Has a skunk visited your home and sprayed your pet or your furniture? The smell of skunk is unbearable and vile. But there are ways in which skunk smell can be removed from your home.
If you have experienced stinky skunk spray around your house or your pet dog, who brought the stench home, then you need to get rid of it immediately. Skunk smell can linger around your house for a really, really long time. The skunk uses his spray as a defense mechanism to attack anyone perceived as a threat to the animal or its litter. The smell is sprayed from two glands present on either side of the anus. The awful smell is due to chemicals called thiols and can be described as a cocktail of garlic, rotten eggs, burnt rubber smells. The skunk can spray its nauseating cocktail as far as 15 feet away and the smell can be detected as far as a mile. The smell dissipates on it own sometimes, but if your house has been sprayed on directly or close enough, then you are in for a tight fight. Getting rid of this odor is the toughest job by any home-owner or business establishment that came in the way of a skunk spray.
Aerate Your House or Office
The first step is opening all the windows and switching on fans in the house. A good ventilation will help dissipate the smell from the house.
Hydrogen Peroxide Mixture
You need to prepare a solution of 3 parts warm water and 1 part vinegar. Use this solution to wash the walls and floors of your house. Or you may even try making a solution of 4 parts water and 2 parts chlorine bleach to wash your floor.
Say Bye-Bye to Skunks
If the skunk has taken residence under your house then you may try to get the animal out on its own. All you need to do is place a lot of moth balls in a mesh bag and tie it to a long string. Then toss the bag under the house. You may want to use 3 or 4 bags placed at different locations around the house. Or you may even try soaking cloth rags in ammonia and placing them around the house. These smells will surely make the uninvited and unwelcome skunk guest to pack up and leave.
Vinegar Magic
You can fill a spray bottle with white vinegar and spray it around the house. This will help remove the natural oil sprayed by the skunk and reduce the stinky smell.
Change Air Filters
You need to change the air filter in the furnace and air conditioner. The smell may get stuck in the air filter or conditioner and keep lingering around the house. So changing the filter will reduce the circulation of the smell and remove skunk odor from house.
Helping Pets Get Rid of the Odor
Many times, it is the dog or cat who is a victim of skunk spray. The pet brings home the skunk odor along in the house. You need to use 1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide, ¾ cup baking soda and 2 tablespoons dish detergent used for washing the dishes in sink. Mic them in a large bowl and wash the pet with it while the ingredients are still foaming. The oxygen in the solution will react with thiols and neutralize the odor. You can use this solution for washing dogs, cats and even clothes sprayed by skunk.
Commercial Odor Removal Products
You can buy commercial products for removing this smell from house. You can buy these commercial products that are either liquid or aerosols. These products can be sprayed around the house, on furnishings and drapes. They remove skunk odor from house by breaking down the oil and removing the odor.
Chlorine Power
You can even get chlorinated lime water from a drug store or mix 1 gallon chlorine bleach with 1 cup agricultural lime and spray it outside the house. Be very, very careful, take utmost precautions and wear gloves. This solution is a highly caustic solution that can cause burns on skin, clothes, grass, etc. Clothes can be washed in lukewarm water with extra water and de-greaser to break the oil. Carpets need to be steam cleaned by professional carpet cleaners.
You may want to move away from the house due to the awful stench many times. But you need to find some effective ways to remove skunk odor from house. The next time you spot old ‘Pepe le Pew’, be ready with these home remedies to get rid of the stinky and suffocating smell.