Have zero idea what to do after running over a skunk (seriously)

Bring it.
I have made it an objective to make this into a game w/ her.

 

It involves putting up with certain smells yourself, but I'm no longer 13, so I shant elaborate.

 

This is going to go from an "I ran over a skunk" thread to "Need marital repair advice" real soon ...

 

You called?

 

Skunk odor is - in chemical terms - a thiol. I think it is butyl thiol but that is a memory from many, many years ago...

Thiols - - all of them - - are foul smelling things. "Skunk thiol" not only smells bad, but it lasts a long time because it has a low vapor pressure and so it takes a long time for all of it to evaporate and dissapate into the air.

Water will not dissolve it readily. The best way to get rid of it is to react it with something and that means reacting it with something acidic. That will make the reaction products much more soluable in water - - meaning you can wash it off the parts of the car where it resides.

Common acidic substances that can work are :

Tomato Juice (recommended earlier)
Any citrus juice
White vinegar

You will need to find the spots on the car that have the skink thiol on them - - your nose will lead you there pretty well - - and douse those areas with the acidic liquid and then rinse well with water. It may take a few applications of "acid" followed by water, but that will get the smell off the car. Not fun, but better than driving around in a skunkmobile...

 

Tomato juice is a lot less expensive than citrus juice, especially this year after the Florida freeze.