What work gloves do you use for heavy infestation of poison oak & ivy (covered in urushiol)?

While digging up, I found another reference to centuries-old "preserved" specimens causing contact dermititis in people sensitive to urushiol.

Here's the reference said about PRESERVED specimens (i.e., not weathered):

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"The urushiol can remain potent for months, even years. One resource records that centuries-old preserved specimens of poison oak caused dermatitis to people sensitive to urushiol. Urushiol can remain active on dead plants for as much as 5 years, and on unwashed clothing for a year or two."

I'm surprised the urushiol remained potent far longer on outdoor plants (5 years) than on indoor unwashed clothing (1 or 2 years); but one take away is that just killing the plant doesn't solve the problem of needing gloves to remove the huge piles of dead plants blocking access.

But, I'm liking the bulldozer idea more and more as we speak ...

Reply to
Elmo
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No workee... :(

...

If this is anywhere near any other residential area, whatever you do, don't try to burn it. It doesn't completely destroy the stuff and inhaled it's worse internally than simply the external itch/sores...

If it's this bad I'd probably be considering ought to be working in Tyvek coveralls, etc., treating it as essentially as if it were a hazardous waste site.

W/o the pictures, etc., of terrain and so on, hard to say, but sounds almost like need to start w/ the chain saw and just slice 'n dice to get thru the big stuff.

What are you doing to dispose of it???

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Reply to
dpb

The p[roblem with roundup and poison ivy is the oil on the plant protects it from the roundup. A friend found adding a couple ounces of diesel fuel to a gallon of roundup improved the kill-rate on poison ivy by several hundred percent. It helped the roundup penetrate the oily defence.

Reply to
clare

Whatever you do, don't burn the stuff. The smoke is also "active" unless you can get it up over something like 1500C, consistently.

Reply to
clare

I haven't had any problems like that with it.

Reply to
salty

WHATEVER YOU DO DONT BURN IT. THE SMOKE IS LETHAL.

Jimmie

Reply to
JIMMIE

Clothes, hell. I've had them on my skin.

Yeah, me too. :-)

Yep! :-)

My younger son, and my sister-in-law, would have both required hospitalization if they had done what I did. My older son probably would have had much the same response that I did -- essentially none.

Reply to
Doug Miller

Based on previous threads here, and a few real-world stories- running a bulldozer anywhere near flowing water is fraught with bureaucratic and legal peril, leastways if a neighbor gets a burr up their butt about it, like if you make the water start running muddy, or if the creek supports any lifeforms. Corps of Engineers, state DNR, state and federal EPA, local drain district authority, the list is endless.

No, common sense has nothing to do with it.

Just sayin'

Reply to
aemeijers

There are hand creams on the market that you can apply in advance, and wash off afterward. Mechanics use this type of thing to make hand washing easier at the end of the day. I understand fire fighters also use this stuff when they have to go into a burning area with poison oak.

Reply to
Leo Lichtman

Use nitrile or latex gloves and cover them with leather gloves. The nitrile is to protect you from the gloves and the gloves from hard work that tears plastic.

Take leather off and you can spray them down with a soap.

Then wash hands in soapy water (with gloves on) and dry off with paper towels and throw them away.

Then take off the plastic gloves and run for your life!

We have it all over here - roundup takes it out - but sometimes it is so big - 1/4" stalk - that it takes several treatments.

Mart> >

Reply to
Martin H. Eastburn

That's good advice and I already wear Costco nitrile gloves under my pigskin mig-welding gloves.

You can see the box of nitrile gloves in the picture posted previously:

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However, some say urushiol readily permeates latex )i.e., rubber) so I wouldn't recommend rubber latex gloves withought further study.

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"urushiol can also penetrate clothes, rubber gloves, and latex gloves. (Heavy-duty vinyl gloves are impervious to urushiol"

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"Urushiol can penetrate latex gloves but not rubber gloves."

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"use precautions such as vinyl gloves because urushiol can penetrate latex gloves"
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"If you're going to be pulling weeds, wear heavy-duty vinyl gloves. The resin may be able to penetrate rubber (latex)"

Reply to
Elmo

The use of hand cremes on the knees and ankles might prevent Toxicodendron dermatitis in those unexpected spots.

I sometimes find when the urushiol is so thick, it leaves black oxidized marks on my ankles after a few hours tromping around as noted here:

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Then, the Rhus Dermititis rash is almost certain to occur.

If I had put a hand creme all over my body, especially my knees and ankles, maybe it would have prevented these unexpected infections.

Reply to
Elmo

Go cheap and just throw them away when you are finished.

That's what I do...I buy the big bag of brown cheapo gloves at Wal*Mart and toss them...Works for me and I'm VERY allergic to that stuff...HTH...Why make it more complicated than it needs to be??

Reply to
benick

The only problem with that is the typical "work glove" is too short to cover the wrists as can be seen in the original photos posted at

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I find my wrists are constantly lacerated by the millions of cut branches, hence, the need for a gauntlet type work glove (harder to find, and more expensive).

Also, the urushiol oil easily penetrates most cloth gloves and some say it can penetrate thin leathers, both of which are likely in el cheapo work gloves.

Good gloves are necessary given the huge amount of poison oak to be cleared is an impenetrable jungle as shown in these photos here

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BTW, I found this article while searching that suggests powders such as starch or flour ... interesting ...
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Reply to
Elmo

Based on what it says in this web site, you and your older son probably react onlty to three or more degrees of saturation on the carbon chain hanging off the urushiol catechol while your son and sinister in law likely react to the unsaturated chain or one or two degrees of saturation:

See

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"The allergic reaction is dependent on the degree of unsaturation of the alkyl chain. Less than half of the general population reacts with the saturated urushiol alone, but over 90% react with urushiol containing at least two degrees of unsaturation (double bonds)."

Reply to
Elmo

Yeah it can get interesting depending on where you are and what you do. The stream that runs behind my place is a "Class 2 trout habitat" Get caught in the stream with any machinery (other than a farm tractor crossing the stream) and the state gets nasty.

So DON'T get CAUGHT!!!!!

Reply to
Steve W.

For your sake though, you should not tramp through the poison oak with impugnity.

Notice Wayne himself, in Waynesworld, says he used to be immune ... until ...

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"Caution: Cutting and sanding poison oak wood is extremely unwise and hazardous--even if you think you are immune to its dermatitis. This is how one of the authors (WPA) was rudely initiated into the ranks of poison oak sufferers, after tramping through it for decades with impunity."

Reply to
Elmo

I'd try welder's gloves (or similar) to keep from getting burned as I operated the flame-thrower. (Don't forget the ear, eye, nose, throat, and underarm protection.)

Reply to
HeyBub

I am currently using arc welders gloves as the flame welder's gloves were way too thick to operate gas cutting equipment.

The only problem with these mig welding gloves is they don't handle repeated washings well.

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I'm trying to find which is the best skin for washing:

- deerskin gloves?

- kangaroo skin gloves?

- cowhide gloves?

- pigskin gloves?

- goatskin gloves?

Here is a comparison of the various skins, but not with respect to phenols:

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I really like the idea of a flame thrower ... :) But in the dry chaparral, not only would the smoke itself be dangerous (urushiol, being a hydrocarbon, can burn but being an oil, it can also form droplets in the air which can be inhaled), but the fire itself would need to be contained.

Reply to
Elmo

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a) Cowhide dries stiff when it gets wet, becoming hard and losing its flexibility. b) Goatskin leather has the highest natural lanolin content, which makes a very soft and flexible glove that retains its pliability after getting wet. c) Deerskin gloves do not stiffen after getting wet repeatedly and form to the hand over time. d) High lanolin content keeps pigskin leather soft which does not dry out and crack after repeatedly getting wet.

So, it looks like, for repeated washings, you want:

1) Goatskin 2) Pigskin 3) Deerskin 4) Cowhide

In that order.

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Reply to
Melissa Andrade

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