poison ivy

[6thgpSF]

last week it was warm enough that I was working in a sleeveless workout shirt.I was putting black locust posts in for my fencing project.I cut these posts 3yrs ago so the bark came off real nice.some of them were pretty heavy so I was lifting them in kinda a bear hug fashion.That night my arms started itching and the next morning they were all broke out in a rash.I couldn't figgure out what the heck was goning on cause it looked like poision ivy.well come to find out there were vines on these posts and even though they were cut 3 yrs. ago and in dec. I got nailed by poison ivy. russ

 

[two_bit_score]

Is it possible that the black locust wood itself is what you may be alergic to?

 

[6thgpSF]

I 'm pretty sure it was the ivy that got me.I remember yrs. ago I had this old stump that a nest of carpenter bees had taken up resident in the roots.Every time I mowed around it I'd get nailed by them and they have a nasty habit of going for your head.I tried spraying them but because the nest was underground I didn't have much luck so I poured a can of gas around that stump and fired it up,got rid of the bees but there was ivy roots in that stump and got a good dose of it from the smoke,I was real lucky I didn't breath any in my lungs. russ

 

[radioman]

russ- I am sorry you got poison ivy. If you still need to put up more posts with poison ivy on it, you could hire someone like me to do it. some are just immune to it. perhaps you have the sense to wear gloves and long sleeve shirt next time and wash your hands outside with soap .

 

[brin]

I am immune to poison Ivey but my daughter in law was out with me a few years ago and I was burning wood that had a lot of poison ivey intertwined in it and she was sick for a week..she did breathe the smoke..be real careful..the oils in the ivey vine stay active forever it seems like..and when you take your closthes off you have to wear gloves and those clothes have to be handled with gloves all the way to the washing machine..

 

[6thgpSF]

radioman, I usually wear gloves and other precuations when working around ivy but I just didn't think about it in the middle of December.After it snowed this week I decided to cut some more posts,I cut about 100 nice posts and believe me gloves and sleeves are now SOP. BTW around here most of the old fence post are hedge, for some reason I don't have but two hedge trees but have plenty of black locust. they really make nice posts sans the ivy. russ

 

[theboman]

I hate the stuff. As a kid I could look at poison ivy and be covered the next morning.

Somewhere along the line I kinda, or thought I'd got immune to the stuff since I'd worked thru it numerous times and not a single itch.

Two years ago while showing a house I strolled thru a few vines and my sure enough ankles and lower legs had an itchy few days....now at out here at Iron Hill it's all over the place. So far so good for me, but the wife and daughter have had a few spots here and there. I think it's under control now we used some ivy killer and it's vanished from the area next to the playset.

 

[whistlepig]

I am immune to poison ivy also. My brother is not. We were clearing out a fence row together. He ended up in the hospital for three days with his eyes swollen shut. I didn't get a scratch. I also have a friend that is allergic. He burned some brush with poison ivy in it and inhaled the smoke. He was a young pup then and barely survived. Poison ivy is pretty serious stuff for some people. I always warn others of it.

 

[Opti-Mist]

I guess I'm another who might be immune. My neighbor is very sensitive to it and I didn't even realize that we have it around here. Had another experience blasting stumps with a couple of guys a bunch of years ago. They both got it but I did not despite crawling around in the same stuff. Lucky me!

 

[JoelD]

I've been told numerous times that our bodies change over time. I could sleep in the stuff as a kid and never ever had a single problem.

I've lived on my current property for 10 years and have been through every square inch (just about, 3 treed acres).

3-4 years ago, all of a sudden I get an alergy to it. Now, I go near it and I get it, got a tiny little bit just a week or so ago.

Seems like when I hit 40 the wheels came off the tracks, I'm thinking by 80 I'll be all good again.

Morale of the story is, don't count on permanent non-allergic reaction.

I use the killer anwhere I think the stuff resides.

I hate the stuff and need to be mindfull when burning.

Joel

 

[Matt_Jr]

I HATE that stuff. But I found a little white pill that seems to help. It's called poison ivy extract. Look for it at your local pharmacy. After taking them for a few weeks, you'll build up your immune system to the stuff. But it's not permanant, so you'll have to keep taking them during the season. Oh, they make for a faster recovery too.

 

[eepete]

The oil in poison ivy (and oak and sumac) is a base (i.e. the opposite of an acid). So there is an allergic component for some that can change with age, time, and exposure history. There is also a base burn factor which depends on how much you got on you and how thick your skin is (or skin type). This is also why it takes some time to see the blisters from an exposure. Bottom line is don't assume that if you don't get it now, it will be like that forever or for all exposures. That's also why the smoke from burning ivy is very dangerous. The lungs are very vulnerable to the base burn.

Hasn't been mentioned here yet, but, to get rid of the stuff there are two things I use. Roundup (or equivalent) works but I use the concentrate so I can beef it up. But Roundup is a nuclear option and kills everything. I've also had success with 1 part household/laundry bleach 2 parts water. It kills the ivy but leaves everything else. The bleach reacts with the oil and the leaves loose their protection and die. Got this from my BIL who is a chemist and looked up the formula for the base in the oil and said give it a try. Bleach does not kill down into the buried vine like Roundup, so you'll be doing the application for a few seasons until you starve out the root. But you don't always have the luxury of laying the landscape to waste just to get rid of some ivy.

Oil in the vine last a long time. I know a guy who cut a vine 8 months after he cut the tree it was on down. He was cutting up the tree for fire wood. Where the wood shavings from the chain saw hit his forearm, he got a bad area full of blisters. Keep this in mind when burning brush piles even those that have been sitting for a long time.

Finally, this is a time when everyone should be glad that there are _not_ pictures.

Pete

 

[Redneck in training]

Yes, poison ivy is dangerous. I almost killed my mother several years ago.
She came to our place for a visit. I was burning some leaves and grass apparently contaminated by PI. She inhaled some of the smoke and became very sick. Our son is allergic to PI to such a degree that he will end up in hospital when exposed.

 

[dave1949]

Hasn't been mentioned here yet, but, to get rid of the stuff there are two things I use. Roundup (or equivalent) works but I use the concentrate so I can beef it up. But Roundup is a nuclear option and kills everything. I've also had success with 1 part household/laundry bleach 2 parts water. It kills the ivy but leaves everything else. The bleach reacts with the oil and the leaves loose their protection and die. Got this from my BIL who is a chemist and looked up the formula for the base in the oil and said give it a try. Bleach does not kill down into the buried vine like Roundup, so you'll be doing the application for a few seasons until you starve out the root. But you don't always have the luxury of laying the landscape to waste just to get rid of some ivy.


Pete

That's good info. Thanks. I haven't found any around here - yet. Birds eat the berries on poison ivy, so it could show up just about anywhere I suppose.
Dave.

 

[Transit]

Be careful if the sap gets on your work close, it may transfer to other things too.