I used a deoderizing spray from the pet store on my dog. It had enzymes that neutralize the oils from the skunk. Maybe such a spray would work.
I used a deoderizing spray from the pet store on my dog. It had enzymes that neutralize the oils from the skunk. Maybe such a spray would work.
Don't let life get in the way of living.
Thanks for all the tips. I wanted to try ClO2 but it made others in the house nervous. Thermarest recommended the usual hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, and detergent advice found everywhere.
I think time (ten days), water, and air drying had the most positive effect on nylon and polyester. It was no scientific experiment, but there are some synthetics that I washed with baking soda and others with water only. I notice no differences and the stink is mostly gone from all of them. An old Thermarest has a faint swampy smell but that could be age, storage, or water-logging. I used water only on nylon NeoAir and a polyester quilt; both smell fresh and fine.
The dog still has a bit of an odor. I washed him with vinegar, wait, rinse, shampoo, rinse. The neighbor also washed him with shampoo. They should probably just give him a haircut, IMO. The cotton rag I used to wash him has been soaked for hours in vinegar and through the wash twice. I can still smell skunk if I breath deeply through it. It'll get another wash and I'll consider it clean.
The areas of the yard and wood where the skunk sprayed still smell faintly after ten days. I splashed vinegar in those areas and it has rained several times since. Maybe "Nature's Miracle Skunk Odor Remover" which arrived today, will help.
crop_IMG_20180907_113746085_HDR.jpg
The residual skunk odor will act as a cover scent, which should allow you to see more wildlife while in the hammock. If the scent diminishes too much just find a skunk and throw your hammock over him and back in business.
I'm surprised this hasn't happened to me yet. Wait, give it time. Lol.
" The best pace is a suicide pace, and today looks like a good day to die." ~ Steve Prefontaine
Cascade Designs (Thermarest) R&D team followed up again ([my cuts in brackets]):
“Nylon materials are fine when exposed to vinegar and baking soda. Nylon is listed as only fair when wetted with 10% hydrogen peroxide (means softening, loss of strength, or swelling may occur.)
[...] 3% hydrogen peroxide solution [...] will not do as much long term damage as a 10% solution to the nylon material. There may be some discoloration as the hydrogen peroxide is a bleaching agent.
Polyurethane is a broad family of materials so it is impossible to fully [predict] how our polyurethane materials will behave. However acidic environments created by the vinegar are terrible from a materials compatibility for polyurethane. I am not sure how much the baking soda raises the pH of the skunk spray. Polyurethane materials are generally tolerate to being exposed to baking soda and hydrogen peroxide.”
Yesterday morning my dog and I went for our early morning "walk and talk". This time of year it was still dark when we started. As we went up the road my dog woofed up the side hill and back down. I could barely make out a skunk coming after her...and me! I whipped out my can of pepper spray and threatened the skunk by tell it I was going to do the "hosing down" and not it. We gave it a wide berth and kept our eyes peeled on the barely discernible skunk and continued on. I also lost the orange "keeper" on my pepper spray during the incident that prevents accidental discharge.
When we came back down the hill it was light enough to look for the orange keeper. As it turns out where the incident occurred, as evidenced by my keeper lying in the road, the skunk was digging a den just off the road in the uphill bank where the digging looked conducive for building a new den. In summary, it looks like I missed a prime opportunity to put more de-skunking to the test.
Bookmarks