Poison ivy

[Paul Franklin]

Yes, I have the vines as well, and they grow like crazy!

They do make a brush killer labeled for poison ivy, but I've had good luck doing the following:

I cut the vine a foot or two from the last root. I take a small container of full strength roundup, and dip the cut end of the vine (the part that is still rooted in the ground) into the pure roundup and leave it for several minutes. (when I'm working with the ivy I wear protective clothes, gloves, and eye protection.)

This usually kills the vine within a week or two. It's a pain to do a bunch of vines, but it works. I've thought about an alternate method, but haven't tried it yet. Cut the vines as above. take a cotton ball and dip it into full strength roundup. Place on the end of the vine, and cover with a piece of aluminum foil crumpled to hold it on the vine. With this method, you could do a whole bunch without taking the time to soak each vine. If you try this, be sure to collect the foil pieces and cotton balls and dispose of properly.

While we're on the subject, a company called Gemplers

sells a product called (IIRC) Technu, that you wash with after exposure to poison ivy or related nasty. It claims to be effective even when used hours after exposure. When I'm out mucking around in the areas I know there is ivy, I wash off my arms and legs with it afterward, and it really does seem to work. It's a lot less messy than those barrier lotions you put on ahead of time.

Insert usual disclaimers.

HTH,

Paul

[PrecisionMachinisT]

Exactly...not sure this is in fact the case but IMO it does seem pretty likely.

Poison oak, poison ivy, and poison sumac are all members of the genus toxicohendron, and urishiol is the toxin common to all three of these plants that is responsible for allergic dermatitus reaction in humans.

While it doesn't seem to bother me one bit, my wife is clinically hypersensitive to the toxin and so it has been the subject of some fairly in-depth study on my part.

I've been thinking about getting several goats, as we have about 3 acres of fairly steep hillside that is more or less covered with poison oak.

One other thing.....DO NOT BURN IT !!!...deaths from inhalation of the smoke do indeed occur on a fairly regular basis.

[Kathy]

vine. I just whacked

tree in the woods at

in diameter at the

You're right about needing

10%, whiere 1 or 2% is

I'm in Burlington County. It's poison Ivy alright.

[Bob S.]

Don't forget cashews - they are a first cousin to poison ivy. For people who are hypersensitive to poison ivy (me included), eating more than a small amount of cashew nuts causes a pretty bad internal reaction.

Bob S.

[pointer]

I vote to burn the house down.

[Denys]

[e-mail] wrote in news: [e-mail]:

I vote you go inside first.

[Ed]

[Chris Lewis]

According to Kathy :

Are you sure that's not Glysophate? That's Roundup.

Get the concentrated version, maybe mix it 2 or 3 times stronger than the instructions, and add a teaspoon of dishsoap per quart.

Put on some dishwashing rubber gloves.

Get some cheap cotton gloves, stuff with a little cotton batten, and then put the gloves over the rubber gloves.

Dip your hand in the concentrate. "swipe" the plants with your hands, so the whole plant (I'd cut the stems a foot or two up, ignore the stuff above the cuts) gets thoroughly dampened with the stuff.

[This is how a professional botanist eradicates the stuff.]

Glysophate is _quite_ innocuous to animals/humans, so this is not dangerous. Just don't go overboard getting it on you. Wash up, and dispose of the cotton. The rubber gloves will be okay with a rinse.

[jeffc]

That's odd - I'm very allergic to poison ivy, and I don't have the slightest reaction to cashews.

[Norminn]

clipped

Unless sensitive to poison ivy.

[Oscar_Lives]

WOW! I thought is was just me.

I can eat a few cashews, but more than a small handful make me sick as a dog.

Thanks

[Chris Lewis]

According to Norminn :

Oops. Right. Make that "okay after a wash with strong soap".

[There'll be very little transfer in this situation, but better safe than sorry.]

[Cheryl]

Can you treat heavy duty welders gloves to kill poison ivy residue or should you just throw them out when the work to clear it is finished? Welders gloves might be overkill but I just want to know if I can reuse them. Thank you.

Cheryl

[RBM]

Just give them to a welder for a couple of weeks. If you get enough oil into the leather, and you have serious allergic reactions to PI, I would just toss them.

[Ed Pawlowski]

Not a matter of treating, but of removing the oil residue. I'd not use them again, except for more poison ivy removal. Meantime, I'd keep them in a plastic bag so no one accidently handles them.

[Existential Angst]

Go to WebMD, look up poison ivy, they mention two chemical used to clean/dissolve the toxic oil. If I have a chance, I'll look.

But, as an oil, it should be soluble in detergent as well, which should help. Or, shmearings with vegetable oil, followed by detergent.

Vegetable oil will remove some shop grease that even detergents have a problem with.

[Jon Danniken]

Urushiol cannot be deactivated by normal means, and is very persistent. The only solution is to remove it with detergents, but I do not know if these would work with leather. More importantly, if you have ever had a reaction to the resin in poison ivy, you would know that the only answer is, "no, throw them away".

In other words, if you told me I had to pay you $50 or I "might" get contact dermatitis, you would have $50.

Jon

[The Daring Dufas]

Those long heavy welders gloves are great for picking up trapped feral cats too. :-)

TDD

[ransley]

Soap and water dissolve and remove the oil that causes the irritation, if its on gloves then its probably on your pants and shoes as brushing into a plant releases the plants oil, just wash everything. The palms of your hands have thick skin and are the least supceptable part of your body to Urishiol oil, and if your wash your hands within an a half hour or so nothing should happen. Welders gloves are a bit overkill as light duty gloves will work, but just throw them in a bucket of water with dish washing detergent. The oils remain active for something like 6++ months so wash it off. Google about it for more specific informaton. Once I pulled doen vines and burnt them, didnt shower and didnt know I was breathing Poison ivy burning, I had about

250 welts on each arm, was sick for at least 6 months from breathing the smoke, and I spread it over my body from not washing. I pull it mistakenly now and notice it poison ivy to late, I just wash off my hands with a hose and some soap now and no problem. The important thing is removal of the oil within about 1/2 hour and not touching any other part of your body.

[hallerb]

I detox after poision ivy exposure with a rag wet with gasoline. Figuring it will kill whatever is on me