How do I remove skunk smell from my automobile? I ran over a skunk last night and now my car smells horrid! I took a bath in lemon juice to get the smell off of me, and washed my clothes in lemon juice and Cheer to get the smell out of them, but what do I do about my car?
Right now it's sitting out in the driveway, as far away from the house as possible, in the pouring down rain with 3 bowls of vinegar inside, but if the smell is on the outside how do I get under the car to get the smell off?
Sandy from Demorest, GA
I would take it to a car detailing shop. It may cost $80 or so, but it would be well worth it. Call around and tell them your problem and see if they can remove the smell first. (01/08/2007)
By pam froelich
This happened to me in high school. Don't spend the money having it cleaned on the outside. The smell will wear off. It may take a good week, but it will wear off. All of the components it hit are metal, plastic or rubber. They will not retain the odor as if it were cloth or carpeting. (01/09/2007)
I would take it to a car wash that has an undercarriage wash cycle to get the underneath cleaned up. (01/09/2007)
I can only think of masking the smell with bengay cream. We had to do this once after hitting a skunk. We were on vacation and still had an 8 hour drive left. It did help, and eventually the smell went away on its own. (01/09/2007)
By Janene
Thanks for all the info. I had put 3 bowls of vinegar in the car to kill the smell and now it smells like vinegary/skunk, so I've used a room deodorizer and rolled all the windows down while it is pretty outside to hopefully air it out. Once the smell inside is tolerable I'll take it to the car wash just for good measure. It needs a good wash job anyway since it hasn't had one in a while, and I left it out in the rain for 2 days (hoping one of the tornadoes that came through Georgia would take it away!). (01/10/2007)
By Sandy from Demorest, GA
Use tomato juice if you can. I ran over a dead skunk and it was all over the tires and even began to smell inside before I got home. I took a box lid and dumped all the tomato juice I could find in it and ran all the tires back and forth through it until the juice was gone. My husband came home that night and he wondered what the car was doing sitting in the box lid, but couldn't smell a thing! Hope you can do it. (01/10/2007)
By Jean
Removing skunk smell is pretty easy with OdorXit Concentrate, http://odorxit.com/?Skunk-Smell is the how to do it (01/22/2007)
By Martin Meyer
I have another idea: I recently read that a bag or bowl of FRESH coffee grounds will remove the odor of anything, anywhere. I haven't had the opportunity to try it yet, but it would certainly be inexpensive to try if you are still having some smell lingering inside. Jean (03/22/2007)
By Jean
If you use pine-sol and spray it under your car, it will get rid of the smell on your car. (09/12/2007)
By redneck
Simple Green works very well in removing skunk odor. Just spray on and rinse. It worked for me. And it is non-toxic and biodegradable. (09/21/2008)
By Snake Plisskin
Some doctor, a chemist, developed a recipe using household chemicals to chemically neutralize the skunk odor. It's supposed to break down the molecule chain, hence no more smell. I don't know if it works on a car or not but it worked pretty good on my yellow lab.
1 quart 3 percent hydrogen peroxide (fresh bottle)
1/4 cup baking soda (sodium bicarbonate)
1-2 teaspoons liquid dish soap.
Ingredients must be mixed in an open container and used immediately. Never mix the ingredients in advance because oxygen released from hydrogen peroxide may cause a closed container to explode. The solution can be used on people or pets; avoid splashing the product in the eyes or mouth. Allow the solution to remain on hair for five minutes before rinsing with water. Repeat as needed. Do not use this solution on clothing, as it may discolor the fabric.
By Daniel Reed
A couple of weeks ago, I had the same problem. I didn't want to even try the tomato juice or peroxide method on my car because the one would probably dye it red and the other would bleach it.
I found a product called BioWorld who sells an odor neutralizer and special foggers. It took me less than an hour to get the smell completely out, but it worked! I'm going to keep this stuff around the house in case I have other odor issues. Looking around on this site, I have also noticed a lot of dogs getting skunked. I've been lucky and my dog hasn't been skunked but just in case, I am going to have this product close buy!
http://www.adbio.com/odor/uses/odor-control-automobiles-2.htm (02/20/2009)
By Daniel
This happened to me this morning. I stopped at Wal-Mart after work and picked up a bottle of Kids-n-Pets instant all-purpose stain and odor remover. I squirted it all over the tires I ran over it with. Once the solution dried, the smell was gone. YAHOO! It was the best $5.25 I have ever spent! (02/24/2009)
By Kim
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