# Tell me how to keep from getting ate up with poison ivy everytime I walk through it please.



## anymanusa (Jul 24, 2018)

Long pants, long socks, and tall boots laced all the way up doesn't seem to offer enough protection for even a short walk through a little of the stuff. I have some areas of my property that me and the wife feel the need to traverse through occasionally, and although my outbreaks are very minor and minimal, I'm still really scared of the stuff because some poison oak did me in for about 3 weeks earlier this year.

Does barrier cream work? I'll walk through the stuff and then wash with Dawn soap a couple hours later, but I still get the little bumps on my lower legs. Like I said, nothing near as bad as poison oak, but I want to be able to walk through the stuff with impunity. 

Any tips?


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## Drptrch (Jul 24, 2018)

https://www.verywellfit.com/best-poison-ivy-and-poison-oak-prevention-3436294

The trick is to clean as soon as possible, if your exerting yourself, your pores open and oil mixes with sweat and covers a greater area. 
And don’t scratch as that rips pores open, use Zanfel cream (Best) or a mild cortisone cream for pain and inflammation.

Pepcid & Zantac can help with that, as they are (H2)histamine blockers along with Benadryl (at night, sleepy) or Claritin (Day, not sleepy)
Pre-wipes can work, just don’t cover yourself as they are a pore 
“Blocker”

Other things: or at least interesting things that work for others 
https://poisonivy.aesir.com/view/medicine.html


Erik


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## Canyon Angler (Jul 24, 2018)

+1 on Benadryl if you get the rash. Stopping the histamines early helps prevent a feedback loop of itch/inflammation.

Other than that, using Fels Naphtha soap helps wash off the urushiol...if I'm in it, I try to jump on it ASAP to wash it off. Good luck.

"Little bumps" ... are you sure they aren't chiggers? If so, permethrin on the bottom of your pants works wonders. I get zero chiggers with permethrin, but without it they tear me up.


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## Rob Stafari (Jul 24, 2018)

Also use a rag and scrub real good. Friction is key. The oils have a consistency similar to axle grease. You know how you can wash your hands with soap and they'll still be black in spots unless you use a rag or scrub brush.


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## old CB (Jul 25, 2018)

Best not to walk through poison ivy at all. Its oil readily transfers to whatever it touches: your pants legs, your boots and bootlaces, whatever. And it transfers from one material to another. If you're in it at all, it'll find a way to make you miserable.

When you have no choice but to walk thru a poison ivy patch, step carefully, make sure you touch it only with the soles of your boots, and then don't touch those boots in the next hour of walking.


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## Drptrch (Jul 26, 2018)

Canyon Angler said:


> +1 on Benadryl if you get the rash. Stopping the histamines early helps prevent a feedback loop of itch/inflammation.
> 
> Other than that, using Fels Naphtha soap helps wash off the urushiol...if I'm in it, I try to jump on it ASAP to wash it off. Good luck.
> 
> "Little bumps" ... are you sure they aren't chiggers? If so, permethrin on the bottom of your pants works wonders. I get zero chiggers with permethrin, but without it they tear me up.



Woot Woot !!





Out west Paradise RoadSoap Co makes a Oak soap with mugwort in it. Handed out like prized candy on forest fires out hear




http://www.smashtherash.com


Erik


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## old CB (Jul 26, 2018)

Generally you can find jewel weed nearby where poison ivy grows. It's a delicate plant, easy to recognize once you know it (Google it, and go to "images"). You find it most in damp areas, stream banks, drainage, etc. Rub jewel weed on any affected area--it will reduce the rash.


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## jrider (Jul 26, 2018)

I'm highly allergic and have found everything out there to be a gimmick....nothing has worked for me except staying away from it.


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## anymanusa (Jul 26, 2018)

Thanks for folks he replies. I'm not really asking how to treat it tho, I'm asking if a pre-treatment is possible. Can barrier cream prevent a rash? Will wearing trash bags around my lower legs prevent contact?


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## old CB (Jul 26, 2018)

Don't know anything about barrier cream.

Trash bags might work . . . but how will you remove them without contacting the bags that now have oil on them?

The absolute best prevention of poison ivy rash is to know the plant and stay away from it.


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## anymanusa (Jul 26, 2018)

old CB said:


> Don't know anything about barrier cream.
> 
> Trash bags might work . . . but how will you remove them without contacting the bags that now have oil on them?
> 
> The absolute best prevention of poison ivy rash is to know the plant and stay away from it.


Well it never gets on my hands or arms. It's gotten on my neck before, and repeatedly on my lower legs. So there is that.


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## CUCV (Jul 27, 2018)

I've used pre-treatment with some success. But my standard is to wash with Technu within 3 hours of heavy contact with great success. I have done hand pull removal or dump trailer loads wearing tyvek suits with rubber gloves duct taped to the suit with no outbreaks. I think the trash bag idea would work along the same lines, its very possible your getting secondary contact from your cloths.


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## madhatte (Jul 31, 2018)

Just tried Paradise Road soap for the first time this week, my rash from heavy exposure is WAAAAAY less than normal. I think the stuff may very well work. I also strongly endorse Zanfel in spite of how expensive it is.


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## elitts (Oct 4, 2018)

I'll just second Jewelweed as a treatment if you've already gotten the beginnings of a rash. It's free, easy to find and it's juicy enough that all you need to do is grab a section of stem and smoosh it against the affected spot and rub it around. I don't know about the claims that it somehow will "cancel" the oil itself if you rub it on after exposure, but it is a lab tested and proven antipruritic (anti-itch) for anything that's got your skin itching.


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## 2dogs (Oct 8, 2018)

I spent last Saturday on the second phase of clearing an old road through the redwoods, the road hasn't been used for at least 20 years. of course poison oak was everywhere. I had bucked a 28" blow down and was trying to roll a 12'6" onto the choker with a peavey. As was pulling my hardest the sapwood let go and the peavey and I landed on my butt in a patch of poison oak. We ended up having to dig under the log. BTW my partner doesn't get oak so all he did was laugh. Thanks Matt.

The story should have ended there but we decided to hike up the road a bit. I went over to check out an old stump while Matt went straight up the road. I should have followed him. It was an interesting stump but I kicked up a yellowjacket nest. They were pissed off at me, chased me back to the truck and followed me inside. I got stung seven times including one on my left temple. As it turned out I only got a small spot of poison oak on my left wrist but that is where I got three stings. Such is life in the woods. Hey, at least it wasn't hornets!


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## anymanusa (Oct 8, 2018)

2dogs said:


> I spent last Saturday on the second phase of clearing an old road through the redwoods, the road hasn't been used for at least 20 years. of course poison oak was everywhere. I had bucked a 28" blow down and was trying to roll a 12'6" onto the choker with a peavey. As was pulling my hardest the sapwood let go and the peavey and I landed on my butt in a patch of poison oak. We ended up having to dig under the log. BTW my partner doesn't get oak so all he did was laugh. Thanks Matt.
> 
> The story should have ended there but we decided to hike up the road a bit. I went over to check out an old stump while Matt went straight up the road. I should have followed him. It was an interesting stump but I kicked up a yellowjacket nest. They were pissed off at me, chased me back to the truck and followed me inside. I got stung seven times including one on my left temple. As it turned out I only got a small spot of poison oak on my left wrist but that is where I got three stings. Such is life in the woods. Hey, at least it wasn't hornets!



I actually had my first ever experience with yellow jackets a couple weeks ago. I was using a pole saw and they didn't like me doing that. I was stung several times before I even knew I was being stung. This quick little effer ended up getting the losing end of it once I figured out what he was doing. Anyway, my senses were quite dulled by the power equipment, and they got me when I was focused on something else.


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## madhatte (Oct 9, 2018)

I got lit up by yellowjackets on a fire this season... in the dark, hiking out. Never saw them, just kept running until the stinging stopped. That was an unpleasant experience. The fire before that we were in heavy poison-oak for about a week and I only got a couple of spots around my wrists and ankles. I guess I spent all my good luck for the season.


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## RandyMac (Oct 9, 2018)

'Jackets...lol.
There are some you can run from and some, you have keep working in the middle of them.
I hit the choke and smogged 'em.

on the poison oak, you could be a ***** like me and avoid it entirely.


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## madhatte (Oct 9, 2018)

RandyMac said:


> on the poison oak, you could be a ***** like me and avoid it entirely.



That's my preferred strategy.


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## crammit442 (Nov 13, 2018)

jrider said:


> I'm highly allergic and have found everything out there to be a gimmick....nothing has worked for me except staying away from it.



I used to do a lot of kayaking and got it really bad a few times. A buddy that does right of way tree work told me to try "Oral Ivy". I was skeptical about it, but after using it, I'm a believer. As long as I start using it a few weeks before exposure I don't have any problems. It's cheap enough that it might be worth trying. 
Charles

https://www.amazon.com/Prevents-Sym...=UTF8&qid=1542132288&sr=8-3&keywords=oral+ivy


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## Franny K (Nov 18, 2018)

Since it is your property kill the stuff in the winter. Do you have the vines going up tree trunks? Cut them. I have to segregate out certain clothes items or others will get symptoms via washing machine. May be no answer for post 1. I have learned when need for warm water rinse approaches.


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## CLASSIIILVR (Dec 9, 2018)

pyrethren on the bottom of your pants if its chiggers for sure! Just dont soak it on your skin...soak or spray your bottoms and boots with it and no bugs will getcha!


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## anymanusa (Dec 11, 2018)

Franny K said:


> Since it is your property kill the stuff in the winter. Do you have the vines going up tree trunks? Cut them. I have to segregate out certain clothes items or others will get symptoms via washing machine. May be no answer for post 1. I have learned when need for warm water rinse approaches.


I just got my six foot pole saw I'm fixing to cut a bunch of vines and be very very careful about it.


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## ericm979 (Dec 16, 2018)

I'm very allergic to poison oak. The active ingredient "poison" in both poison ivy and poison oak is the same. We have tons of PO on our land. The best thing I've found when working on it is to not work for more than two hours. Finish up, go in the house and immediately remove all clothing and put it in the washing machine. Get in the shower with a washcloth and a bottle of Dawn dish soap. Scrub everywhere that wasn't well hidden under clothes throughly three times. Use lots of dish soap. The washcloth goes into the washing pile when you're done. Clean your tools later, carefully, and throughly wash any body parts that touched them.

If you don't already know how to recognize PO/PI when the leaves are off, learn how. This time of year when the PO's lost its leaves is the best time to cut it. The stems contain the "poison" too but without the leaves there's less plant to get it on you.

I've found that the best way to kill PO is to spray about 18" of the trunk with a solution of 25% Garlon 4 in diesel or horticultural oil. It only works when the plant is actively growing. For PO at our latitude and elevation that's late spring to mid summer. It does not take much and kills the plant dead in 4-6 weeks. The diesel or oil helps the Garlon stick on the bark so it can get absorbed by the plant. You can spray the foliage with 1-2% Garlon 4 but that only kills the leaves you spray. If you miss one leaf the plant will survive and sprout new leaves. However sometimes it's impossible to get to the trunk so foliar application is all you can do.

Kill the plant before you cut it. If you cut a live plant it won't die. It'll come back like a zombie.


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## anymanusa (Dec 23, 2018)

^if this works, this is the best post on the internet that I've ever seen on the subject.

I'm going to try this for killing it.

As for the 2 hours time limit, I've learned this the hard way.


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## Wyrdman (Dec 26, 2018)

There's a vaccine for poison ivy being developed called PDC-APB. Its in phase I so its like 4-6 years out from being released (assuming it doesn't end up causing some weird side effects in its trials).... something to look forward to, I guess.

I read about it one time when I was nearly laid up for a week with poison ivy all over, after I saw some poison ivy while weedwhacking and said **** it I'll just hit it and just wash up good when I'm done trimming. so anyways, weedwhacking is pretty much the dumbest way to get rid of it.

Turns out there aren't really any animals at all that get poison ivy so the first step to developing drugs for it was to figure out how to give mice poison ivy. Since animals don't get it, its not a defense mechanism for the plant. Urusiol is just some molecule that humans happen to be insanely allergic to.


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## framecat (Dec 27, 2018)

anymanusa said:


> Long pants, long socks, and tall boots laced all the way up doesn't seem to offer enough protection for even a short walk through a little of the stuff. I have some areas of my property that me and the wife feel the need to traverse through occasionally, and although my outbreaks are very minor and minimal, I'm still really scared of the stuff because some poison oak did me in for about 3 weeks earlier this year.
> 
> Does barrier cream work? I'll walk through the stuff and then wash with Dawn soap a couple hours later, but I still get the little bumps on my lower legs. Like I said, nothing near as bad as poison oak, but I want to be able to walk through the stuff with impunity.
> 
> Any tips?


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## framecat (Dec 27, 2018)

Try Tec-nu that sell it everywhere shower in cool water wash with dawn and a wash rag then put the Tec-nu on let it set for a minute or two rinse you will not brake out works wonders for me I get it super easy, hope this helps


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