Question of the Day - October 30th!!

bnwalker2

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Ever have to clean skunk smell off of anything? If so, what method worked for you?

Ugh, this question is inspired by the wonderful day I'm having so far. I went out early this morning to feed the horses. Fed them all, let the two inside that were out all night, and walked back to let out the four that go out during the day. And then I smelled it... SKUNK. I have no clue what exactly happened or where it came from, but the barn cats are covered and Thunder is covered.
Thunder is currently soaking in vinegar... that's all I had on hand. I've heard baking soda and peroxide work well, but I can't get that until this evening. What a wonderful start to the day.
 

alleygirl

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This page talks about the mythbusters episode regarding that topic


http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...4074048AA9s06p

Hydrogen peroxide + baking soda + liquid dish soap: it worked. Apparently the mixture releases oxygen compounds that bond with thiols and neutralize their smell. confirmed
Commercial skunk remover: worked, but not as well as the hydrogen peroxide mixture.
When I was a kid we had a dog that got sprayed. We gave him baths in various things but I don't remember what. I don't think any of them worked very well, so thankfully he was an outside dog
 

sibohan2005

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Yes, our dog Storm got blasted by a Skunk just outside our front door.
We found somthing called "Skunk off" that we bathed her in along with Tomato juice it took about a week of daily baths to make her presentable again.
 

tierre0

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Not sure whether anything works that well except lots of baths and time. I know when my dog Rusty got sprayed when I was a kid tomato juice was the standard treatment..
I of coarse got elected to bath him because he was my dog and I think I smelled as bad as he did by the time we were done. Luckily it was in the middle of summer so he got to sleep outside for a few days..
 

starryeyedtiger

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Yes! Yes! And another resounding Yes! Yuck!!!!!!

I used to work as a vet tech for animal control- so it wasn't uncommon to get strays in covered in skunk spray. The absolutely best thing to get it off is tomato juice, hands down! (Don't even bother wasting money on the other more pricy products!).

I also would catch skunks on occassions in the traps we would set to catch other animals like cats/etc. Most of them never sprayed, but I did have one who apparently sprayed the trap when it frightened him.... (not fun to release that one! But thankfully he didn't spray me.) It took me ages to get that trap to not smell funky
 

twstychik

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Originally Posted by AlleyGirl

This page talks about the mythbusters episode regarding that topic


http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...4074048AA9s06p Hydrogen peroxide + baking soda + liquid dish soap: it worked. Apparently the mixture releases oxygen compounds that bond with thiols and neutralize their smell. confirmed
This same mixture will also clean pee spots as well as enzyme cleaners.


I think one of my childhood dogs got sprayed once but I was too young to remember it clearly. Of course, I'm one of those crazy people who actually likes the smell of skunk if it's not too strong.
 

belongstoevie

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Oh, the timing of this question! Yes, you bet ya!

In search and rescue, we are out in the "wilds" at all hours of the night, so yes, we have been sprayed all too often. And ticked and poison oaked and... Oops, off topic.


But the timing! Just a few days ago, on one of the many many walks I take my dogs on, we literally walked in to a skunk on the trail! My dog's nose ended up about 3 inches from its butt before anyone, even the dog, knew it was there. And blam! Right in the face. My poor dog!! Her eyes were irritated, she kept sneezing and "coughing" and rolling and rubbing, my poor baby...

So yes! The peroxide and baking soda and dish soap DOES WORK!!
Doesn't completely remove it, I can still smell it on her today, but yes, that was one major dosage, and it cut it back a LOT. It's actually bearable now! And time to bathe her again, see if it part 2 removes it any more, or if now we just leave it to time...
 

butzie

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Originally Posted by Sibohan2005

Yes, our dog Storm got blasted by a Skunk just outside our front door.
We found somthing called "Skunk off" that we bathed her in along with Tomato juice it took about a week of daily baths to make her presentable again.
Our neighbor's dog got sprayed once. They gave her tomato juice baths. The really bad smell was gone at once, but I think it took a few days of more bathing to get rid of all the smell. Besides, she liked the tomato juice.
 

Ms. Freya

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My parents live in the country with 3 big dogs who love to get into things and they swear by the baking soda + peroxide + dish soap remedy. I've never had a chance to try it for myself (Not Complaining!
) but they find it removes the smell after 1 or 2 washes.
 

pookie-poo

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My sister let her dogs outside while she was getting ready for church one morning. They had an up close and personal visit with the Easter skunk. If I remember correctly...she never made it to church that Easter. She was busy cleaning dogs, and hauling the furniture that they had rubbed against out to the road! I think I remember her mentioning the peroxide, baking soda and dish soap treatment.
 

momofmany

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My dog Spike has been hit twice by a skunk. The second time was right up his nostril. You'd think he would have learned the first time. Spike's not that bright. We used Skunk Off both times and it worked by the third bath.

I drove over a live skunk once (didn't kill it thankfully), but it sprayed the underside of my car and the smell permeated the inside. Twice thru a car wash with an undercarriage washer did the outside pretty well. Zero Odor cleared out the inside smell.

Then I had a skunk crawl under our house and spray there. The smell came up thru the floor boards. There was no way to get under the house to treat it, so we simply turned on every single air purifier on full blast for about 48 hours until it was livable again.

And just for the record: tomato juice by itself doesn't work as it might neutralize the smell a bit, but it doesn't cut the oil in the spray. You are better off washing in Dawn dish soap (to cut the grease), then follow up with tomato juice. But honestly, Skunk Off works pretty darn well.
 
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