# how to deal with poison ivy covered trees?



## hdtech (May 2, 2013)

since this forum is for newbs to ask pros questions.... what or how do you deal with climbing, trimming or removing trees with poisonous vines growing up them?


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## TheJollyLogger (May 2, 2013)

hdtech said:


> since this forum is for newbs to ask pros questions.... what or how do you deal with climbing, trimming or removing trees with poisonous vines growing up them?



I'm not horribly allergic, but I do itch from it.
Long sleeve shirt, gloves, etc. And bring a change of clothes. The oil will get on your clothes and eventually soak/rub in. I will cut and peel as much as possible from the ground. If possible, set your rope away from the trunk so you can bypass the vines as much as possible and limit your exposure. I will also bring pruners up and cut as much as possible with them, the sawdust from vines is really potent.
Once I'm done, I immediately change clothes, bag them to be washed later and wash my arms and face with Zanfel, a product you can get at Walgreens or CVS. It is really effective at removing the oil.
I will also wash and clean every item that was in contact, ropes saddle, saws, etc. The oil can stay on a long time.
Most importantly, charge extra. The homeowner never should have let it get so bad in the first place!


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## woodchuck357 (May 2, 2013)

*Eat oatmeal regularly, at least 4 times a week, helps with alot of allergies.*

You can get a shot that helps.


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## tramp bushler (May 2, 2013)

Seriously ; oatmeal helps with algergies????


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## hdtech (May 2, 2013)

woodchuck357 said:


> You can get a shot that helps.



I've never heard that before. eating oatmeal helps with allergies. and what's the shot your referring to?


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## Zale (May 2, 2013)

Shots are for after you get it. Basic steroid shot. If the client can wait, cut the vines now and let them die and dry out. You can still get it from handling the dead stuff but it is easier to handle. Long sleeves, gloves etc. Charge for the pain and aggravation. If you want to start to build up a resistance to it, get a bottle of Oral Ivy. 4 drops a day with a cup of water helps reduce the reaction to it.


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## twochains (May 2, 2013)

I think the oatmeal is supposed to be used topically, like a paste for skin problems. I didn't know it helps with poison ivy break outs or not...but definitely can't hurt. It would beat scrubbing it till it bleeds and jumping into a hot bleach bath! :hmm3grin2orange:

I have heard that you can make a tea from poison ivy and drink it...I "think" the theory behind this is it builds some sort of immunity and reduces future break outs. Problem with this theory is that some people get it sooo bad I figure ingesting it as a tea could send you to the hospital...that's my take on it.

As far as the OP's original question...cut the vines at the base and pull them down, if you have large diameter vines... pry them loose from the tree, tie them to a vehicle (4 wheeler or something) and pull them down that way.


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## Storm56 (May 2, 2013)

hdtech said:


> since this forum is for newbs to ask pros questions.... what or how do you deal with climbing, trimming or removing trees with poisonous vines growing up them?



Have your bud or pard work on em...:msp_scared:


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## jrider (May 2, 2013)

If you are like me and get it really bad, none of the previous suggestions do much to help. Dead vines can still cause a reaction up to three years. I can't be near the stuff without blowing up and ending up at the doctors office. If you only get it marginally, try what's been suggested.


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## tramp bushler (May 2, 2013)

Poison Ivy. Just another of the multitude of reasons for me to stay in Alaska. :msp_biggrin:


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## Macman125 (May 2, 2013)

Pay me to come deal with it I am not allergic.


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## hdtech (May 2, 2013)

tramp bushler said:


> Poison Ivy. Just another of the multitude of reasons for me to stay in Alaska. :msp_biggrin:



no poison ivy in Alaska?


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## hdtech (May 2, 2013)

maclovercp125 said:


> Pay me to come deal with it I am not allergic.



I never used to be but a few years ago it got int a cut and now I get it everytime.


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## chief116 (May 3, 2013)

As has been said, cover up as much as possible. Wash as quickly after exposure as you can. I use techno eXtreme, works the balls for me. Keep one in the truck and one in the shower.


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## stumpjumper83 (May 3, 2013)

maclovercp125 said:


> Pay me to come deal with it I am not allergic.



Your not alone. It affects me very slightly. Like spend all day cutting them out with a saw, on a hot sweat or balls off day, and get a very minor rash on one arm only....

In some cases its best to sub some jobs out, or even refer to competition.


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## Currently (May 3, 2013)

People who eat a lot of mangos are more tolerant ...

Mangos are in the same family as poison ivy. 

Friend of mine who is Filipino told me that. 
Don't want to test it as I hate mangos.


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## treemandan (May 3, 2013)

Currently said:


> People who eat a lot of mangos are more tolerant ...
> 
> Mangos are in the same family as poison ivy.
> 
> ...



Maybe you never had a ripe one? They are pretty damn good but anyway: Newbies and Poison Ivy- Ha ha.


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## rjb (May 3, 2013)

i grew up in poison oak/ivy country long sleves pants and gloves we also always keep a bottle of bleach with us and would wash up with that if we got into it on our skin as long as you wash up with bleech quick enought we never got it. as a side note i knew a man that had a bunch of it on his silo and cut it with a weed eater and got it in his lungs some how he was in the hospitle for quite a wile


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## Matt Michael (May 4, 2013)

Immunity to poison ivy is not permanent. With repeated exposure your immune system will eventually react. I found out the hard way. Trust me, you do not want to.


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## hdtech (May 4, 2013)

Matt Michael said:


> Immunity to poison ivy is not permanent. With repeated exposure your immune system will eventually react. I found out the hard way. Trust me, you do not want to.



I already have. that's the reason for my question. the last time I got into it was on the back part of my own property and it was bad. clearing a section that hasn't been touched for a few years didn't see and I guess ran some over with a bush hog. got it on my arms and some on my leg cause I had a hole in my jeans. that's the one and only time I've gotten it and never want it again! even after the steroid shot still took 3-4 days to clear up!:msp_mad:


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## Stayalert (May 5, 2013)

Burning it is also BAD


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## beerbelly (May 5, 2013)

Poison Ivy sucks...no other way to put it! Stay away. Hate the stuff.


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## no tree to big (May 7, 2013)

yup im the designated poision ivy guy not alergic one bit we removed a bunch of like 4" PI vines that were running up a couple trees when I saw the guys start chipping it and standing in the dust cloud I was like your gonna DIE!!! there is a reason we took them off in a 40 foot piece so ya could stick it in and run!!!and be done


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## Limbrat (May 7, 2013)

Go ahead and strip down naked and get you a good green sappy piece of vine and rub it all over your body. Then strip a few leaves off and chew 'em up and swallow 'em. If you get your saw into it, the sap goes airborne and the results are about the same. If you're like I used to be, you can cover up all you want but your still gonna get it. I used to just resign myself to the fact that I would be blistered up, itching, scratching and oozing for about three weeks after contact. Then one day I was just over it. Who knows why or how. I didn't eat any mangos or oatmeal so go figure. I think maybe it was these raw oysters out of Apalachicola Bay that did it. I got stingray stung a couple of times in that era too so maybe that was it. Somebody that's allergic should test that theory and let me know how it works out!


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## treeclimber101 (May 7, 2013)

chief116 said:


> As has been said, cover up as much as possible. Wash as quickly after exposure as you can. I use techno eXtreme, works the balls for me. Keep one in the truck and one in the shower.



What's up with you mass. Guys saying "the balls" when something is good , ####ing weird sounding LOL .


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## no tree to big (May 7, 2013)

treeclimber101 said:


> What's up with you mass. Guys saying "the balls" when something is good , ####ing weird sounding LOL .



The real question is do they grab each others balls when they say it?


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## mitch95100 (May 7, 2013)

We have more burning weed here, that ain't half as bad, friend got poison ivy and it looked like welts and a rashe mixed together, then oozed puss... I was glad it wasn't me


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## blades (May 8, 2013)

You have about a 20 minute window before the urshinaol ( i know i didn't spell that correctly) oil of the plant binds to your skin at which point the body sends white cells out to combat thats when the fun begins. I get it like a heat rash problem is it gets in my blood stream and spreads all over. My mom would get the huge oozing blisters. For some reason I do not ever remember my sister or dad having reactions to it. Do not chip it burn it or any other method that would introduce oil vapors into the air. PI, Sumac, Oak ( all the same family) in the lungs is very dangerous and can travel a long ways from the sight if vaporized in some fashion. It is even worse to get into in the winter as the stems are highly concentrated with the oil. ( got the t-shirt on that one)


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## climb4fun (May 8, 2013)

just cut it at the base with a hatchet and leave it alone. i stay clear of the stuff even though i havent had a reaction to it. ive seen what that crap can do to a person and ive got no interest in dealing with it. cant pay me enough to go through that lol


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## chief116 (May 8, 2013)

no tree to big said:


> The real question is do they grab each others balls when they say it?



no, but we do slap each other on the ass while shouting "good game" to take the discomfort out.


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## LelandJF (May 9, 2013)

I have no idea how not to get it, but I do highly recommend "Caladryll" once you do get it. Benadryl and Calamine lotion combined. One of the only things that stops the constant oozing and dripping once I get it. Steroid medicine from the doctor is the only thing that is better (and it is WAY better).

I will probably come down with a case of it just from typing this...


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## buzz sawyer (May 9, 2013)

Late at night when you're sleepin, poison ivy comes a creepin all around. 
You're gonna need an ocean .....
of Calamine lotion.


The Technu wash sold by Baileys seems to work well for me - scrub up with it real well after exposure.


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## 4x4American (May 9, 2013)

Yea poison ivy sucks. Never used to bother me, until on the hottest day of the summer, 110 dergree day, there wasn't enough work at the farm so bossman sent me to his neighbors, his neighbor had me clearing a bunch of stuff and hidden with it was poison ivy. I was dehydrated and was having montezuma's revenge all day and I'm not sure if that had something to do with it but holy hell I got poison ivy for the first time and it was terrible! Now I get it kinda easy. Before, I could roll around in it and be ok. Not nomore, it sucks now.


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## nelson727 (May 10, 2013)

Wow, quite a diversity of thoughts.

I have been extremely “allergic” to poison oak in the past so I take it seriously. If I choose to do the job I do charge more and then do specific things to deal with it.

1) Have a change of cloths to put on when the job is done.
2) Cover all exposed skin and under gloves, wrists, neck line, with copious amounts of Tecnu. It fills the pours and acts as a barrier from the Urusol (spelling?).
3) Use cloths and gloves I can just throw away wherever possible, and put on a one time use spray/dust suit to keep oils off my cloths and body as much as possible. 
4) Do the job, including climbing up through vines when necessary.
5) Rinse with cool water and wash with Tecnu Extreme (similar to Zanfel but cheaper). Strip off contaminated cloths and re-wash with more Tecnu Extreme. 
6) Bag cloths for latter washing with Tecnu (with nitril/latex gloved hands). Bag trash one time suit and cloths. Wash gear down with Iso. Alcohol.
7) Have Zanfel on hand for rest of the day and next couple of days and when, not if, I get an itchy sensation wash down with Zanfel.

Urusol the irritant takes a couple of hours to act on us as I understand it. The sooner off the better. That includes when it is irritating our skin on a spot or two in spite of best efforts. Zanfel absorbs the irritant the itch goes away. Latter more Urusol ‘comes to the surface’ and itch comes back, I reapply Zanfel. 

As I said I used to be very “allergic” to poison oak-to the point of hospitalization etc.. Obviously in spite of my strict protocols something is different for me. I read a book called, Say Good-Bye to Illness and followed the methods enclosed to ‘clear reactivity’ to an allergen.


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## StrataTree (May 11, 2013)

Switch to Blue moon or Luna, same rope, not as itchy!


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## nelson727 (May 12, 2013)

An add on thought for any who find it useful, 4x4’s post #33 may be a good example of one way our bodies become ‘allergic’ (more reactive) to a specific thing. In the book, Say Good-Bye to Illness (a book about clearing ‘allergies’) is a story that points to this.

A woman holding a glass of Orange Juice answers the door to see two state troopers there. They tell her her husband just died out on the interstate. She goes through all of the appropriate freak out drops the Orange Juice etc.. The next time she goes to drink OJ she breaks out in hives and if I remember correctly her throat started to swell. She was unable to drink OJ until she heard about this book and its explanation of the practice, Nambudripod’s Allergie Elimination Technique (NAET for short).

When I was a kid I was hospitalized once and frequently in the Doc.’s office with regard to various allergies. The Doc. said to my mom one time that I may grow out of it around 12 years old. I remember thinking, “That makes no sense, if I’m allergic to X how could I grow out of it ?” Conversely, how could you not be ‘allergic’ to OJ, or Poison Ivy, at one moment and the next moment be ‘allergic’? The above book explains that and more importantly it explains how to clear it.

I like results in life. And for things important to me I like to understand them too. I read this book because it was important enough to me to want to understand how it works. If you just want the results look up N.A.E.T. on the web, go to their home page and find someone who ‘does’ it and go get the treatments. I think I spent a total of several hundred dollars over some months getting cleared of reactivity to Poison Oak, Tree Pollen, Grasses, Bee Stings, and some other things. 

If anyone needs any more info. or help, I would be happy to help.


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