How to Remove Skunk Spray

Yesterday morning, we woke up to the realization that a skunk had sprayed our carport. We live a little further out of town. It’s not too far since I can get anywhere I need to within 10-15 minutes, but we are far enough out where we have plenty of wildlife in the area. This kind of thing comes with the territory.

Since this was the first time I ever had to deal with skunk spray, I thought I’d share some things I learned (thanks to You Tube). So if you happen to come across a situation where you need to remove skunk spray, this is what to do.

I can testify that the 1 cup bleach + 1 galloon of water solution works. Between running to the store to get the bleach and bucket then running out to the garage about 30 times to dump the solution all over the garage, it did take me about 3.5 hours, but it worked!

Since that method worked so well

I haven’t had a need to boil vinegar in the house, but I bought a large container of vinegar yesterday. I also bought the hydrogen peroxide and baking soda in case someone in the family gets sprayed in the future.

I did end up using a natural spray to go around the areas I don’t want any skunks going. I bought a spray bottle, and I will be buying cayenne pepper. That way if the spray I bought doesn’t work, I have a backup plan. (I’m the kind of person who likes to have everything ready in advance.)

My main concern is also having stuff that isn’t harmful to kids. I try to stay away from harmful chemicals as much as possible. And I was using the bleach solution in the garage while they were in school so that by the time they got home, that had evaporated. Something I learned as a parent is that you really never know what kids will get into, and even older kids have moments where they slip and get into things they shouldn’t.

Now, since this happened in a carport, the cars were affected. I went to an automotive store yesterday and the person there recommended Ozium. This happens to be something that is potentially hazardous if breathed in, so my husband sprayed this in the car when he got home, and we made sure the doors were locked so the kids wouldn’t go into it. This morning at 5:30, I went outside and rolled down all of the windows. I wanted to make sure anything lingering from the spray would be gone by the time I needed to take the kids to the bus stop. In Montana, it’s cool in the mornings so it was the ideal time to air out the car. (And yesterday I kept the car outside of the carport.) When I drove to the bus stop an hour later, the skunk smell was gone. I think Ozium got the smell completely out, but I need to check on it this afternoon when it warms up to know for sure. If the trick doesn’t work, I’ll let you know. The good news is that the smell wasn’t that bad in the car, and no one smelled like skunk after being in the car. So I’m not that worried about it. The main thing is that the smell is gone from the carport.

Anyway, I’m passing this information along in case you ever need it. Hopefully, you won’t.