Getting rid of that stink bug smell once it gets on your clothes, the carpet or any rugs on the floor, any fabric items in your home, or even on your skin can be a bit of a challenge. The scent that this particular species of insect gives off can be quite powerful and at the same time pungent.
Stink bug odor on clothing or fabric
Once the smell gets on your clothes or any kind of fabric 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 cleaners.
Getting rid of stink bug odor in the aforementioned scenarios is pretty straightforward and a no-brainer.
It stinks like bedbugs on your skin
But what if it gets on your skin? Many people have reported that no matter how hard they try, the fetid stink bug stench won’t 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 acid solutions like those found in tomato juice or lemon juice. Basically you wash the affected area with these juices. The acidic composition of the juice will generally permeate the skin, neutralizing and removing lingering molecules that cause the stink bug odor.
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 remove the source of the odor. If you know what surface(s) the stink bugs were on when they gave off 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 fabric upholstery cleaning agent 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 is not something that cannot be overcome with today’s modern home cleaning technology.
The good news is that the chemicals released by stink bugs that cause the stink are not toxic in any way. They are just annoying. (Although to many people, the smell closely resembles that of the herb known as cilantro.)
If you’re having a hard time figuring out how to get rid of that lingering smell, then you really want to make sure you’re using a highly concentrated dose of whatever cleaning agent you use, and that you’re scrubbing it in thoroughly. Sometimes it may take a few tries to get rid of the odor, but eventually it will.
And in the worst case, you can resort to (or complement) the use of air fresheners or aromatic candles to mask the smell.
