Thank you Hurricane Irene!!!!  Not only has Irene left us without power...(which according to our Electric Company we'll be in the dark for several more days!!) Levi and I were sprayed by a skunk last night while sitting on our front porch!!!  REALLY!!!!!!  Any suggestions on how to get the smell out???  I can honestly say that when I screamed Levi ran...so he didn't get sprayed TO badly and I immediately bathed him with cold water by candlelight!!! (not sure if that is the right thing to do or not) but his eyes were really bothering him!  I can't smell it on him to much unless I get up close to his face!  HOWEVER i smell like a real gem!!  I'm sure my co-workers are blessing me right now!  

This is the dog recipe I have, I would think it would work on people:

Combine 1 quart hydrogen peroxide, 1/4 cup baking soda and 1 to 2 teaspoons liquid soap (Dawn works best).  Add lukewarm water if needed for large dogs.  Mix ingredients well.  The solution will fizz.  Use immediately - do not store.

Massage into the dog's coat, avoid getting it in the eyes, ears & mouth.  Allow the solution to remain on the dog for at least five minutes (longer if needed).  Rinse the dog well with lukewarm water.  Repeat as necessary until odor is gone.

My youngest dog has been skunked a couple times.  The hydrogen peroxide, baking soda, dish soap is probably the best I found.  The last time was 2 weeks before a dog show.  The above mixture got rid of 99% of the smell, but her face took a direct hit, and some lingered there.  I got suggestions of Fast Orange waterless hand cleaner (guess some groomers use that) and Nature's Miracle Skunk formula to try to nix the rest of the smell.  Both smelled great going on, but when they dried, there was no improvement above the peroxide mixture.  Like Beverly said, every time they get wet thereafter--for a few weeks, it will bring the smell to the surface.

ahhh how did I miss this post! Sorry to hear about it. it just happened to Joey about 6 weeks ago, and her haid STILL smells faintly of skunk when it gets wet. I honestly wouldn't wish that smell on my worst enemy.  It actually smells nothing like the smell when theres a dead skunk on the side of the road.  its about 1000x more garlicky and pungent.  yuck

She got directly sprayed in the face in our backyard, I had to pull her away from the skunk she was going to kill it.  Took her up onto the deck and she puked up foam, and had it in her eyes which were kind of glued shut. I washed her off with the hose outside while the skunk was still under the deck with dog soap to clean her eyes out, then she ran inside and rubbed everything in our house. Our house smelled for a month.

We tried the tomato juice which doesn't really do anything, and I actually read online that this approach is more a old wives tale than an actual smell remedy. We also tried the peroxide, baking soda, dish soap formula which worked better than anything else, but still, she still smells about 6 weeks later. the house doesn't smell anymore finally. anyway, its just bad news, not much you can do about it.

texas belle -

Removing the smell has nothing to do with the formula being acidic. Tomato juice may mask the smell--but it won't do anything to neutralize it. The hydrogen peroxide mix is not acidic. It works by creating oxygen that neutralizes the oil from the skunk(thiols). I did spend quite a few hours researching the topic, here is an article and video from NPR "Skunked? Tomato Juice Is Not The Answer"

William Wood, chemistry professor at Humboldt, "Chemistry of Skunk Spray"

Another article "The Stinking Truth of Skunk Spray and Tomato Juice"

Apparently this guy, a chemist, is the one who came up with the peroxide formula

The moral of the story for me was to not let the pup outside after midnight.  It still could happen at anytime I guess, niqole said it was still light!  I was definitely under the impression skunks were nocturnal.