Homicide Cleanup
After investigators depart, homicide cleanup removes blood, tissue and contaminated materials.
See homicide cleanupGet blood, body fluids, fingerprint powder and odor removed from a home, apartment, rental or business in Edmonds once police release the property. Most crime scene cleanups take one to three days.
Crime scene cleanup means taking out tissue, contaminated materials, body fluids and blood following a violent crime. Often termed trauma scene cleanup or forensic cleaning, it includes odor removal and disinfection to make the property safe for use again.
Police and detectives gather evidence, while the medical examiner or coroner removes the deceased. Their work does not include cleaning. When the investigation ends, they release the scene, leaving cleanup to the landlord, the family or whoever owns the property.
Crime scene cleaners, also called forensic cleaners or a forensic clean up crew, treat every drop of blood as infectious. They trace how far it traveled, remove what cannot be disinfected, clean and treat every surface, and haul the hazardous materials away under medical waste rules. It is a form of biohazard remediation, and the cleanup process covers these steps from start to finish.

The cleaning plan and pricing factors are explained in advance, helping you decide what suits your household.
Calls are answered day and night, and crews arrive in unmarked vehicles so neighbors do not know what happened.
Prepared photos, waste paperwork and scope details are available for landlords and insurance companies so you can move forward.
Keepsakes, photos and documents are set aside and reviewed with you, never thrown out without asking.
Any violent event that leaves body fluids or blood behind calls for crime scene cleaning services. Common examples include:
Tissue and blood may affect furniture, walls and flooring across multiple rooms.
Discreet cleaning keeps relatives from having to enter the affected space.
The home may contain bloody broken glass, door damage and widespread fingerprint dust.
A fall can leave blood on walls and ceilings, with saturation reaching carpet and subfloor.
Your health, final cost and insurance claim can all be affected by what happens in the first hours. While waiting for cleanup technicians:
Call (888) 440-9227Published guides put a typical residential crime scene cleanup at $1,500 to $7,500 for most homes. A small area of surface blood can run $500 to $2,500 while scenes with blood in the subfloor or several rooms can reach $10,000 and up. Most companies price by the job, not the hour. The final price is set after the on-site assessment.
These ranges come from published national cost guides, not from a site visit. An on-site assessment determines your property's price, which is explained to you before the cleanup starts.
Ask about cost: (888) 440-9227Your policy controls whether crime scene cleanup has coverage. A homeowners or renters policy might classify the event as accidental and sudden, with a possible deductible.
After a violent crime, coverage is based on the terms in your renters or homeowners policy. Make the event report quickly, then write down your claim number.
Discuss biohazard cleanup coverage, your ability to pick a cleanup company, and the adjuster's required photos or records.
Washington's Crime Victims Compensation Program, run by the Department of Labor and Industries, does not pay for crime scene cleanup, so victims of violent crime should ask what it does cover. Insurance is usually checked first.
In rental units and common areas, the owner usually arranges and pays for crime scene cleanup.
Every crime scene is different, but the crime scene cleanup process, often called the remediation process, follows the same safe order through the entire process, from the first walk-through to the final inspection.
You or your representative walks through the area with technicians, who document it in photos and settle the scope before cleaning begins.
The crew wears complete personal protective equipment and seals the affected area with negative air and plastic sheeting.
Crews cut away soaked mattresses, furniture, carpet, pad and drywall, then bag and seal them as medical waste.
Technicians clean every surface before using hospital-grade disinfectant registered by the EPA for its required contact time.
Air scrubbers, hydroxyl generators or ozone treat odor at the source, and HVAC vents are checked.
Tracking documents accompany closed containers to a medical waste facility that is permitted to receive them.
Surfaces can be checked with ATP testing, and you get photos and records for your insurance claim.
After cleanup, replacement drywall and flooring may be installed by your contractor or the insurance company's vendor.
Call at any time. You speak with a crime scene cleanup specialist who outlines the process and schedules a start time with you.
Blood and bodily fluids can be hazardous to your health, and contamination often extends beyond the visible area.
Carpet does not stop blood from reaching the pad and subfloor, while grout and spaces under baseboards can trap it. A surface-only cleaning leaves concealed residue that can bring back bacteria and odor.
HIV and the hepatitis B and C viruses may be carried in blood. Even if blood seems dry, the CDC says hepatitis B may live on a surface for at least seven days.
Soaked materials are regulated medical waste. They must be taken to an authorized treatment site instead of a dumpster or household garbage.
Can you clean it yourself? Wear gloves and apply an EPA-registered disinfectant when fresh blood is limited to a few drops on any hard, non-porous surface. Call for professional cleanup if the amount has no visible boundary or has entered carpet, textiles, drywall or wood.
The rule is simple: if a material can be fully disinfected, it is cleaned. If blood soaked into it, it is removed.

Most crime scene cleanups are completed on site in one to three days. One day may be enough for a recent, small scene. Heavy cleanup that includes structural removal may require two to five days.
| Scene | Typical time on site |
|---|---|
| Light scene, one area | Often one to two days |
| One to two rooms in a typical scene | Often one to three days |
| Major scene with multiple rooms or removed subfloor | Often two to five days |
The source must be removed before the odor can be addressed. Spraying fragrance on tissue or blood masks the smell for just a few days.
After the contaminated materials are gone, the cleanup team can use HEPA air scrubbers to capture particles, hydroxyl generators that are safe to run while people are present, and ozone treatment in empty rooms for stubborn odor. Thermal fogging reaches odor in fabrics and wall cavities, and HVAC ductwork is checked so smell does not travel to other rooms.
The full crime scene cleanup guide covers what is cleaned or removed, odor and air quality work, and the rules that apply in your state.
Read the full crime scene cleanup guide
Planning for access, containment and cleanup can depend on local population, housing and entry conditions.
Rental housing represents 29.1% of households here, so cleanup information should still explain when a landlord must approve structural work.
A 1974 median build year points to varied interior finishes, so each affected material needs its own cleaning or removal decision.
With 27.6% of seniors living alone, private cleanup communication may need to include a relative who lives somewhere else.
A 64.5% single-family share makes property type an early question when setting containment and equipment routes.
Ask on the call about cleanup options for neighboring communities and ZIP codes.
After investigators depart, homicide cleanup removes blood, tissue and contaminated materials.
See homicide cleanup
Suicide cleanup is completed privately and with care, protecting families from seeing the scene.
See suicide cleanup
Trauma scene cleanup after accidents, injuries and violent events.
See trauma scene cleanup
Carpet, solid floors, walls and furnishings receive blood cleanup that includes safe disposal.
See blood cleanup
Cleanup after an undiscovered death includes odor control and the effects of days of decomposition.
See unattended death cleanup
At the source, death odor removal uses air scrubbers plus hydroxyl and ozone treatment.
See death odor removal
Hoarding cleanup combines respectful sorting, removal and deep cleaning.
See hoarding cleanup
Raw sewage cleanup treats Category 3 black water and includes both drying and disinfection.
See raw sewage cleanupNo. Law enforcement releases the scene once evidence is collected. Cleanup is the responsibility of the property owner or the person in charge of the property.
Most crime scenes require one to three days of on-site cleaning. Light cleanup can finish in a day, but heavy contamination with subfloor removal can extend to five days.
Forensic cleaning includes both chemical deposits and fingerprint dust. First comes dry collection, followed by the proper product for the material to keep powder from leaving stains.
The service may be described as trauma cleanup, forensic clean up, biohazard remediation, forensic cleaning or crime scene cleanup. Crime scene cleaners or forensic cleaners are the terms for people who perform the work.
Someone needs to give access and agree the scope at the start. Many relatives decide to be elsewhere during the work after the initial arrangements.
For most residential crime scene cleanups, guides report typical costs from $1,500 through $7,500. Limited surface cleaning can fall below the usual range, and major multi-room scenes can cost more than $10,000.
Discreet, respectful crime scene cleanup, 24 hours a day, with crews in unmarked vehicles.