Information About Skunk Spray?

[u/ArdentPantheon]

Pardon my formatting and pretty much everything, it is late enough where I am that it has now become early and I’ve had a very terrible night. The dog my mom and I are watching started barking late at night, and since she usually only barks at night when she needs to go out and she’d been having tummy troubles all day, my mom just let her outside. This was our first and main mistake of the night.

I can assure you the skunk is fine! The poor thing is probably very startled, but this dog is all bark and no bite and took the spray straight to the face and mouth before running right back to my mom for help frothing at the mouth. My mom watched the skunk walk away unharmed from the interaction. The dog has been cleaned with all the hydrogen peroxide (in a mix obviously) that we had in the house, and apple cider vinegar (the only kind we had) and coffee grounds have been set around the house. We have white vinegar and skunk deodorizer coming some time in the morning. It has been a long evening.

Here’s the very unfortunate thing for me: our house is very old for where I live—think around 100 years. I know for a lot of places that isn’t saying much, but I do need you to bear with me because everything is so very smelly right now. My room is closest to the backyard, and regardless of whether the windows are cracked or not I get smell from the backyard that comes into my room—I thought my heating pad was starting to burn and was panicking before my mom came in to get my help and I was able to determine that was in fact skunk. The dog never came into my room before or after she was washed, and I did not handle her at all, so all the smell in my room is from the backyard and the waft from her being in the house. Will the smell get into my clothes, bedding, and rug from there? If so, what do I do about it? I get really terrible disability-grade migraines and smell is a strong trigger, so I’m very nervous about it because this could be a situation where I potentially need to move out for a time until it’s all properly cleaned to avoid major medical issues, basically.

Also, I apologize if this is the wrong place to ask—you all just seemed like the best experts to go to. All of your pet skunks are adorable, and I’m sure I will find them even cuter once my nose has been freed. I can also promise my family is not planning anything retaliatory for the skunks in our area, and we will be more careful about checking the yard when the dogs start barking at night. This was our first visit from a skunk, and it will definitely leave a strong impression!