booster for odour control and stain removal.

Safety Data Sheet

Actichem Fire Restore safety data sheet (DR164, version 5.1, 24 May 2021)

SKU: DR164.05

DG shipping surcharge applies.

Scoping a fire job and unsure which product suits the surfaces involved? Tell us what you are dealing with. Choosing correctly saves chemical cost and avoids damaging a substrate you then have to make good.