Dern poison ivy!

[Brent Cutshall]

Wow, my first thread in this forum. Anyway, I do a good amount of logging to get my wood so I normally end up trouncing and swimming through loads of poison ivy. I've tried calamine, alcohol, and bleach. Anybody want to help me out and get me some tips 'cause I can barely write this without itching! Stupid poison ivy!!

[Walter Plummer]

I think this is the best stuff. http://www.amazon.com/Tecnu-Extreme-.../dp/B0007IOVZK

[William Adams]

Agree w/ Walter, use Tecnu — including using it to wash your clothing — when I expect to get into it, I undress into the washing machine and immediately wash them w/ Tecnu, then take it to shower w/. My wife will then re-wash the clothing w/ normal laundry soap, then do a load of whites w/ bleach, so as to be certain that nothing anyone else wears will be contaminated by poison ivy oils.

[Mel Fulks]

If you have any Jewelweed growing you can rub it on skin to remove the oil. Was used by American Indians for that purpose. Tends to stain skin kinda yella but does work. Can be cooked down into juice and frozen to be kept handy. Sometimes you find it growing close to the poison ivy.

[Brent Cutshall]

Yes Mel, jewelweed grows here. That stuff's awesome, I use it for almost everything but never thought to use it for poison ivy. Thanks. I'll try the Tecnu too. By the way, I've heard that brake cleaner might work, any input?

[Frederick Skelly]

Yes Mel, jewelweed grows here. That stuff's awesome, I use it for almost everything but never thought to use it for poison ivy. Thanks. I'll try the Tecnu too. By the way, I've heard that brake cleaner might work, any input?

It's been a while since I've used it, but isn't brake cleaner full of toxic stuff you'd rather not rub on your skin?

[Brent Cutshall]

I don't know, a friend of mine is a professional mechanic and he has crates of brake cleaner that he uses instead of soap. But I'll only use it as a last resort or if the poison ivy starts to affect my thinking. I hate poison ivy I tell ya, I can't catch a break around the stuff. That confounded weed will get me in the winter dern it, and I ain't about to give up woodworking cause of that, that abomination! Now I best stop writing afore I start ranting about annoying things like why don't Tarzan have a beard. Thanks all!

[Matt Day]

I had a couple roommates who would react quite easily (and pretty bad) to poison ivy. Usually this was from mountain bike trail maintenance or yard work around the house. Anyway, they swore by Tecnu.

[Rick Potter]

If you use prednisone before it starts to weep, it will kill it real quick. Wait too long....too bad.

As a fireman, I was protecting a dentists house on top of a hill in a brush fire, surrounded by poison oak. It burned through three ways during the night, and by morning I could not open my eyes. That night, the dentist, whom I had never met, knocked on my door and handed me a bottle of prednisone pills.

They knocked it out in a couple days.

[Von Bickley]

Save yourself a lot of pain and suffering. See your primary Dr. They have medicine that will knock it up........

[Frederick Skelly]

I hate it too Brent. I feel for ya. Hang in there man.
Fred

[roger wiegand]

Technu to start then betamethasone diproprionate cream from your doc. It's a topical steroid 1000x more potent than the hydrocortisone available OTC. Night and day difference. You can mess with the folk remedies but if you want to stop itching and breaking out sooner rather than later go for the big gun that actually blocks the inflammation.

[Jason Roehl]

I am very sensitive to poison ivy. Just reading this thread will probably give it to me. Despite some pretty bad breakouts, I've been able to avoid the doctor with a few things.

1. Wash with Tecnu ASAP, even if it's a day or two after exposure and you're starting to break out, but preferably when you come inside after exposure.
2. Take the max dose of Benadryl for a couple days.
3. Apply Calagel to the affected area as needed for the itching. It's a clear gel that cools as it dries and really helps control the itching/burning without the pink paint look of calamine lotion.

[Anthony Whitesell]

You can also apply Tecnu before hand. There is also a foaming solution that is the same as Technu but not as oily to be applied before contact.

[Steve Peterson]

I try to wash quickly with Fels Naptha soap. It does a really good job of removing the oils from your skin. You have to wash while it is still on the surface, probably within 15 minutes of exposure.

Everything I read about poison oak and ivy is that your body becomes sensitized after a few exposures. Every exposure after that will create a bigger reaction than the last one. The only thing that works for me is to get really good at identifying the plant and learning to not touch it.

Steve