What to do when poison ivy is on your prospects?

I have found in the past with PI is finding the top of the vine and pulling it away from the wood in one vine if possible. I then put it in the woods or away from where I am working. Don't burn it as I read its not good to breathe the fumes or vapors.

I would make sure I have leather gloves on and long sleeve's and long pants. I have cut wood that had PI on it and not gotten anything and then again have gotten it from out of no where in some places you dont want to get it.

I was told by a farmer to wash with Fels soap after being out in the woods and near it. But then again he said he washes his whole body with it, even his hair. %-P

Shipper

I get a nasty allergic reaction so I would just walk on by the hairy vines. Others on here have no issues with it and cut them all the time.

I've heard the tecnu product work good for cleaning up the oils after getting into it.

There are many ways to wash it off, and keep it off you etc.

Urushiol, the active oil, is... well, it's an oil. So think of it this way. If you got a little motor oil on you or your clothes, what would you do to get it all off? Everything you and/or your clothes touched have now got it. So you wash everything. Brake cleaner, carb & choke cleaner, ether, are all pressurized cans of things that will wash it off your skin and tools in the field if you feel the need. Some of those aren't necessarily good for you, but they save you from the oil in most cases. Also, one field that has had LOTS of research and competition in removing grease and oils is... Liquid Dish soap... Dawn, Palmolive etc are all good degreasers, use them thoroughly when you get home. I normally just take the bottle to the shower with me the instant I walk in the door from cutting wood where I know there was PI. Some people say that the oil can still be washed off up to 8 hours after contact, I personally wouldn't believe that it has to be done within 10 minutes, but 8 hours seems a stretch too. The sooner the better, if you're severely allergic 10 minutes may not be soon enough, or you could go a few hours, if you're only mildly allergic 8 hours may be ok for you. For me, I just do my best to stay out of it, and get washed asap after cutting. I normally just cut after work so I only have a couple hours contact and then get it washed off.

Also, sweaty clothes will suck the oil right through to your skin so if you're really allergic don't go cutting when it's hot out in just a t-shirt. Wait until winter when it's cooler and you have more layers on.

More tips:

Because boots don't take kindly to washing, I keep a separate pair of boots for cutting wood and other activities that may put me in PI. Those boots are treated like hazardous waste around the house (don't touch them unless putting them on or taking them off), and they're only used for activities where PI is likely so that I always wash up really good when I return.

Gloves are treated the same way, but those do occasionally get washed.

When I return I strip down in the garage and put all my clothes in a large bucket/basket. This helps in 2 big ways. No 1, my wife can just take the bucket and dump it into the wash without touching the clothes, and it stops the majority of the contamination at the door to the house.

Do I still get PI? Occasionally, I do, but normally it works pretty good. There are cases where I've pretty much rolled around in it cutting and didn't get a single speck, but other times when I didn't even know I got into it and didn't decon very seriously and got it pretty good. The latter just happened a couple weeks ago, just had a couple plant on the ground that I saw so I was very careful to stay away from it, so I didn't take my decon seriously and ended up with a little on my arms (nearly healed up now).

Get somebody that definitely ain't allergic to it to cut those trees down and buck em up. But ya still gotta worry about handling the firewood then if you're allergic or get a bad case of it.

I can work with it and not get it. I do wear gloves though. I'll go out a week ahead of time and cut a section of it off a tree, at the bottom, where I plan to notch it and drop it, then go back later and take the tree down. I'm always careful not to touch it, or let sawchips throw onto me when cutting through it. If I can whack it with a machete I'll do that.

Anyway, when the tree is down, I'll hit it with a diggin' iron to loosen if in necessary, then pull it off the tree. Wear long sleeves, gloves, long pants, socks, boots, etc. Rule is don't be touchin' the stuff.

Then when the tree is down and the nasty is off it, I'll buck it up, but stay outta the way of the flyin' chainsaw chips.

Like I said, I don't get it, I mean, I can get a touch of it here and there, but it's always a real small amount and never a problem, guess I'm lucky that way.

I use this http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/NORTH-BY-HONEYWELL-Ivy-Screen-2AW82?Pid=search

and this http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/NORTH-BY-HONEYWELL-Topical-Cleanser-1PBL8?Pid=search.

Some of my summer helpers did make contact with the the P I and this cleaner brought it down within 20 mins. We had all this stuff in the truck and we forgot to put it on. We did learn the hard way.

If i know i have been exposed to it i swear by this stuff Technu http://www.teclabsinc.com/products.cfm?id=1F5604C8-9D05-4675-56129F6D83DF2417
Even if you have been exposed and break out it helps by removing the free oil on the skin from contaiminating other parts of the body,

Good stuff, got a free bottle with some kinda calamine lotion a few years back and promptly bought a larger bottle.

Try spraying it with a product called Crossbow. Spray it while it is alive and growing before it goes dormant. Give it a couple of weeks for it to die then cut all you want.

The Crossbow costs about $80 a gallon concentrated and kills everything viney and woody.

Good luck.

aussiedog3 said:

Try spraying it with a product called Crossbow. Spray it while it is alive and growing before it goes dormant. Give it a couple of weeks for it to die then cut all you want.

The Crossbow costs about $80 a gallon concentrated and kills everything viney and woody.

Good luck.

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HUH? The oil is still there in the dead vine, and it can persist for up to 5 years, killing the plant won't get rid of the oils...

It is wierd that only 1/2 of the population is allergic to poison Ivy. My wife gets it really easy, several times a year and has to get predisone sterioids to get rid of it. If you know someone not allergic that would be great to let them cut it.

boatboy63 said:

Been walking along a boundry fence at my hayfield looking for prospective wood for the next few years. Got a medium sized cedar, huge red oak, and a hickory in my plans. The only problem, all of them have poison ivy growing up the sides of them. The oak is probably 42" in diameter and 1 of the many p.i. vines is about 1.5" and going at least 20' up the tree and vining out more. The vines on the others are smaller but in my eyes, it doesn't matter. I have times I am allergic to it and others when I haven't been. I just don't want to test my luck. A finding back in the spring cost me $80+ since my 22 year old son bragged about not being allergic and the next day, was broken out and I had to take him to the Dr. the following day.

Are there any tricks that anyone can share to cut these and not get it? Problem is that it is running up the east side of all the trees and that is the side I need to cut it on and let it fall from.

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I found it on this big Pecan tree I was given. With gloves, I pulled the vines down the trunk and away from where the cut zones were.

The help I can offer is after you get finished for the day. I once heard that the sap of poison oak and ivy is sticky. To be sure you get it off your skin, use a cap full of plain old Clorex bleach in your bathwater. It breaks down the sap so the soap will wash it away, keeping your skin from breaking out. It worked for me as it took me about three days to cut slabs of Pecan for air drying and future woodworking.

Mornin' boatboy63...best thing to do is find different prospects......unless you just like to scratch... I don't like to... so bein' an Ol' boy Mainer I steer clear of pi and po... But if ya got it in mind to do it anyway there's plenty of potions that might work...and if that fails try witchcraft or voodoo... Simple...if you don't want pi or po leave it alone. Franklin

PI's everywhere...always wear gloves when handling wood, even years after you cut it. If you're particularly sensitive escalate to long sleeves.

I use to get PI all the time cause I cut in a T shirt or less. Then based on a personal recommendation I started wiping down with tecnu an over the counter PI defender.

It works...you're supposed to wash down at the end of the day with it. But since I just putter at the wood at 30 min increments then do something else I'd just apply it and wipe down any exposed skin and let it be...it's dry's rather quick so you don't have that oily feeling about you.

So cut the wood...the mission always comes first.

Ivy Block and Tecnu work. You should be able to get both @ Walgreens or CVS pharmacy. Cut the bottom of the vines right now, paint the vine stump with concentrated round-up PI formula every day for a week. When they die and dry out I tie them to a tractor or truck and pull them off the tree then drag them back into the woods with some of the cheap work gloves from Home Depot or Lowes which go right in the garbage. Use tecnu to wash whatever you cut the vine with. Wear long sleeves and long pants which go straight into the washer and go through 2 cycles. After messing with it I wash my arms up to the elbows, legs to the knees and face and neck with tecnu (within 20 mins).

I can never seem to avoid it completely but it is never that big of a deal. I get PI rash very easily but it has never been very serious to where I need to see a doc. Ivy block really works well for me.

EatenByLimestone said:

Kill it now then wait as long as you can before you take on the tree. The oil may last 5 years, but there will be a lot less of it after 3 or 4 than there will be next week.

Matt

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Exactly, remove a bottom section with an ax or machete now and in a year or so you will be able to just rip the whole vine off the tree before felling or bucking.

I remember when rdust came for some firewood. He handled some wood very gently as it did have some poison ivy on a log or two. I had not noticed it as it normally just doesn't bother me. However, I don't cut much wood with the ivy on it. Some I'll just let die in the woods rather than cut it.

Hello boatboy63...there are large amounts of pi and po here in southern maine where I live and cut my firewood. The best way not to get the rash...if it bothers you...is not work around it.... You don't have to be the brightest bulb in the box to figure that one out. Franklin

I do the same as some of the previous posts. I carry pruning shears in the woods with me if I'm prospecting for wood to cut. If I find one with PI, I cut the vine close to the base. This will kill and dry out the vine by the time I'm ready to buck the tree. When the time comes to buck the tree, I wear long sleeves and gloves and pull the vine off the tree from the top down. Seems to work pretty well for me. I do get PI, but not very bad. Usually in just a few spots.

Backwoods Savage said:

I remember when rdust came for some firewood. He handled some wood very gently as it did have some poison ivy on a log or two. I had not noticed it as it normally just doesn't bother me. However, I don't cut much wood with the ivy on it. Some I'll just let die in the woods rather than cut it.

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Those pieces are stacked very neatly to the side, I will get around to tearing the bark of them when I'm feeling froggy! :lol:

This is an old loggers trick that I've never had the stones to try myself. But I met someone who has done this and he will touch poison ivy without even thinking about it and never get it.

http://www.wwmag.net/pivy.htm

jaybird396 said:

This is an old loggers trick that I've never had the stones to try myself. But I met someone who has done this and he will touch poison ivy without even thinking about it and never get it.

http://www.wwmag.net/pivy.htm

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It makes sense. That is what they do with regular allergy shots (my wife gets a shot every week in the fall); they inject you with a serum containing the exact things that you're allergic to.

Of course this is done under close supervision where a dangerous reaction will be caught immediately and treated before permanent damage is done.

I also do not have the stones to try this. For as little a problem it is to just scrub up good when I get home from cutting wood I'll just keep doing it that way.