Getting rid of Poison Oak/Ivy

[BillD]

I live in North Central Texas (Dallas Area). I have a problem with Poison Oak/Ivy in my back yard, not sure which it is out here. I have tried many commercial products to kill it, but it keeps coming back. I'm extremely allergic to it (have it on me now after putting more commercial killers on it and i'm miserable. I'm on a steroid treatment now). If anyone has a way to get rid of it, I would greatly appreciate any suggestions.

[zuzu's petals]

Hi Bill, Welcome!

I'm sorry that you are having problems with these itchy pest plants.
First, I will share a site with you that has a great deal of good and useful information:
http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/796_ivy.html
At that site, it is explained how even the clothes which you wear
can transfer the offending urushiol onto your skin many months later.

In my garden, I do seem to have some Poison Ivy sprout up in various places each year.
Neither my husband nor I have ever had a bad reaction to it, but we don't take any chances,
when we see small vines growing, we use a plastic bag -
you know, those horrible ones that all the grocery stores use now?
We use the bag sort of like a glove (hand inside), and pull out the vine,
then, still holding the vine through the bag, turn the bag inside out enclosing the vine inside it,
and tie the bag shut and toss it into the garbage can,
all without ever physically touching the vine.

For larger plants which cannot be easily tugged out, we modify the same technique,
grasping the vine with the bagged hand, and cutting the vine off, then quickly painting
the cut end of the vine with weed killer.

You can double (or triple) the bags to provide an extra measure of security -
or better yet, maybe hire someone to come in and do the job for you.

Good luck, maybe someone else will share their method.

[BillD]

Zuzu,

Many thanks for the info. The website you posted gave me a lot of information I was unaware of. I now know it is Poison Ivy.

I am extremely allergic to it (seems I can walk within 100 feet of it and get it), but I understand a lot more about the transmission now. I have been changing and washing clothes, sheets and towels every day to stop the spread of it on my body, but now understand the blisters don't spread it. It's the urushiol. I'll probably continue that process, but know I should also clean my sprayer, shoes, gloves and everything else that came into contact with the vines.

I guess my Doctor was unaware of this information, since when I told him I had Poison Ivy, he wouldn't shake my hand. Probably still smart, since I could have had the urushiol still on me. I'll be sure to get the 14 to 21 day steroid treatment in the future (finishing up on the 7 day treatment now) and be more diligent on the 'cleansing' process when I know i've been in contact with it.

Knowledge is a great thing. I feel better prepared to deal with it in the future. Thanks.

[zuzu's petals]

You're most welcome, Bill. I agree, the more info we have, the better prepared we can be.
I feel very fortunate that I haven't yet had a reaction to Poison Ivy,
but as I said, we do have occurrences in our garden each year,
and the reading I've done indicates that the risk of reaction increases with every exposure,
so I really try not to let my guard down.

I remember reading somewhere that using soap with moisturizer/oil
could actually spread the urushiol over the surface of the skin,
I don't know how true this is, but it made sense to me.
I keep a small bottle of an oil dissolving detergent outside (I use the dishwashing liquid Dawn),
and I use it to wash up immediately whenever I think I may have slipped up, rinsing very thoroughly afterwards.
I don't know if this actually has made any difference, or if my luck is just holding strong so far.

[BillD]

I envy you not having exposure to it. I was in the Boy Scouts several decades ago and always seemed to pick it up back then. Guess my many contacts with it explains why I have such a severe reaction to it now (built up exposure).

I use Tea Tree Oil cleanser, soap and shampoo and guess I should discontinue that till it's gone. Thanks for the info. That may be why it's spreading on my body. I will take your suggestion and get the oil dissolving products. Wish I had known about this 40 years ago. hehe..

My Calamine encrusted body thanks you.