Skunk Smell

I

imported_Malachi

New member
I ran over a skunk and was serching the archives for a solution and came across a thread that had this link.



http://www.pssales.com/troubleshoot.html#odor



Can anyone tell me what product would qualify as:



"Oxidizers - These products speed the oxidation of a compound and deplete its ability to create odors. Oxidizers are used successful, for instance, in handling skunk odors."



I have spread baking soda on the floor mats and sprayed some Febreeze, but want to consider the alternatives.



TIA
 
lol get a foaming nozzle on a sprayer and spray tomato juice throughout the interior, be sure to get under the seats. :D I know you are a smart person but for someone else reading this...

PLEASE dont do this it was a joke.
 
Skip the tomato juice. It didnt work for me, at least when one of my dogs got sprayed a few years back. Mythbusters just had something about skunk odors on their show Sunday.
 
LightngSVT said:
Skip the tomato juice. It didnt work for me, at least when one of my dogs got sprayed a few years back. Mythbusters just had something about skunk odors on their show Sunday.
Click to expand...





I was just gonna mention mythbusters. I saw it in the shows description but missed that part of the show.
 
this is what I just read that they used:



1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide

1/4 cup baking soda

1 teaspoon dish-washing detergent



but thats just for removing skunk smell from someone that has been sprayed. If you ran over one and the whole car smells like skunk, then you prob need to wash the underside of the car with some very powerfull stuff.
 
vapore0n said:
this is what I just read that they used:



1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide

1/4 cup baking soda

1 teaspoon dish-washing detergent



but thats just for removing skunk smell from someone that has been sprayed. If you ran over one and the whole car smells like skunk, then you prob need to wash the underside of the car with some very powerfull stuff.
Click to expand...



Thank you for the recipe.



I have ran my car through a car wash that had an under-carriage rinse, I just wondering if I have to spray the underside with the same recipe.
 
The principle behind using an oxidizer to eliminate the odor is to change those chemicals that cause the odor into different chemicals that are not so offensive.



Oxidizing is a very good way to change chemicals because nearly every natural compound reacts readily with oxygen. An oxidizer is any chemical that readily gives up oxygen to a reaction. (for you hard core chemists out there; yeah I know that's an oversimplification but it'll do for now.)



Probably the two most common forms of oxidation used as examples are burning and rusting. Burning off the skunk smell kind of defeats the purpose fixing it and nobody want to just sit around and wait for it to dissipate naturally so you obviously want to find a chemical process that is somewhere in between. This is where it can get tricky because you want an oxidizer that is strong enough to neutralize the skunk juice but not so strong that it harms whatever you're tying to clean.



Ozone, chlorine bleach, hydrogen peroxide and the popular Oxi-whatever cleaners are all oxidizing agents. The stronger the agent the more you have to be careful about the concentration you use and that you completely remove any residue after you're done.



Ozone has the benefit of being a gas and so it completely dissipates after you're done. Unfortunately that also means that you have to use it in a relatively well sealed enclosed space (with you outside of it!). Liquids are easy to apply but you have to be sure to completely rinse every nook and cranny that they can hide in.



Vapore0n's recipe is a good balance of strength and safety and is recommended for animals. For a piece of equipment you may be able to use stronger measures.





Good Luck.





PC.
 
vapore0n said:
this is what I just read that they used:



1 quart of 3% hydrogen peroxide

1/4 cup baking soda

1 teaspoon dish-washing detergent



but thats just for removing skunk smell from someone that has been sprayed. If you ran over one and the whole car smells like skunk, then you prob need to wash the underside of the car with some very powerfull stuff.
Click to expand...





This "skunk solution" was in the Farmer's Almanac a few years ago. It does work! My late Cocker Spaniel, Toby, got sprayed by a skunk one evening as we let him out in the yard to do his evening "squat and squirt".
 
Malachi said:
When you say stronger measure above, are you talking more hydrogen peroxide?
Click to expand...

At the time I wrote that I was thinking chlorine bleach but it really means any oxidizer used in a high concentration.



Since the hydrogen peroxide available in drug stores is only 3% it's really mostly water and pretty mild. (hydrogen peroxide used for rocket fuel oxidizer is much stronger but you won't find it at Wally-Mart)



The 10% chlorine bleach solution suggested by love2shine or the 6% solution mentioned in the article are likely to be more effective but will also be more likely to harm the car. If you try the bleach be very careful with it and make sure you completely remove any traces of it afterwards. Bleach can obviously lighten fabrics but it can also accelerate rusting of metal, embitterment of some plastics, decomposition of coatings etc..



To be on the safe side I would try a couple of times with the mild stuff before engaging in aggressive chemical warfare.





PC.
 
the other PC's got it... Oxidizer like bleach will break the di-sulfide bond which effectively breaks up the smell. I ran over a skunk once, and I searched the internet to find the solution, and 10% bleach worked for me (for the underside of the car).
 
Skunk Odour- safely and effectively removes skunk odours (Skunk Kleen, worldpetstore.com) is an odour neutralizer that can be sprayed directly on you or your pet as well as in the air, on your vehicle, on clothing, fabric, bedding, litter, cages, kennels, carpeting, flooring, and porous surfaces to eliminate skunk odour.
 
I used the baking soda method with Febreeze and it got the smell out.



I spread a generous amount of baking soda on the carpets (front and back) then I sprayed Febreeze on head liner.



I was worried because the car had to go into the shop and it was basically closed up for 3 days. When I got the car back there was not a hint of skunk :bounce
 
the other pc said:
What did you do to the undercarriage?





PC.
Click to expand...



Well nothing after the first day when I went through a car wash (twice) that had the under carriage spray.



The smell was gone before I tried the other suggestions which are very much appreciated. :xyxthumbs
 
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