How To Get Rid Of Skunk Smell: Off People, Pets, Clothes, And More

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Best Ways to Get Rid of Skunk Smell

Medically reviewed by Shilpa Amin, M.D., CAQ, FAAFP, MSCP — Written by Corey Whelan — Updated on July 10, 2025

Why so smelly?
Off people
Off pets
Off clothes and furniture
Out of house
Out of car
Takeaway

Several at-home techniques and commercial products can help remove skunk smell. Using the right products and acting quickly are key.

Skunk spray has been compared to tear gas, and with good reason. Skunk spray and tear gas are both lachrymators — chemical substances designed to irritate the eyes and nose, causing redness, mucus production, and tears. In some instances, the scent of skunk spray may even cause nausea.

Thankfully, skunks don’t go around looking to spray people and pets. Skunks are nocturnal and tend to avoid humans and other animals.

However, if they sense danger, they’ll discharge an oily, yellow spray from their anal glands to protect themselves. This spray can reach a distance of over three feet and vaporize quickly, permeating practically everything it touches.

Getting rid of skunk odor takes quick action and the right products. The sooner and more efficiently you act, the better your chances of eliminating the skunk gunk completely and quickly.

Several internet myths about getting rid of skunk smell may lead you astray. In this article, we’ll tell you the truth about what works and what doesn’t.

What makes it so smelly?

The noxious scent of skunk spray can be long-lasting and overpowering. Skunk spray contains sulfur-based organic compounds called thiols. These compounds let off an immediate blast of acrid scent, reminiscent of rotten eggs.

Skunk spray also contains thioacetates. Thioacetates remain dormant at first, but can morph into smell-producing thiols when they come into contact with water or humidity. This can happen days or longer after the skunking occurred. It’s the thioacetates in skunk spray that give it its staying power.

Compounding this stinky situation is the sensitivity of the human nose, which can pick up skunk smell in tiny quantities, as low as 1 part per 10 billion.

How to remove skunk smell from people

If you get “skunked,” your first step should be to take an immediate bath or shower to remove the smell. In scientific terms, this means attempting to oxidize the thiols into sulfonic acids, which have little to no skunk smell left in them.

Wash your entire body with deodorant soap or a grease-cutting dish detergent. Wash your hair with a shampoo made for oily hair.

You can also soak in a baking-soda bath for 15 to 20 minutes:

Pour 2 to 4 cups of baking soda into hot water.
Rinse to remove the residue from your skin.

How to remove skunk smell from pets

If your pet gets sprayed, create a homemade mixture of:

1 quart 3 percent hydrogen peroxide
1 teaspoon baby shampoo or grease-cutting dish detergent
1/4 cup baking soda

Lather this mixture onto your pet’s fur and let it sit for five minutes. Make sure not to get it into their eyes. Then rinse and wash your pet with their regular shampoo. Repeat if necessary.

Keep in mind that hydrogen peroxide may lighten your pet’s fur, so don’t leave the lather on for more than five minutes at a time.

Note: Do not store the leftover mixture in a sealed container or bottle, as it could explode. If you don’t have hydrogen peroxide on hand, you can try white vinegar.

Store-bought solutions

You can also use a store-bought product like Nature’s Miracle Skunk Odor Remover on your pet. Make sure to rinse thoroughly and air dry their fur.

You can find this product at most pet supply stores or online.

Debunking the tomato juice myth

Contrary to urban legend and online myth, tomato products like tomato juice and sauce do not eliminate skunk smell. These products may help mask odor, but they do not oxidize or destroy the thiols or thioacetates that cause it. This is also true for beer and oatmeal.

Getting skunk smell off clothes and furniture

You can remove the skunk smell from most clothing and fabrics by washing them with regular laundry detergent mixed with 1/2 cup baking soda in hot water. Then, air dry the clothes.

Air drying may be more effective than machine drying. A dryer may bake in the smell, if it’s not removed completely during washing.

Repeat this process until the skunk smell is completely gone.

Delicate fabrics may not survive vigorous washing in the machine. Instead, try soaking delicate fabrics in the laundry detergent and baking soda solution for up to 30 minutes in the sink. Rinse and air dry. Repeat if needed.

Steam cleaning

Soft surfaces that cannot be washed by hand or in a machine, such as carpets and couches, can be steam cleaned.

Commercial products

You can also try products designed for this purpose, such as Skunk Off Liquid Soaker.

Commercial products may also be your best bet for removing skunk smell from mattresses.

You can purchase Skunk Off Liquid Soaker online.

Getting skunk smell out of your house

Skunk smell can permeate an entire home, including hard and soft surfaces. If your pet has been skunked outside, bathe them outdoors if possible so they cannot bring the smell in with them.

If this cannot be avoided, or if a skunk sprays inside, near, or under your home, try the following:

Ventilate your home by opening all windows and running fans on high.
If your home is temperature-controlled with an HVAC system, let the fan run continuously until the smell is gone.
Let sunlight in, as this will help oxidize the odor.
Place bowls of vinegar in each room of the house and leave them in place for 24 to 48 hours, or until the scent is gone. Make sure the bowls are out of reach of pets and children.
Once the smell is gone, change the filters on your air conditioners, heaters, and furnace to avoid reintroducing it into your home.
Hard surfaces, such as floors and furniture, can be treated with a solution of 10 percent bleach and 90 percent water. Patch test this solution first, to make sure it does not take the color out of wood and ceramics. You can also try a 10 to 90 mixture of white vinegar and water.
Commercially prepared cleaning sprays and solutions can also help remove skunk smell from flooring, carpets, upholstery, and walls.

Getting skunk smell out of your car

If your car has been skunked, open the windows and let the sun shine on the upholstery.
Use a 10 to 90 solution of bleach and water, or a solution of hydrogen peroxide, water, and baby shampoo to wash down the car’s interior, including the carpet and the seats. Do a patch test first to ensure it doesn’t lighten the fabric.
If necessary, place bowls of vinegar in the front and back seats for several days. You can also use charcoal for this purpose.
Hose down the car’s tires and exterior.
If the smell persists, use a commercial product in your car’s interior.

The takeaway

Skunk smell can cause a physical reaction, including a runny nose, watering eyes, and nausea. It can last for days or longer if not removed.

Several at-home techniques and commercial products can help remove skunk smell from people, pets, homes, and cars. Using the right products and acting quickly are key.

How we reviewed this article:

SourcesHistoryHealthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical journals and associations. We only use quality, credible sources to ensure content accuracy and integrity. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy.

Cosier S. (2006). Is it true that tomato sauce will get rid of the smell of a skunk?https://scienceline.org/2006/07/ask-cosier-skunk/
Munteanu C, et al. (2019). An electrophilic natural product provides a safe and robust odor neutralization approach to counteract malodorous organosulfur metabolites encountered in skunk spray.https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.9b00415
What to do when a skunk sprays your dog. (n.d.).https://www.humaneworld.org/en/resources/de-skunking-your-dog
Wood WF. (1999). The history of skunk defensive secretion research.https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00897990286a

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Medically reviewed by Shilpa Amin, M.D., CAQ, FAAFP, MSCP — Written by Corey Whelan — Updated on July 10, 2025

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