I have to remove a patch of poison ivy this weekend

[The Blue Flower]

Other than wearing a full hazmat suit, any advice?

[Walleye]

1. Well, we used to wash thoroughly with hot water and yellow soap after we were in contact with poison ivy

[SWBTATTReg]

6. Yellow soap? Is this Lye Soap maybe (my guess)...

[Walleye]

12. I don't know, but it was either that or Lifebouy which was orange. Don't know what today's equivalent would be.

[sl8]

22. I think it's probably bar laundry soap, like Fels Naptha.

At least, that's what we used back in the 60s.

Anything that's good at removing oil from your skin should work (preferably something that doesn't damage your skin).

[SWBTATTReg]

23. Thanks! I remember when my grandma and great grandma would make Lye soap, calling it one of the

most effective soaps around. I don't remember much using it, but I have heard that it can be irritating on one's skin. They (the grandmas) didn't let anything go to waste! I remember their setup when they made the soap in their tiny kitchen (they lived in the boonies of the Ozarks). A neat history to have in one's family.

[surfered]

2. That was my first thought. If you do not choose a weed killer, I would suggest

..gloves, long sleeves, long pants, socks , and protective eye wear. Remove all clothing and throw in washer to wash alone, shower well.

Or hire it done.

Good luck!

[HappyH]

3. Poison ivy is the only weed I use this stuff on

Roundup premixed in a 16 oz spray bottle. Spray at dawn when there is no wind, no people or pets allowed near it until it is dry. The poison ivy is dead in a few days.

[jls4561]

4. Cover everything you can, then change and wash yourself and your clothes immediately.

I used to get poison ivy a lot because you can’t watch the dogs every second.

The best OTC remedy I found was Ivy Dry, which has gotten more difficult to find over the years. If it got worse, I took a Benedryl and used that sports injury freeze spray. Otherwise, I would have scratched myself raw.

[OldBaldy1701E]

21. Weeelllll....

You may try the method my father used to use. If you want. I never wanted to.

He would basically sit on the edge of the bathtub, and scratch the area until it bled. Then, he would wash it all off with hot water and soap, and then wash it off with rubbing alcohol. It would usually be gone within 24 hours.

(Dad was a bit of a wild man.)

[SWBTATTReg]

5. Stay downwind from the patch you're pulling up, you can catch Poison Ivy via the winds too, I did.

Of course wrap yourself up w/ clothing to protect yourself too. Then gently remove the clothing (try not to touch it either physically), and immediately wash, I used to, when I knew I had been around in Poison Ivy, is take off my clothes on the inside porch, and then go into the house, and clean up/put on a new suit of clothes. Maybe one of those new sprays will work easily on killing this too, pick a calm day to spray.

Good luck!

[Walleye]

13. Oh, and don't burn it in a trash fire. My cousin caught it really bad that way one time.

[SWBTATTReg]

24. Another trick I would use when I had poison ivy on my legs, is I would stand w/o waders in the trout fishing

stream we had next to the house. And the course the water was cold, cold, cold! After a round of fishing bare legged in this cold water, it usually cleared up the poison ivy infection pretty quickly (and it also relieved the itching too).

Boy, the things I would do for the poison ivy when I caught. Pastes made up of baking soda and latter it onto the poison ivy (making a mess of course), baths of warm water w/ lots of baking soda in it (I felt like a recipe, ha ha heh!).

I even took weekly shots for a very long time to build up my immunity, so there are options for those of us that catch poison ivy, poison oak, poison sumac. I forget how much the shots were, but they seemed to work. Now when I (it's been a while) catch poison XXX, the infection would just stay in one spot, not spread.

[The Blue Flower]

7. Thank you all!

Good tips here. I've sprayed it over a couple of days. Now I'm waiting for the vines to die so I can chop them out and dig up the roots. Hazmat suit and heavy gloves are on order.

[no_hypocrisy]

8. Whatever else you do, DON'T BURN IT ! ! !

My mother's friend (decades ago) burned a huge pile of Poison Ivy.

Her face swelled; her eyes swelled shut; she couldn't breathe. She had to be hospitalized.

[Walleye]

14. Yes, I just mentioned that

[soldierant]

16. Yup.

My mother (now gone) never had any reaction to poison oak (I'm from the west coast) until she was exposed to smoke from someone burning it. She was susceptible to it the rest of her life. I was always susceptible to it myself. Once I got some the oil right at the base of my fourth and little fingers (so long ago now that I forget which hand) and the blister patch turned into a single blister and grew to the size of a large marble. At least at that point it stopped itching, and the fluid in it turned out not to be toxic (it had to be opened - it wouldn't shrink.)

Yeah. Dont burn it.

[imaginary girl]

9. Our goats cleared out big patches for us!

Unfortunately they've both passed away now (of old age ... not from eating the poison ivy).

[callous taoboy]

10. I just used a super-strength vinegar spray

on a small patch a couple of days ago and it is dead.

[Alliepoo]

11. Did you make the vinegar spray

Or did you purchase it? If you have a recipe I’d love to know it because I have a couple of patches to remove.

[callous taoboy]

20. It's a product called Pulverize-

Got it at a hardware store. Not good if you’re near aquatic critters, apparently. The patch I sprayed is now as dead as can be. I’m wondering if I still need to remove the root system.

[Alliepoo]

25. I'm gonna go get some!

Thanks for the info. I’ve got about a million sticker plants that need to be gone and it’ll be easier to spray them. I’ve been looking at a propane plant killer “flame thrower” type of device to burn them into oblivion! I think I’d like to try your spray first, though!!

[callous taoboy]

30. I have found it isn't very effective on briars

If that’s what you’re describing.

[malthaussen]

15. Do not burn it.

Other than that, my advice would be "Pay somebody else to do it."

-- Mal

[Easterncedar]

17. Technu

Preventive

[Alpeduez21]

18. Like job hunting; dress for success

Mrs Alpeduez21 and I wore long sleeve shirts, sweat pants socks and old shoes. Tuck the shirt in the pants. Tuck the sleeves into latex gloves. We double gloved. Tuck the sweatpants into the socks. Wear a mask. Chop cut and disprove of the ivy. Remove the clothes with the gloves throw them into the laundry separately wash the clothes. Don’t touch your face!! Wash your hands diligently with dawn dish soap. Wash anywhere you think you got touched with dish soap. Basically a diy hazmat suit and cleanse. We got no poison ivy and we touched the crap out of it

[Figarosmom]

19. Dont forget to clean your tools

Clippers, shovel etc. ( including the handles) Clean and oil them. Wear disposable gloves and throw them away.

[underpants]

27. I was going to suggest using any tool that keeps you away from it

Cover everything but use a shovel, hard rake, or hoe and get it at the source/root. Dump it directly into a trashcan or bag. And, as you said, wash the tools.

Basically put as much distance between you and it as possible.

[Raven123]

28. Information from the dermatologists on what to do if you come in contact

https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/itchy-skin/poison-ivy/treat-rash


And how to clean up perhaps

[Onthefly]

29. Agree with Technu. It works!

https://tecnu.com/

[doc03]

31. I thought I was immune to it, never got it until I was about 40 years

old when I pulled a bunch out without gloves. I got a slight case of it that time.

[drray23]

32. Some people are actually immune to it.

I am one of these lucky people. I can grab it bare handed and suffer no consequences. My wife however gets rashes just getting near it.
As a matter of fact, two days before our wedding she was affected by it.

Her face and right shoulder went all red. She had to get a steroid shot and was plastered in makeup to cover it up for the ceremony. The wedding photographer also touched up the pictures to make it look OK.

We laugh about it now but it was not so amusing at the time.

[maspaha]

33. I'll remove it for ya...doesn't bother me

[Scrivener7]

34. I had to do it last year and I'm allergic to it. I wore old clothing, tucked pants into socks, old shoes,

long sleeve shirt, heavy rubber gloves, covered my hair with a bandanna. I threw all those clothes away when I was done. I also bought a cheap clipper and shovel to cut it down and threw those away when I was done too. I know it sounds wasteful, but I've had bad cases of poison ivy in my past.

To clean yourself afterwards, you have to think of the poison ivy oil as being the consistency of motor oil. It takes a couple of passes with a good oil-cutting detergent to get it off you. I cut up an old towel into three washcloths. Scrubbed my whole body with Dawn dishwasher soap, using one of the washcloths. Then did the same again with Dawn again and a clean second washcloth. Pay particular attention to your elbows and the insides of your forearms and between your fingers. For some reason, it tends to hit there.

One last pass, scrubbing with a clean washcloth and no soap. Then throw all the washcloths away.

Moisturize heavily when you get out of the shower.

As I said, I'm pretty allergic to it, and I had no outbreak when I did that.