Was it in a bag? That would have been best. What kind is it? If it's an oder sock then that's about how long they work.. lol
I've had my odorsok for about 4 months and it's still working great. I hear they improved it somehow, as this is version 2. I use mine to circulate in a sealed room, not to vent. I find the biggest factor in performance is humidity, as soks soak it up and hold onto it (any carbon does this). I simply blow dry mine for 10 minutes and it's back to working like new. During this 10 minutes, my room is unfiltered and the smell builds up. 2 minutes after turning on the reactivated filter, the smell is gone, so that's how I know it's still working. I pull mine out and dry it about every 2 weeks.
I would never trust an odorsok to clean air before being vented outside. This is because when they do fill up, it happens in a matter of hours. It would be easy for the sok to fill up and quit working (until reactivated with heat) while someone is at work, which could result in straight skunk smell being blown outside for a few hours. So they may be limited in application, but I find they do work, pretty well actually. Perfect for a closet, tent or small grow room.
Another mistake people make with the odorsok is washing it with hard water. The water must be very near 0ppm or else you are just contaminating the carbon further. Also, do not use any soap or detergent of any kind!!