AAARRRGGGHHH!!! I MIGHT have poison ivy!!!

[Nyboy]

I have a friend who washs hands in straight bleach swears by it.

 

[seedcorn]

I have a friend who washs hands in straight bleach awears by it.

What I do.

 

[baymule]

Clorox is my friend too! I have used it straight, but usually dilute it half 'n half. Let it dry, don't rinse off and don't towel it dry. If caught right away, I don't even break out. If I do break out in the itching, claw-until-it-bleeds whelps, blisters and rash, then the Clorox dries it right up.

 

[897tgigvib]

Oh by golly, for washing poison oak off the skin, my favorite soap anymore is aloe-cucumber. Always works for me, but whatever you use, wash yourself extremely thoroughly as soon as possible if not sooner than possible. Sooner than possible is better.

 

[canesisters]

I get a slight case of it 2 or 3 times every year - and I am very glad to be lucky enough that I'm not very reactive to it. It grows among the grass/weeds along the driveway and when it starts getting really messy looking I take that long walk with the weedeater and trim everything (including any overhanging low branches and protruding shrubs ). Down one side and back up the other. I always try to do that at the end of the day so I can head right to the shower afterwards. No special soap, no caustic washes. I always thought that the rash was caused by the oil from the leaves?? And that just washing it off was sufficient??? What does pouring bleach on your skin do to the oils that soap & water won't??

 

[seedcorn]

Bleach dries out the skin so that the oils absorbed can't cause problems. Same reason calomine lotion is used. Bleach much more aggressive for those of us sensitive to ivy.

 

[TheSeedObsesser]

Jewelweed (a.k.a Touch-me-not) sap rubbed on the rash takes the itch out of it. It grows anywhere east of the Mississipi River. Likes to grow near poison ivy too. Jewelweed has orange or yellow flowers, the orange jewelweed is more potent. Funniest thing is I am extremely allergic to poison ivy (I end up having it all over the place for months), but I can walk through a bed of Stinging Nettles, in shorts, with no reaction.

 

[seedcorn]

I can look at stinging nettles and get stung. I give them doses of 2-4D as well as any poison ivy I see.

 

[MontyJ]

A looong time ago when I was in the Boy Scouts, we went on a camping trip. It was getting dark by the time the tents and campsite were set up and dinner was over. There was a hill nearby and since boys will be boys, we decided a game of night time king of the hill was in order. Most of us were in shorts and shirtless in the summer heat. By the next morning we were in agony. An inspection of the hill revealed that most of the back side was covered in poison ivy.

When I was 15 I hit a cow with my motorcycle in the south Texas desert. I slid into a massive prickly pear (the cow was unharmed). Even that couldn't compare to the weeks I spent recovering from the poison ivy event. I had it over a good 80% of my body including places that I can't mention on a family forum. One of my troop ended up in the hospital from it.

 

[897tgigvib]

Wellp Ducks, how did it go with the poison ivy?

I have both my cats on my lap. Is it possible to put cats on a weight loss diet and survive, I mean, me survive. Peeper is heavy, but nowadays, so is Clevland!

I sure hope the poison ivy was only a false alarm.

Oh, and Monty, I got ya beat on how bad i got poison oak when i was in 6th grade. A friend and I were digging antique bottles. Turned out it was a patch of poison oak we were digging valuable bottles out of. No wonder the bottles had not already been dug up. Got it on 100% of my 12 year old boy body, which means... I didn't go to the hospital but i did miss some days of school. Maximum. Misery.

Since then I ASSIDUOUSLY ENSURE I don't get poison oak!