How to remove skunk smell from your house
To remove skunk smell from your house, ventilate, find what got sprayed and clean it, then replace the furnace or AC filter. Wash fabrics with the peroxide and baking soda mix added to the wash water, wipe sprayed hard surfaces, and treat outdoor spots with diluted bleach. Skunk odor is oily sulfur compounds that cling to surfaces, so the smell lasts until the spray itself is removed or neutralized.
- Best method
- Ventilate, clean or neutralize sprayed spots, replace the HVAC filter
- Time
- A few hours of work; a faint smell can take days to weeks to fade
- Difficulty
- Moderate
You will need
- Fresh 3% hydrogen peroxide, baking soda and dish soap
- Laundry detergent
- Chlorine bleach, for outdoor hard surfaces
- Rubber gloves
- New furnace or AC filter
- Commercial skunk odor neutralizer (optional)
Step by step
- 1
Open the house up
Open windows and doors and run fans to push air out. Keep doing it for the first day or two.
Why: Fresh air carries away the volatile thiols that make the smell, and dilutes what's left.
- 2
Find what was sprayed
Work out where the spray actually landed: a pet that came inside, a doormat, clothes, a crawl space, foundation vent, window well or the deck. The smell is strongest close to the source.
Why: Cleaning the actual sprayed material does more than treating the whole house.
- 3
Wash fabrics with the mix in the water
Wash pet bedding, throws, rugs and clothes that picked up the smell with detergent, adding a fresh mix of 1 quart 3% hydrogen peroxide, ¼ cup baking soda and 1 to 2 teaspoons dish soap to the wash water. Wash twice and hang outdoors. See skunk smell in clothes.
Why: Detergent lifts the oily musk and the peroxide oxidizes the thiols. Diluting it in the wash protects dyes.
- 4
Clean sprayed surfaces indoors
Wipe sprayed hard surfaces with soap and water, or a commercial skunk neutralizer used exactly as labeled. Don't pour the peroxide mix straight onto carpet or upholstery.
Why: Soap dissolves the oily spray so it can be wiped away. Undiluted peroxide can bleach fabric.
- 5
Treat outdoor hard surfaces with bleach
For a sprayed porch, deck, concrete or siding, apply 1 cup of chlorine bleach in 1 gallon of water to the sprayed spot only, after testing a hidden area.
Why: Chlorine bleach is a strong oxidizer that breaks down thiols. It can stain, so keep it to the spot.
- 6
Replace the HVAC filter
If a faint smell still hangs around after a few treatments, replace the furnace or air-conditioner filter.
Why: The filter catches the odor and keeps blowing it back through the house.
Why skunk smell gets into a house and stays
Skunk spray is an oily liquid packed with thiols, sulfur compounds people can smell at around 10 parts per billion. It drifts in through vents and windows, comes in on a sprayed dog, or seeps up from a crawl space where a skunk sprayed. Because it's oily, it clings to fabric, drywall, wood and concrete, and the HVAC system spreads it.
The spray also contains thioacetates, which slowly react with moisture and release fresh thiols. That's why the smell can seem to come back on humid days without a new spray. The skunk smell page explains the chemistry and why tomato juice doesn't work.
When the smell means a skunk is still there
Skunk odor normally fades over several weeks. If it gets stronger instead, a skunk may be living under a deck, porch or crawl space, or may have died there. Frequent spraying around the house, especially in spring and during the February to March breeding season, suggests a family has moved in.
Cleaning won't help until the animal is gone. If you find a dead skunk, handle it only with gloves, long sleeves and eye protection: rabies isn't spread through the musk, but the virus stays infectious in a carcass until it has fully decomposed.
By situation
The dog got sprayed and ran inside
Treat the dog outdoors with the peroxide mix first. Then wash its bedding and any rugs or throws it touched, and wipe floors and furniture it rubbed against.
A skunk sprayed under the house
Ventilate the crawl space if you can, treat any reachable hard surfaces with diluted bleach, and keep the house aired. Porous materials such as concrete and unfinished wood may need several treatments.
Smell soaked into drywall or wood
Odor that has penetrated porous materials such as drywall, concrete or unfinished wood may need multiple treatments, and sometimes the material has to be removed.
The smell returns when it's humid
Thioacetates in the spray release thiols when they meet moisture. Treat the surfaces again and keep ventilating; the flare-ups fade with each round.
What not to do
- Don't use an ozone generator in the house. EPA says ozone doesn't remove odors at levels safe to breathe and irritates the lungs.
- Don't store the peroxide mixture in a closed container. It releases oxygen and can burst the container. Mix it fresh in an open bowl and use it right away.
- Don't pour the peroxide mixture onto carpet or upholstery. Peroxide can bleach or discolor fabric.
- Don't mix bleach, ammonia, vinegar or deodorizer products. Bleach with ammonia or acids releases toxic gases. See never mix.
Other methods that work
Commercial skunk odor neutralizer
Products made for skunk odor can be used on surfaces and fabrics. Follow the label, including any spot test.
Caution: Don't combine them with other chemicals unless the label says you can.
Time and fresh air
For a light, drifted-in smell with no direct spray, ventilation alone usually clears it over days.
Caution: Expect it to flare on humid days until it's fully gone.
Stain still there?
The house still smells faintly after a week
Replace the HVAC filter, wash any fabrics you haven't yet, and look for a sprayed spot you missed near vents, doors or the crawl space.
The smell is getting stronger
A skunk may be living or dead under the house. Check under decks, porches and window wells, and have the animal or carcass removed before cleaning again.
Safety
- Mix the peroxide, baking soda and soap formula in an open container and use it right away. Never cap or store it.
- Skunk odor can cause nausea and can be hard to breathe for people with asthma. Ventilate and take breaks outdoors.
- Handle a dead skunk only with gloves, long sleeves and eye protection.
Never mix cleaning products; see chemicals you must never combine.
Questions
How long does skunk smell last in a house?
Untreated, it usually fades over several weeks, with flare-ups on humid days. Cleaning the sprayed spots and replacing the filter shortens that a lot.
What absorbs skunk smell in a house?
Nothing absorbs it well enough on its own. Ventilate, wash or neutralize what was sprayed, and replace the HVAC filter.
Does vinegar get rid of skunk smell in the house?
Diluted vinegar is only a fallback; it reduces the stench rather than neutralizing it. Never use it with bleach.
Why does my house still smell like skunk weeks later?
Either a sprayed material hasn't been cleaned, the HVAC filter is holding the odor, or a skunk is living or has died under the house. Humid weather can also make old spray smell again.
Skunk elsewhere
Other smells in the house
Sources
- Removing Skunk Odor (NebGuide G2100), University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension
- Sprayed by a Skunk, Penn State Extension
- Skunk Control, Missouri Department of Conservation
- What to do about skunks, Humane Society of the United States
- Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Last updated . Methods are drawn from the sources above; how we research and check our guides.