How to Get Rid of Skunk Smell on a Dog, in a House, or in a Car

Why skunk smell is so hard to wash off

Skunk spray is an oily liquid full of sulfur compounds called thiols. Oil doesn’t mix with water, so a plain bath spreads it around instead of removing it. Some of the compounds also release fresh smell when they get damp, which is why the odor seems to come back on a humid day or when a sprayed dog walks through wet grass.

To get rid of it you need two things: something that breaks down the sulfur compounds, and soap to lift the oil.

First: eyes and faces

If the spray hit someone in the face, flush their eyes with clean, lukewarm water for 15 minutes. If a pet’s eyes stay red or it keeps pawing at them after you rinse, call your vet. Call Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222 if anyone swallowed the spray.

1. Wash your dog with the peroxide mix

The mix used by extension services and animal welfare groups:

• 1 quart (about 1 liter) of fresh 3% hydrogen peroxide
• ¼ cup of baking soda
• 1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap

Mix it in an open bowl or bucket and use it straight away. It fizzes and releases oxygen, so never put it in a closed bottle. A sealed container can burst.

Do it outside if you can, so the dog doesn’t carry the smell through the house. Don’t wet the dog first. Work the mix into the coat where it was sprayed, usually the face, neck, and chest, keeping it away from the eyes, nose, and mouth. Leave it on for about 5 minutes, then rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water. Repeat if the smell is still strong.

Don’t leave it on longer than needed. Peroxide can lighten dark fur. Follow up with the dog’s normal shampoo, and dry it well. For cats, ask your vet first.

2. Wash clothes, collars, and bedding

Don’t pour the peroxide mix straight onto clothing; it can bleach the color. Instead:

• Wash with your normal detergent and a scoop of oxygen bleach, in the warmest water the care label allows.
• Wash everything twice.
• Dry it outside in the fresh air, not in the dryer, until you’re sure the smell is gone. A dryer’s heat can set what’s left.
• Soak or replace a fabric collar. A collar sits right where the dog got sprayed and holds the oil.

Shoes and things you can’t wash can hang outside for a few days.

3. Get skunk smell out of your house

Air it out. Open windows and set box fans in windows blowing out, so you pull fresh air through instead of pushing the smell deeper into the house.

Find where it touched. If a sprayed dog ran inside, it rubbed the oil onto floors, rugs, the couch, and its bed. Wash hard floors and walls with hot water and dish soap. Machine-wash anything that fits. Clean rugs and furniture with a carpet cleaner and detergent; see how to get a smell out of a couch and carpet.

Change the furnace or AC filter. The University of Nebraska–Lincoln extension points to the air filter when a faint smell lingers indoors, because it traps the oily droplets and keeps blowing them around.

Absorb what’s left. Leave activated charcoal bags or bowls of baking soda in the worst rooms, and run an air purifier with a carbon filter. These work on traces, not on fresh spray.

4. If the skunk sprayed under the house or deck

A smell that keeps coming back, or gets stronger, usually means a skunk is living under a porch, deck, or crawl space, or one has died there.

• To check if a den is empty, loosely plug the hole with leaves or soil. If it stays undisturbed for two or three nights, the skunk has moved on, and you can seal the opening with buried wire mesh. Humane World for Animals advises waiting in spring and summer, when there may be babies inside.
• If something died there, see how to get rid of a dead animal smell. Wear gloves and a mask, double-bag the remains, and dispose of them according to your local rules.
• On concrete or unfinished wood where the skunk sprayed, the extension service suggests 1 cup of household bleach per gallon of water, used outside on that spot only. Test it first, since bleach stains. Never mix bleach with other cleaners.

5. Skunk smell in a car

If you drove over a skunk, the spray is on the underside and tires. Wash the outside of the car, including the wheel wells, at a car wash. If the smell is inside because a sprayed dog rode in it, clean the seats and mats the same way as the house, replace the cabin air filter, and leave the windows down in the sun for a day. For other car smells, see how to get rid of a bad smell in your car.

What doesn’t work

• Tomato juice. Your nose gets tired of the skunk smell and notices the tomato instead. The spray is still there.
• Ozone generators. The EPA says ozone at safe levels doesn’t remove most odor chemicals, and higher levels harm your lungs. See are ozone generators safe?
• Air freshener on its own. It covers the smell for an hour, then the skunk smell comes back.