Poison Ivy

tl;dw

Poison ivy oil (urushiol) is like motor oil, it's tough to remove. Within 2-8 hours of exposure, use soap, warm water and a damp washcloth or loofah to remove the irritating oil from every possible surface of your body where the oil from the plant may have gone. Don't buy fancy soaps but Dawn dish soap works well. A damp washcloth alone is more effective than any of the poison ivy cleaners without a washcloth.
 
Thanks for the video.
I have always used gasoline on a rag to wipe down the area or that orange pumice hand cleaner on a rag to clean the area. Will try Dawn, rag and friction and not waste gas any longer.
 
Fels-Naptha soap.

I find it interesting that it's just an allergic reation to the oil and that 15% of the population doesn't react to poision ivy.
The Mythbusters did one on using vodka to remove the oils and had a problem. Their first 2 test subjects were among the lucky 15% and didn't react to poision ivy.
 
Artie said:
Thanks for the video.
I have always used gasoline on a rag to wipe down the area or that orange pumice hand cleaner on a rag to clean the area. Will try Dawn, rag and friction and not waste gas any longer.
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I always use Tecnu as soon as coming in contact with poison ivy, as it isn't that expensive:

  • Medicated anti-itch outdoor skin cleansing scrub. Fast cooling itch and pain relief
  • Stops itching & pain, dries oozing, promotes healing
  • Removes the Urushiol oils from rash to speed & promote healing
  • Stops the spread of rashes and infections by removing the urushiol oils from poison ivy and oak and speeding healing
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https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...zZ3IBQ&usg=AFQjCNGYjM5d5zlCHpylKNaKZMn3Ew3Snw

However, I have wondered if the orange pumice hand cleaner works; does it work good?
 
I'm hoping I am one of them. I spend way too much time in the woods looking for my golf balls and ive never gotten anything and that stuff is everywhere.

cockpitbob said:
Fels-Naptha soap.

I find it interesting that it's just an allergic reation to the oil and that 15% of the population doesn't react to poision ivy.
The Mythbusters did one on using vodka to remove the oils and had a problem. Their first 2 test subjects were among the lucky 15% and didn't react to poision ivy.
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I"ve found Pine-Sol also works.

The take away is a good soap/detergent/solvent that breaks down oilsS and a thorough scrubbing.

If you aren't sure if you've been in poison ivy scrub like hell. . . and pay more attention the next time you are in the woods.

And the scrubbing with a damp cloth is more important/effective than the soap.
 
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Varmint said:
But how do you know when you've been exposed? I guess I should do a full body scrub whenever I work on the back yard.
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If you are "borderline full on allergic" as I am (I get it easily) you need to decontaminate within 1-2 hours after exposure to have any hope at all. Take your clothing and throw it in the wash immediately before you even go to the shower. Scrub the piss out of everything, (with the soaps described in above posts) a few times. Dry off. immediately retire your towel and washcloth you used to the wash, too.

If you feel a rash it's already too late and you're pretty much ****ed. [laugh] That's why if you think that you possibly maybe got exposed you gotta wash up.

-Mike
 
drgrant said:
If you are "borderline full on allergic" as I am (I get it easily) you need to decontaminate within 1-2 hours after exposure to have any hope at all. Take your clothing and throw it in the wash immediately before you even go to the shower. Scrub the piss out of everything, (with the soaps described in above posts) a few times. Dry off. immediately retire your towel and washcloth you used to the wash, too.

If you feel a rash it's already too late and you're pretty much ****ed. [laugh] That's why if you think that you possibly maybe got exposed you gotta wash up.

-Mike
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Yeah, I'm very allergic, I'll have the rash for 2 weeks. I do throw away clothing and take a shower right away, I think my mistake is not scrubbing, apparently soap isn't enough. Once I took a shower and got the rash everywhere I washed myself. [shocked]
 
toekneepea said:
I've got to get me some goats.

TP
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this is what got me wanting goats but i travel so much I cannot have pets ...i get it yearly it seems and this video had some good advice...wish i saw it the secodn time after I got it on my nether region [rofl]..I am up to 4 times now in the crotchel region....I knew 15% of peeps are not alergic to it...I would have my own removal company making bank if I was one of the 15%..me and my team of goats [smile]
 
toekneepea said:
I've got to get me some goats.

TP
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my goats and sheep will only eat poison ivy if they are starving. It's not their first choice. As for getting the oils off ,I use jewel weed (aka 'spotter touch me nots'). Pick it and crush it up and rub on exposed parts (and tools!) within half an hour or so. Then rinse with cool water. The oils gone.
I also make ice cubes with the juice for poison ivy in the hay we feed out during the winter. It grow for free and is borderline invasive. I keep a small patch growing by the back faucet.
P. S. Jewel weed is also edible when small and the seeds are yummy!!
 
I've never had poison ivy before - even as a kid my friends would dare me to rub it on my face... I did it once and the next day had a bump that itched a little bit. I'm convinced it was a mosquito bite.

Anyway, my wife gets it sometimes. She uses a product called Zanfel... it costs a lot but from what I can tell it works amazingly.

Just thought I would share...
 
Well, I got it. I've been doing 5 to 10 mile trail hikes, daily, over the summer. Looks like I picked up a rash along the way. Luckily, it's just confined to my lower extremities, from the knees down. I've been trying everything from calamine lotion, to alcohol, to Cortizone cream. Today, I put diluted bleach on it.
Any good remedies?
 
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Once you're showing symptoms it's been there a while. The oils are probably mostly gone and other than cortisone cream or shots, there's not much to do but let the body deal with it. When I had it I got some relief from one of those first aid sprays with a topical anesthetic to numb the skin.
 
Hold a hair dryer as close as you can to the rash for as long as you can without actually burning yourself. It will hurt like hell while the heat is on it, but won't be itchy after for hours.


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Thanks for the help guys. I ended up going to the dermatologist and am now on prednisone. Started taking it yesterday so we'll see.......
 
Jewelweed is the only real remedy- Foragers and Native Americans swear by it.

I am a Foraging Instructor and make my own Jewelweed soaps and salves. Jewelweed neutralizes urushiol and soap infused with jewelweed extract easily washes off all the oils, no hard scrubbing needed. If you miss the 2hr window for washing off the oils, jewelweed salve will halt the rash in it's tracks and immediately aid the healing process. This is how I ended up learning to forage in the first place- I had a wicked poison ivy rash and was prescribed strong steroids that my nursing infant could not be in contact with. I sought out this traditional herbal remedy and it is so powerful I have never had a rash since and it has been years.
If you live in Mass and would like to see more of my foraging tips you can check out my facebook: www.facebook.com/cookingwithmrsg I just taught a soap class last sunday!

I teach Wild Food and Medicinals Foraging spring thru fall and other homesteading skills like maple sugaring in the winter.

I am a MA certified teacher and US Army IT Specialist, and bow and shotgun hunter.
 
CookingWithMrsG said:
I am a Foraging Instructor and make my own Jewelweed soaps and salves. Jewelweed neutralizes urushiol and soap infused with jewelweed extract easily washes off all the oils, no hard scrubbing needed. If you miss the 2hr window for washing off the oils, jewelweed salve will halt the rash in it's tracks and immediately aid the healing process. This is how I ended up learning to forage in the first place- I had a wicked poison ivy rash and was prescribed strong steroids that my nursing infant could not be in contact with. I sought out this traditional herbal remedy and it is so powerful I have never had a rash since and it has been years.
If you live in Mass and would like to see more of my foraging tips you can check out my facebook: www.facebook.com/cookingwithmrsg I just taught a soap class last sunday!

I teach Wild Food and Medicinals Foraging spring thru fall and other homesteading skills like maple sugaring in the winter.

I am a MA certified teacher and US Army IT Specialist, and bow and shotgun hunter.
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Welcome to the forum. You should introduce yourself in the general section. Lots of people on here who might be interested in your knowledge.
 
Another vote for Tecnu although I will use any kind of oil solvent I can find as soon as I realize my skin has come into contact with poison ivy. Last thing you need to do is to answer nature's call after accidentally touching that stuff.

Typically it will be one of the first vines to change colors in early fall. Be careful not to touch any "hairy" vines either once the leaves come off. You'll still get it.

If you go through a lot of wooded areas, or are walking along the perimeter of an unmanaged forest, be careful when you untie your boots and take them off. The oil can cling to anything.
 
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My parents & brothers get it wicked, thank God I got the greasy Sicilian skin in the family. I pull Poison Ivy out by hand, and as long as it doesn't touch the back of my hands or arms I'm fine. If I feel it starting to get itchy I use liquid Tide and a nail brush then rinse with cold water. It's been at least 25 years since I've had to do that and I pulled a bunch out this summer at work. My brothers would have to scrub with liquid Tide from head to toe then rinse in a cold shower. Keep those pours closed, same remedy for fiberglass insulation exposure.
 
You wont get poison ivy on the palms/insides of your hands for the same reason you can pick up a jellyfish and chuck it at someone.

No pores. [smile]
 
I agree with the wash cloth thing. Not sure I would trust just a damp wash cloth to do the trick. It certainly doesn't get grease from my hands efficiently without some type of soap.

I spent a lot of time in CA for close to a decade hunting pigs with a bow. I can guarantee you where pigs live, there is lots of poison oak (way worse than poison ivy IMO). My routine was get out of the woods into the shower with a bottle of dawn and a wash cloth and scrub everywhere. You need to cut the crease and Dawn is excellent. Tecnu is OK but people tend to think it's a magic bullet and all you have to do is rub it on and rinse. Nope, that doesn't cut it. I almost never got outbreaks after hunting. I would get it later on because of things like putting on my hiking shoes and forgetting where they had been and bam, oil all over my hands again.

First hog I ever killed died in a PO thicket that I didn't even notice at the time. I spent the next 6 hours cleaning the pig, drinking beer with the guys at camp and having to piss all the time due to the beer. Never made that mistake again [crying]
 
I pick a bunch of jewel weed, which usually grows near poison ivy and simmer it in coconut oil. Strain out the plant matter and let the oil cool and then I have an effective salve that lasts the season. Works great!
 

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