How to de-skunk your... everything?

[sauergeek]

One useful thing I've found from getting skunked: a workable de-skunkification mix. A chemist came up with the mix based on a liquid filter he used to break down hydrogen sulfide in a waste gas stream. It's a 192:12:1 mix (in my case, 1 cup, 1 tablespoon, and 1/4 teaspoon) of 3% hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and liquid hand soap. See the actual recipe for details and some explanation, and his IFAQs for a more detailed explanation of how the reaction works.

One of the worst-hit things was one of the bike panniers. I went after the pannier with this stuff and a toothbrush, and it slew the stink. (As a control, the bike itself, which I am slowly acquiring the tools to properly dismantle so I can get at all the places that skunk spray got, and which still is not acceptable in company.)

Comments

[keshwyn]

My 'favorite' skunk story is how a rabid one decided my *dorm* was threatening it, and skunked the entire east side of the building. I woke up at four a.m., tasting skunk aroma in the back of my mouth, and in my sleepy state, opened the windows.

The level of stink did not appreciably change. That woke me up enough to figure out what was going on. (Being in the basement, I had it worst, of course.)

The whole dorm got those industrial serv-pro fans pointing out our windows for several days, until the smell finally began to dissipate. It was fascinating in a 'I'm glad I'm probably never going to have to deal with this again' kind of way.

[sauergeek]

Ugh, rabid skunks. That sounds like a world of no fun. I wonder if that de-skunking mix would've worked to make the dorm stop stinking faster.

But beware, if you have an outdoor pet: they can occasionally get skunked too. My old dog killed a rabid skunk in the yard (and got sprayed for her trouble). And then apparently she didn't learn, because she managed to get sprayed again a couple years later. (That skunk escaped.)