HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

[lmgrahamdc]

Have a great thanksgiving and be grateful for all we have!  Thanks to everyone!  Take care Leslie 

[JAponte]

Ditto!

Just wanted to share a bit of ours. After the heaping amounts of fantastic food and alcohol my bother, some point Saturday evening, burned a big brush pile at my parents ranch before the rains hit and pissed off a skunk. Said skunk decided to spray the entire house for 30 mins. Smelled like gasoline. I mean he was pissed. He circled the house at least 3 times.

[badmonkey]

Your skunk and my attitude for Black Friday seem to have been in synch.

What a hoot, and a great story for future days, eh?

However, Hydrogen peroxide + baking soda + liquid dish soap seems to work pretty good (the liquid soap acts as the disbursing agent), but if you really need to spend money, you can always buy a commercial skunk remover solution.  The chemistry behind the H202/BakingSoda/Soap releases Oxygen that will have a field day with the Thiols (the smelly stuff that is like rotting flesh, good zombie smell eh? - so watch out for skunk smelling walking dead) and neutralizes the smell.

Specifically 1 quart of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide (H202) with 1/4 cup Baking soda mixed with 1 Teaspoon liquid soap (not my recipe), you can also add in a cup of water for a little extra volume.

You can alternatively use Bleach, but you will trade one smell for another and most likely irritate the lungs/eyes/etc.  

Just in case you ever want to go back to the ranchero, eh?

Vic

[JAponte]

BadMonkey, I have to admit I am little impressed. That was very detailed response. So then, does the urban legend that tomatoes also rid skunk smell true?

[badmonkey]

Yes,

However....

You are actually fooling yourself with the amount of reagent in Tomato juice not doing much and the time/volume required is VERY high.

This is due to olfactory fatigue, much like my wife's cooking where I just got used to the smell (another way of saying that your nose gets accustomed to a scent after a period of time, like walking into a pet owners home or one of those candle stores at the Mall). When your nose stops detecting the skunk spray, the strong smell of tomato juice tricks you into thinking it must have taken care of the problem. HOWEVER, if another person were to enter the room, he or she wouldn't be so easily fooled.

The only real way to get rid of the odor is to neutralize (change) the thiols by changing them into compounds that your nose won't recognize as being offensive. The way to do this is by adding oxygen in a process known as oxidation. When oxygen is added to the sulfur/hydrogen (x-S-H) compound, odorless sulfonic acid RS(=O)2–OH is formed.

But be warned that if you do not change the thiols, the smell may return when the area gets wet again.

In the end, use what you have and by all that is holy stay upwind.

Vic