Getting rid of that stink bug smell once it gets on your clothes, carpet or any rug on the floor, any fabric item in your house, or even on your skin can be a little challenging. The odor emitted by this particular species of insect can be quite powerful and at the same time acrid.
Stink bug odor on clothing or fabric
Once the odor reaches your clothing or any type of cloth material, it’s a simple matter of tossing them in the washing machine and using a good quality laundry detergent. That should be enough to do the trick.
If the item requires a little more delicate handling or is too large to fit in your washing machine, such as a bed comforter, or is a professional suit, you may want to take it to the dry cleaner.
Getting rid of stink bug odor in the above scenarios is pretty straightforward and a no-brainer.
Stinks of bedbugs on your skin
But what if it gets on your skin? Many people have reported that, no matter how hard they try, the foul stench of the stink bug will not go away with soap and water. That doesn’t seem to be enough.
In that case, what should you do?
While there is no textbook answer, there are many types of “home remedy” solutions that many people have shared on various online discussion forums. For example, you will use acidic solutions like those found in tomato juice or lemon juice. You basically wash the affected area with these juices. The acidic composition of the juice will generally permeate the skin, neutralizing and eliminating lingering molecules that cause the smell of stink bug stench.
Stinks of bedbugs on furniture or walls
You can use a spray air freshener to mask bed bug odor in rooms where it has become prevalent, although this will not permanently eliminate the source of the odor. If you know what surface(s) the stink bugs were on when they emitted their characteristic odor, then it may be possible to clean the surface and purge it of any odor-causing chemicals that may have saturated it.
When it comes to cleaning furniture or walls, you should resort to using the cleaning agents that you would normally have used for anything else. Any highly concentrated cleaning agent for fabric upholstery will work on furniture. Any chemical cleaning agent designed to clean wood, steel, or plastic will work just fine.
So sorry folks if you came here looking for some kind of exotic answer. While the stench can be quite strong, it’s not something that can’t be overcome with today’s modern home cleaning technology.
The good news is that the chemicals released by stink bugs that cause the stench are not toxic in any way. They are just annoying. (Though for many people, the smell sounds a lot like the herb known as coriander.)
If you’re having a hard time figuring out how to get rid of that lingering odor, then you really need to make sure you’re using a highly concentrated dose of whatever cleaning agent you use, and that you scrub it thoroughly. Sometimes it may take several tries to get rid of the smell, but eventually it will.
And in the worst case, you can resort to (or complement) the use of air fresheners or scented candles to mask the smell.