SKUNK SMELL REMOVER
By Gary Bogue
Wednesday, June 13th, 2007 at 6:24 am in Skunks.
Skunks are always on the prowl
I’m getting a lot of requests for this “Skunk Off” recipe to help people clean skunk spray off of unfortunate dogs that have encountered those little stinkers in their back yards.
One of my readers found a letter to the editor in a Chemical Engineering trade magazine a couple of decades ago and cut it out and forwarded it to me. A chemical engineer’s dog got sprayed and the engineer figured out an off-the-shelf formula that chemically neutralizes skunk spray. Unfortunately my reader didn’t include the name of the engineer who invented this, so we can’t thank him/her.
Stick this formula on your refrigerator door so it will be handy in case you ever need it. It’s easy to make and as I said, it chemically neutralizes that very bad smell.
TAKE: 1 quart of 3 percent hydrogen peroxide (from a pharmacy); ¼-cup baking soda; 1 teaspoon liquid soap (I use Dawn). Mix it all together and wash the sprayed animal, keeping the mixture out of its eyes, nose and mouth. Rinse with tap water.
Don’t bottle this stuff. The mix causes a mild chemical reaction and it could escape into a BIG mess if confined in a bottle.
Based on feedback from hundreds of users, this recipe, as listed, is a suitable quantity for a small dog. Double the above amount for medium-size dogs. Triple it for large dogs.
It’s amazingly effective.
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August 30th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
Hi Gary–thanks for this recipe! My foxhound decided to try to rid us of a skunk in our yard and got a light spray as his reward. We spritzed him down with this mixture, rubbed it in, waited about 10 minutes and then spritzed again. Then I gave him a bath. While he doesn’t smell, sweet, he never did, and the improvement is appreciated! Interestingly, this is the same formulation I once paid $10 for on the internet as a solution for cat urine in the carpet. It works amazingly for that. You soak the carpet and let it air dry. Then the smell goes. In the case of using it on cloth, it is a good idea to see if the peroxide will change the color on a small spot first. Thanks again!
January 1st, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Did not work!!
February 2nd, 2010 at 1:48 pm
Suggestions please! A skunk has taken up residence under our house. We’ve been “spritzed” three times in six weeks during very noisy squatter’s rights disputes, and the essence stays in the house for a week! Being animal lovers, we don’t want to have it trapped and euthanized. We’re hoping you have a humane suggestion for relocating our tenant. We’ve made some phone calls, but the answers are “trap and euthanize.”
February 4th, 2010 at 7:41 am
Note to Ann: “The answers are to ‘trap and euthanize.’” No, those are silly, worthless answers. The killing is unnecessary; and, it isn’t going to set your property off-limits to other skunks.
I had a similar problem at my previous home because of an elevated redwood deck; and, a house that was not on slab foundation.
I initially tried the typical voodooism, i.e., dog/cat hair, vinegar, chili pepper. Purposeless.
Finally, my gardener located the skunk. He basically had to crawl under the house to “flush” him out with a hose.
He then had to trench below, and a little beyond the decking, and place small-meshed chicken wire to block skunk accessibility. (The appearance of the chicken wire irritated me, so I had it surrounded with holly bushes — which I loved, as did the birds.)
The skunk moved on to greener pastures. (Score two for me.)