Poison Ivy/Oak

[Don87]

A friend of mine has a vacation home near me that I have been taking care of for quite a few years now.

A couple weeks ago, his brother decided he was going to tackle clearing some of the bank back with a weedeater. I went down to mow the yard yesterday, and wasn't prepared for what I found.
Poison Ivy and poison Oak growing, in the yard, up to 20 feet away from the bank. With the wind blowing the way it was, I ended up with a little bit of a rash on my face and neck.

About 20 years ago I was weedeating, without safety glasses, and ended up inadvertantly cutting poison ivy and getting it into my eyes. I wore eye patches, and use a cane to feel my way around for 2 weeks over that incident.


Lot's of safety concerns to be aware of here.........be careful out there.

[greasemonkeyok]

I can't help you with your eyes, but if you get it on your skin, make and apply a past out of Tide or some other enzyme laundry detergent. Wash it off and your chances of getting a reaction go way down.

[Bird]

inadvertantly cutting poison ivy and getting it into my eyes. I wore eye patches,

I sure understand that, Don. When I was a kid, I figured I was immune, climbed trees with it, walked through it, etc. But I'll never forget helping Dad string a barbed wire fence along the creek when I was about 11 years old, stapling the wire to trees. And I pulled some poison ivy off a tree to get it out of the way. That might have been alright, if I hadn't then got a tiny piece of bark in my eye, so I rubbed it out with my fingers. A day or two later, I went to the doctor on my bicycle and danged near couldn't see enough to ride that bike home. And I was no longer immune; could get it just by getting too close to it.

[CompactTractorFan]

make and apply a past out of Tide or some other enzyme laundry detergent. Wash it off and your chances of getting a reaction go way down.

Or use something like this:

[ame]http://www.amazon.com/Labs-Tecnu-Outdoor-Cleanser-12-Ounce/dp/B000A7S3WK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1338772870&sr=8-1[/ame]

[TRR]

That "Tecnu" stuff is also available at walmart. (And it actually reduces the severity of the reaction.)

[milkman636]

Tecnu works well if you follow the directions. The same company makes a product called Calagel that cools and soothes the itch.

Round Up's "Tough Brush Killer" kills the stuff in about a week after spraying.

[CurlyDave]

That "Tecnu" stuff is also available at walmart. (And it actually reduces the severity of the reaction.)

I have found from experience that Go-Jo, or any mechanics hand cleaner works very well after exposure to Poison Oak/Ivy. Get the gritty kind (with pumice), not the slimy kind and your results will be as good or better than Technu.

Think about it--the rash producing component is an oil, and mechanic's hand cleaner is designed to remove oil and grease. I use it everywhere, not just on my hands.

[rswyan]

I use it everywhere, not just on my hands.

Dave,

I seriously hope you aren't going to expound on this any further ....

[Yooperman]

I have always been allergic to Poison Ivy. About 5 years ago I got a really bad case of what my allergist and I thought was poison ivy on my legs and arms and figured I accidentally hit some while weed whacking that week. I can spot Poison Ivy at 10 feet and I was much more careful next whacking time. But, this did not stop the need for another trip to the allergist from a bad reaction. This happened numerous more times until I was positive I was not whacking any Poison Ivy and my allergist was positive I didn't know what Poison Ivy look like!

Long story short... maybe 15 years ago I planted English Ivy all around the place as ground cover. About 5 years ago I started a couple of new prescription meds. Apparently one of my meds increased my sensitivity and I am now also allergic to English Ivy. I finally discovered this when I wasn't whacking but pulling some English Ivy out with my hands. According to my allergist, I am one of the lucky extremely small number of such individuals. I stopped whacking around the English Ivy and got no more allergic reactions. I have just about all my English Ivy eliminated, now. Too bad, I really liked it.

It's a dangerous world out there. I guess Poison Ivy and English Ivy really are related! Who knew???

[NorTracNY]

I own acres of PI. I've found Zanfel works better than Technu if you don't wash it off within the first few hours. But Zanfel is fairly expensive. ~$30/ounce with does about 20 limbs (arms/legs). The also make ivy blocks which you put on like sunscreen when you know you're going to be working with the stuff. That is cheap and works great.