Dad taught us how to ID it the first time one of us got it. In spite of recognizing and avoiding it, we all kept getting it. Years later, I figured it out. The dog was the culprit. She plowed right through the stuff and we hugged and played with her.

I grew up on the family farm, with LOTS of poison ivy. The absolute worst is to burn it. Never burn poison ivy, if you can avoid doing so! You can also get it from clothing that has been exposed to the oil from the plant, even if you never touched the actual plant yourself. So, if you're out in the timber, and you've brushed against poison ivy, you CAN get it from touching the clothing. So, what to do? We'd always go home asap, take the clothing off, put it in the washer immediately, and then take a hot shower with strong lye soap, or Dawn dishwasher soap (it really is the Best!) that way you can get it off of your skin before you have it cause the reaction. Very good video, so thanks for making it!

The guy who invented Technu was a high school classmate. After several instances of exposure, I heard of it. I used it religiously for years and never had a rash again. The stuff works!

I was a landscaper for 15 years. Technu extreme was my saving grace.

You have to make sure you use DETERGENT not soap. Soap has oils in it, detergents like blue dawn (ultra) have de-greasers.

A sweet, very elderly lady saw my arm when I was having a reaction to poison ivy (I'd stupidly cut it back with clippers and wasn't that careful). She went to her fridge and took out a jar of the nastiest looking liquid I'd ever seen, handed me a paper towel and told me how to brush it on my arm. The treatment was simple, keep the jar handy, and keep patting the liquid onto the rash every time it dried up. The very next day the rash was dry, the itching was gone. What was in the jar? She'd made a very strong tea of fresh St. John's Wort leaves, strained the leaves out, and put the jar of tea in the fridge. I keep my own jar in my fridge now, and it works as well as it did then. She was nearly 100 then, long gone now, but I thank her every time I'm dumb enough to get exposed.

The hairy vines was the one thing I did not know about poison ivy. I removed a HUGE vine from the fence of our house in the winter... and then discovered that I had covered myself in poison ivy in the process... 🤦‍♀

No Drugs necessary !!! Plus those ALWAYS damage the gut microbiome. The OTC Zanfel is AMAZING at removing the oil from the skin at ANY point in time. The relief from itch... even the most severe will happen in seconds after washing with Zanfel. I have Zero affiliation with them, I just have a LOT of gratitude for how well it works

I used to survey on the East coast. This often involved cutting line through thick woods. Avoiding poison ivy was not an option. I knew it was an oil that caused the reaction so I started bringing rubbing alcohol with me, and wiping down after exposure. That worked like a charm. I also found bleach works, but not quite as well. If you ever have to cut poison ivy you should know when you do so it often sprays it's sap from the cut. Try to position yourself in a safe location before chopping it, and be very aware. It's really hard to see, and feel the spray when it hits you. I'm not super sensitive to poison ivy, but getting the spray on me from chopping it would leave a spray line. This took a while to figure out. Hopefully you won't have to now.

As someone who is an unwitting expert on getting poison oak, watching you pour that nightmare smoothie over your arm was one of the most horrifying things I’ve ever witnessed. I’ve developed almost a sixth sense for poison oak and it’s amazing how much just seeing poison ivy triggers it too, the same evil lurks beneath 😂

I use Fels Naptha laundry soap. It cuts any grease, even automotive grease, and it's what my grandmother used. She was a poultice woman and she knew her stuff. Also, the poison ivy in my area has little bubbles that form on the leaves later in the warm season.

I remember a kid smoked it and got it in his lungs, real darwin award territory there.

Since I learned that you have to SCRUB with a washcloth and soap, I haven't had poison ivy rash in many years. And I am extremely sensitive to it. This video is legit.

I had a coworker one time that lived on an acreage. They were doing some landscaping maintenance and had a big burn pile. Her husband accidentally cleared a large amount of it without either of them realizing it before they burned it and they both ended up in the hospital for severe respiratory inflammation! She said it was extremely uncomfortable and scary.

I'm a land surveyor in Michigan so we see PI almost every day. You should add to your show that you cannot get the rash by touching someone else with the rash unless they still have oil on them. Basically, the pus from the rash does not transfer the rash. This seems to be a really common misconception. You should also add that you get the rash in area's of your body that have not come into contact with the urushiol. Once your body starts to fight the oil, the response can travel through your body. Otherwise, good info.

The hairy vine was new to me. We are always taught to look for “leaves of three”

As a land surveyor in NC, I was infected with poison ivy, poison oak 12 months a year, I'm very allergic and have been to the hospital because of the infection the plants caused, I was once cutting my way up a hill in very thick brush among pine trees, when I noticed these limbs coming off a tree I didn't recognize, it was an 18" pine tree with a HUGE poison ivy vine wrapped around the tree and completely choking it out, The ivy vine was bigger around than the tree itself, with branches up to over 1 inch in diameter and at least 10' from the tree, forming a thick canopy unlike anything I've ever seen from poison ivy or poison oak!!!

I have been a land surveyor for 25 years. After first signs of blisters rub it vigorously with the leaves of golden rod, usually clears up after 2 application

My dad would yank it off fence bare handed and never once had a reaction to it, but if I look at it wrong I'm in for a bad couple of weeks. I really enjoyed this video and learned a few things.

After the resin has soaked in and the body is in autoimmune response, no amount of washing will help, except for temporary relief from the water's cooling effect. One can, however, do hydrotherapy, which WILL provide immediate and temporary complete relief!!!!! Start with immersing in the hottest water you can tolerate for 1 minute, then switch to the coldest you can tolerate for one minute. At least 3 switches is most effective. (Yes, at first the hot water will feel extremely 'exciting', wrong, and perhaps scary, but don't stop/judge until you've really tried it.)

Here's a few more tips: do not wash with hot water as your pores open and absorb more (may be a myth?) I always wash 3 times with COLD water and use an abrasive like a wash cloth. But here is a lesson I learned from my duck (yes..duck, as in water fowl) when out in the woods and there is no cold stream or soap or wash clothes, use DIRT. "Wash" the area well with dirt. A lot. Then rinse the dirt off (with some of your drinking water).

I used to play in poison ivy as a kid, and all the other kids were freaking out, and I was considered immune because I would get no reaction. Until one time, I was once again showing off how "immune" I was, got a minor itchy rash. Didn't last long, Sounds like the more you mess with it, the more susceptible you are.

SO many people say they know what poison ivy looks like, but really don’t. They remember “leaves of three, let it be” or “shiny red leaves” but have never actually seen the plant. I have re-educated a sizable portion of my friends by not only showing them how to accurately identify it, but how to identify the places it commonly grows and distinguish it from similar looking plants, such as Virginia Creeper. ASIDE: I also had the joy of freaking my fishing buddies out when they were convinced I was gonna get Poison Sumac from examining a cluster of Staghorn.

Use a washcloth with dish soap and cold water and do it within a couple hours of exposure. The washcloth exfoliates to pull the urushiol out, the dish soap is a degreaser which helps remove the oil, and the cold water keeps the skin pores from opening and absorbing the oil. Urushiol has a similar consistency to axle grease and if you've ever messed with axle grease you know how hard it is to get completely off.

I used to be extremely allergic to poison ivy. We had a cottage on Lake Erie in Wheatley, Ont Canada. There were fields behind the cottages that had lots of poison ivy in them. I could walk down the road in the spring and literally come down with poison ivy that night. My worst case was went to a beach party one night when I was 16 and crawled threw some and didn't know it at the time. The next day I was covered in poison ivy. I had to be hospitalized. I looked like a leper. It took three weeks to get over it that time. Your doctor said there should be a way to stop people from getting it. One year they had these tiny pills that you broke into quarters to start. The first week you took one quarter of a pill daily, the second week 1/2 a pill daily. Third week 3/4 of a pill daily. Fourth week, whole pill til the pills were gone. They were only available one summer. Next summer went to the doctor and they had been pulled from the market supposedly because someone had taken too much at once and had died. I was pissed off because that was the first year I didn't get poison ivy. Today almost all new scripts can kill you and they don't seem to mind, Bring back the poison ivy pill.

I can relate to Jonas. I accidentally inhaled very little poison ivy whilst pregnant. Worst experience ever 🤢😭 . My body was leaking fluid out of every cell of my skin. My sheets needed to be changed 2x a day. We wrapped sheets around all my limbs because I was oozing so much liquid. I am definitely not afraid of poison ivy but we no longer burn leaves. That was 22 years ago. Poor Jonas. Horrible experience! Bless you all! Now go outside! 😅

Easy identification tip from botantist: leaves of 3 AND Think of a playground slide, one side has jagged "steps" and the opposite edge will be smooth like a slide

I use a paste made of blue dawn dishsaop, with baking soda. Spead it on the exposed skin, and allow it to sit for a minute or so to draw the oil off the skin. Then with a damp wash cloth begin scrubbing the skin while standing in the shower to wash away the soap and baking soda. If you already have a rash, reapeat this process every time itch returns (and I make sure the rash bubbles are busted so the rash dries out faster) And use IVYRest topical immediately after. It may sting at first if you have open sores, but the lidocaine in IVYRest will quickly calm the burn.

We keep Tecnu Oak & Ivy in all the medicine cabinets. It's a cleanser designed to bind to urushiol resin and remove it from the skin. It works well. I'm minimally reactive to urushiol, but my partner is very sensitive. I find it interesting that in Japan, their lovely lacquer, used on bowls and boxes and chopsticks and Shakuhachi flutes, is made from urushiol resin. They have a native tree, the urushiol tree, that makes far more of the substance than poison ivy. They have a process that, over time, oxidizes the resin, making it harmless. There are individuals who are so sensitive, though, that even the oldest and most oxidized lacquer can still cause a rash. I play the Shakuhachi (badly) so I needed to know this. It's for this reason I use flutes made from synthetic materials, no urushi lacquer at all. Also, I collect fountain pens, and some, usually from Japan, are lacquered with urushi lacquer. They're some of the most beautiful pens -- Japanese urushi lacquered items in general are well known for their inlay and extremely delicate layered work.

I’m one of the very lucky percentage of people who has no reaction to urushiol. But, ironically, I’m *very allergic* to almost everything else, including cats, newspaper ink, horses and dust mites. My dermatologist did a test year ago, and every single thing she tested showed an allergic response.

Grew up a quarter mile from a woods walking path that had nettles and jewel weed growing everywhere. As kids we quickly learned the difference in the leaves, and that nettles burn, but jewel weed gel from the stem can help relieve the stinging and itching of the nettles. (Fun note, jewel weed leaves work great for making little leaf boats with a pebble in the middle to float down the stream!) My older brother had an ex girlfriend who didn't know what nettles were. While going for a walk we pointed to a big patch of nettle plants. She goes "What, here?" and plunges her arm in and rubs it around the plants. We both gasped. She goes "Really? These? Right here?" She had no reaction to them. Only person we've ever met that didn't get a stinging, itchy feeling.

I got that severe reaction from clearing brush & burning in the winter. Additionally dogs can transfer it to you by collecting the oils on their fur. Thank you!

If you get it bad, be sure to treat whatever you touched. I kept re-exposing myself through the steering wheel on my car and the arms of the chair in my office! Once I cleaned them well, I was finally able to stop reacting.

Felsnaptha as mentioned below is exactly correct. I am highly allergic and I have used Felsnaptha whenever I suspect that I have been exposed. 50+ years experience and calamine (pink) lotion.

This is the best vid I’ve seen on this topic. I have a forestry management business and my employees and I frequently fight rashes from Poison Ivy, sometimes even in the winter (occasionally we unknowingly cut a vine and get sprayed). Drinking urushoil, eating it, bleaching your skin, and all that stuff hasn’t been as effective as time. Time or steroids is what heals it. I don’t go to he Dr unless it’s on my mouth or eyes. I take scalding hot showers to relieve itching and then wait it out. I get it much less frequently now that I wash my hands and arms anytime I’m in an area with PI. This helps prevent it most of the time.

Great video! Many thanks! It made me laugh a little as I sit here in my tormented state.

This was very informative. I'm extremely allergic. 2 times my face has swollen so bad my eyes swelled closed due to poison ivy. Also for anyone reading this, the ABSOLUTE WORST thing to do is to burn it!

While living in rural Missouri some decades ago, I had poison ivy vines growing on a few trees around the house. I left it alone so that the repeated sight of the leaves would make an indelible impression. Years later, I can recognize poison ivy like a flashing red light. I've never had a poison ivy rash even though I spend almost all my free time in the outdoors.

When I was going up I was taught "leaves of three, leave them be." A good home treatment is to put tomato juice on the rash. The acid will help to dry it out.

If you want to get sticky grease off your skin, put vegetable oil on it first, which will dilute the grease, and then wash it with detergent and water. I would expect it would help with the poison ivy oil too.

I used to get poison ivy all the time growing up, it got to a point where I guess I built up a tolerance or something and didn't get it any more

been foraging for years with the terrible secret that i couldn't ID poison ivy. I had been told what it looks like on feildtrips as a kid... but as the tallest kid i was always in back and unable to actually see it. i obvs tried to learn as i started foraging but everytime i thought i learned it someone would say "oh watch out for the poison ivy right there" and i'd never be able to spot it. thank you so much for this seeing that table really helped

Just like blackberry, raspberry has leaves of three also! We have wild raspberries growing at hole 13 at the nearby frisbee golf course. It’s a nice little treat while you’re playing!

Great video, really enjoyed it. I’m one of these individuals who gets a severe reaction to poison ivy. This is until I noticed one summer about 20 yrs ago while on a vitamin supplement to help with my varicose veins. I had just arrived home after being out and was in our yard talking to my husband while he was working pulling weeds and doing some trimming and gardening. As usual I couldn’t just watch as we’re talking so I started helping. Now, he’s dressed practically as a bee keeper to protect himself where I’m in shorts and a sleeveless shirt after just running a few errands. He goes inside afterwards and showers, where I forgot and got busy with our kids and life. Fast forward the next morning my husband has full on poison ivy! Me, not a thing. A few weeks later while on a beach vacation I usually burn if I’m not on top of re application of suntan lotion, as does my family. Though this trip I didn’t burn at all. Another yard cleaning where this time my kids all got poison ivy (yet everyone was wearing gloves and long sleeves etc.), again, I got nothing. So I looked what was in the supplement I was taking. This was verified this with a friend who was doing research at the time for the National Institute of Health on ZINK. Since then I take zinc daily in the spring going through until a couple of good frosts and I encourage my family (and anyone else that will listen) to take zinc before doing yard work or being in the sun and to continue for a few days afterwards just to be safe. Zinc has healing properties which helps in the healing of your skin some how. Any dermatologist I spoken to hasn’t heard of this, though none have said to stay away or not to continue. They all find it interesting. Btw, my husband only started taking the zinc about 10 yrs ago after realizing that showering immediately after yard work with lava soap and washing his clothes spin hot water wasn’t preventing him from still getting poison ivy. As someone stated in the comments, it was likely on his sneakers. Anyway, consider looking more deeply into taking zinc prior to yard work or being out in the sun. Hope my story is helpful. Thanks again for your video.

The best way to get grease off is to use some vegetable oil, which can then be wiped and/or washed off easily, without scrubbing.

I was one of the lucky ones that never reacted to poison oak. Unlucky for me that I didn’t know that the more you get exposed the more likely you are of getting it. Sooo I used to clear it for farmers and rub it on my body to win bets or dares. Then one day as a young adult one of the chickens didn’t want to go into the coop and decided to hide in some poison oak. I went right in and grabbed her like nothing and went about my business for the next couple days. Started out as a little patch on my arm and a few days later I looked worse than poor Joanis. My legs looked about like his, including both my arms, half my chest, most my stomach and half my back…what fun. Didn’t complain one bit when the Dr pulled out the needle and stuck my backside with steroids. If only the internet had come around a bit sooner.

As a few have already mentioned, Tecnu is the best OTC scrub I have experienced. I developed a sensitivity to poison ivy as an adult and was told about Tecnu. The next time I had a rash I used tecnu and it was gone the next day. Now I scrub down with it every time I have been in an area where there could be poison ivy. The stuff works wonders

I can tell you from personal experience, opossums are also susceptible to poison ivy/poison oak rashes. I have a pet possum and l let him out on the side of the 15 freeway in a pull out area in southern California about a year ago to go to the bathroom and he got all up in some poison oak, which I am very familiar with, and within a couple of days, his poor little hands and feet were completely red and oozing and he could barely walk for about a week. Happy to report he has fully healed and is now doing great. I think it's likely because opossum's hands and feet are not covered in fur and there skin is very soft and sensitive, almost like human or primate skin as opposed to a dog's paws or a deer's hooves. God bless.

Like he said, it's like getting off thick and sticky car grease. With that said, washing off with dish soap can definitely improve your condition, but with it being clear, it's almost impossible to get it all off. Also consider that if any is left on your hands, than anything you touch can spread it to other surfaces like faucet handles, door handles, steering wheels, clothes and shoes. And keep in mind that shoes can spread it to your hands as well. Also, it helps to be home where you have access to running water and dawn dish soap. Many times I come into contact with it on my job, sometimes not even knowing I got it, and other times seeing it and thinking I avoided it, but didn't. It's a real tricky thing and there's no fail-safe way like the title of the video insinuates.

Jonas' reaction was from the oil in the smoke from the woods. I've seen it many times on people that either had a bonfire or were burning brush and didn't think about it. My daughter and myself are extremely allergic and need the steriod pak. We have scars. My sons don't seem to react much.

Dawn is great for it, but you can also use rubbing alcohol to get the oil off. There is also a poison ivy gritty soap tubes that work really well.

I live in CA, so we have poison oak instead. My mom grew up in MA, however, and for years, she got it really, really bad. Why? She and a girlfriend had read that the Indians used to rub it on themselves to gain immunity. So, of course, being kids, they went right out and tried it! She got SUCH a bad reaction that she lost several days of school, and every year afterwards, she would get a case without going anywhere near it. All it took was for the wind to be blowing in the right direction to bring the oil droplets her way!

What works for me is pretreating my skin with dish soap. If I know I'll be performing activities that may risk poison ivy/oak/sumac contact, I simply coat my skin with a thin layer of dish soap, and let it dry. This provides a barrier and it is also helpful in washing off if I notice I've gotten into the thick of it.

I usually get it a couple times a year durning the summer due to brush cutting with a trimmer. The dawn dish soap in the shower is an absolute must afterwards.

Thanks for this information! Here in Northern California we have a native plant that absolutely cures poison oak. It is called “Soap plant” or “soap root”. It grows from a fibrous bulb about 6 inches under the ground. When sliced the bulb oozes a thick substance that when put over the rash, will seal & dry it. Typically the rash is almost gone in 24 hours. The Native Americans also used it for washing, hair combs & for fishing.

Worth note is that the lookalikes can serve as camouflage for Poison Ivy, the real stuff is usually nearby. It's also worth knowing that a plant which is clearly not Poison Ivy but has an oily sheen on it, although it won't cause the same allergic reaction, can still irritate the skin.

ID difference between PoisonIvy and BoxElder seedlings that has helped, since they look so similar and we have both, everywhere, is that PI as a vine has random branches around the stem (with the leaves) and BoxElder branches at 180 deg in pairs, so when you look at the center, the leaf stems come out in a cross.

I think box elder is an important one to learn to distinguish from poison ivy. Very similar looking, but box elder has opposite branching, while poison ivy is alternately branching

Growing up, I'd get blisters that would grow upwards of 1/2" in height. I remember waking up one morning unable to open my eyes because it had spread to my face and crusted over. I don't think I've ever been more scared in my entire life! It always got me out of mowing the back yard, but I'd rather have had to mow than deal with the unbearable rash. Now, I just avoid the woods altogether.

I have been a Naturalist for 40 years and have helped many identify P.I. I also got it in my blood stream and it covered my body, EVERYTHING was covered. My doctor wouldn't touch me, It took about 3 weeks of agony and wet clothing before it subsided. I now avoid it but when I do get it it's very small and doesn't bother me.

I'm in my mid forties and have been in farming and ranching my entire life. When I was young, I was extremely allergic to poison ivy. When I was probably 8 or 9 years old we burned some brush that had been cleared for a fence line. Playing in the smoke I got a poison ivy rash all over including in my eyes and in my nasal passages. I still continued to get it after that, but I can only recall one or two extremely minor cases in the last 30 years or so. It seems like if I go a while without exposure I will loose some immune response resulting in a minor case that will build up my immunity again. What I find extremely interesting is my father grew up being exposed the same way I have been, but he never had a reaction until he was in his late 50's or early 60's.

I have found Benadryl to be quite helpful. Along with the mitigation techniques you talk about.

Thanks! part of my little property I leave almost natural, but sometimes I have to cut back the creepage, lol. I have been tryin to identify poison ivy for years and this helped more than anything else I have seen, and I watched and read alot! Great video

Thank you so much. I was clearing land, and mindlessly rolled up my sleeves, and as I was showering at home, felt the burn. Next day? Rash, then soon after blisters and the crust all over my forearm. My response to poison ivy has gotten worse over the years, and thank you for confirming that idea. Also, thank you for saying that the over the counter remedies are useless, because that has also been my experience. As a Sylvan, I will not stop roaming the Woods, but will take Dawn dish soap and a rag. Bravo.

The smoke in that fire is, as I understand it, a deluxe carrier of the poison ivy oils. That smoke can cover you with oil. That was the scariest scene for me.

TWO GREAT TRICKS 1) if out hiking, bring a pack of alcohol wipes to wipe skin after. Helps to neutralize oil. 2) if you do get rashing. Make a mix of baking soda and vinegar and scrub open blisters with a scrub brush (I use non scratch dish one). Once blisters are open, use spray bottle of vinegar on area to kill oils(feels like peroxide on open wound)but more natural. Repeat if you miss spots. Should be gone pretty quickly.

Technu makes a scrub that feels AMAZING for relieving the itching . It's at Walmart etc. It's the only thing I tried that helped. It's about $10 a tube but well worth it.

Nicely done and much appreciated, as always!👍✌

So thankful to be in the few percent that doesn't react to prison ivy

Super educational and interesting. That you for making this video. (Poor Jonahs)

Excellent video. I have used Dawn dish-washing liquid for years to remove poison ivy and it works well. Remember your clothing or gloves will hold the poison ivy oils so wash them immediately after contact to prevent you from getting the itch.

Poison Oak is probably worse IMO I've seen massive trunks on it in California, but the resin dripping off of them is a gorgeous dark black sap that can hang off of vines and looks like nothing else in the forest.

Also note that there are other plants (that are not poison ivy/poison oak) that can nevertheless also cause unpleasant skin reactions. One commonly seen one is Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia), which is just as invasive. As the species name "quinquefolia" suggests, like poison ivy it also has leaflets, in this case of five, and similarly climbs up trees and walls. Contact with it can cause contact dermatitis.

I have found that "hot" water will stop the itch for about 8hrs or so. You can't hardly do that to sensitive areas but arms and hands, it will work.

It was mentioned that mangos and cashews being related or having urushiol. My daughter cannot eat anything with mango or she has a reaction. A year or two ago I had eaten some cashews and after a short time started having a very intense itching in my rectal area. After some time I did a search on what might cause the itching and one possible cause was eating improperly roasted cashews. The cashews I had been eating were a non-commercial kind and maybe weren't as processed. The articles I read suggested that fully roasting the cashews breaks down the oils and renders them safe. I stopped eating the cashews and the itching cleared up. It threw out the remaining cashews.

My wife and I figured out the Dawn trick back in 2000. We were working on a tract of land we had bought and the entire forest floor was a sea of poison ivy. We also learned that you MUST thoroughly wash the clothing you wore before putting any of it back on. Our most puzzling thing was that we kept getting it between our fingers, despite great care in cleanup. Then one day I was tying my shoes and the light came on. Shoelaces are perfect for transporting urushiol to your fingers and, perhaps, thence to other parts of your body, including some places that can be rather embarrasing to seek treatment for. So we learned to tie our shoes while wearing rubber gloves. I can spot P. I. in any season and not confuse it with it look alikes.

A few others have mentioned Fels-Naptha soap as well. I've always used this when I had suspected contact with Poison Ivy, and have never broken out. But the key to remove the resin from your skin and clothing is the right approach. Remember that exposed items can carry the oil for years if not removed - so second hand contact is possible.

I personally have a big container of the “orange” soap which is meant for degreasing. I’ve found using this very effective after contact. I get small rashes/irritations at times, but nothing significant as in times past when I did not treat it before discovery!

I have been crawling under trucks the last few days where it is growing. It never bothers me as much in the Spring. Wiping your skin off with cotton swabs soaked in rubbing alcohol works best..

55 years ago, I attended a Navy school in a bucolic area of Maryland along with several other young couples. A major diversion was an informal competition of gathering black raspberries. By the time my wife finished her degree to join me, most of the bushes were picked over. However, one large of perfectly ripe berries stood in defiance with a heavy load of unmolested raspberries - - guarded by broad apron of shiny poison ivy leaves. That needed a plan. I'd previously done decontaminations and put the knowledge to use. When my wife arrived, we converted our bathroom into a decontamination station, wore old clothes with bags over shoes and tape around ankles, wrists, etc. The main idea is to undress without touching the exterior of our clothes and shoes when we later undressed with brown soap and a shower at the ready. Then we went boldly where no one had been before -- gathering several pints of perfect raspberries. Yes, we started late, but easily picked the most.

I used to play in wood a lot when I was a kid. I'd always be in poison ivy and oak. I would break out, but after a while, I stopped being affected. For a while wash my hands in mud and it worked

I'm curios if you used Gojo or something similar if it would help or harm due to the abrasiveness of the soap? great content i will have to check out your other video's.

I have a theory about what happened to Jonas, based on experience...a while back I was clearing brush and got a bad scratch on my leg; apparently some poison ivy got into it and turned my knee into weeping hamburger. I also noticed rashes showing up on my feet and around my midsection, which were covered at the time. I'm wondering if a tiny bit of urushiol somehow gets transported through the blood or lymphatic system to other parts of the body, especially if the oil gets into a wound? If Jonas had breathed in the smoke, he would have had breathing issues akin to tear gas or other chemical weapons. Thanks for making this video! Poison ivy is certainly one fascinating plant.

I had a reaction to poison ivy as a child in Omaha. Later I was relocated to Georgia. In my yard right now,It grows all over the place. I typically wash my hands and arms and use rubbing alcohol after. Usually just washing my hands alone and washing my clothes after yard work suffices. I also always shower after doing yard work. The only evidence I have found of any reaction is a light blistering usually between a finger. I usually pop those,wash and apply rubbing alcohol and it goes away in a few days.

I had poison ivy once covering over half of my body when I was younger, had to go to the ER because it was even on and around my eyeballs.

I use ice to rub the exposed area until it starts to hurt a little. I believe this constricts the pores in the skin. Then I use more dish detergent.

Virginia Creeper also works the same as jewelweed, and it's usually growing intertwinned WITH poison ivy. Thing is, it kinda resembles poison ivy as well, but has FIVE leaves like a palm leaf and doesn't have hairy stems.

it's better to use a washcloth or t-shirt to wipe the ivy juice away from the body,not just your hand. any soap but even just water is better than nothing if you use a washcloth.

I'm very sensitive to poison ivy and even more so to the skin of mangos. Didn't realize the relationship to mangos until I lived in FL with a giant mango tree. I was picking them up from the ground without knowing I was allergic. It finally clicked for me when someone told me about the relationship. Until then I thought I was just running into poison ivy somewhere and didn't know where. Fyi, I can eat peeled mangos just fine. Just can't touch the skin or any surface where the skin has been.

I had a similar reaction to Jonas once when I accidentally weed-whacked some poison ivy that had vined into another plant. Both arms and chest. That was terrible.

Where I live Jewelweed doesn't grow so I buy a jewel weed spray that has witch hazel. It's works pretty well for times I accidentally brush up against it. I do wild foraging from time to time so I need something I can apply quickly and that doesn't require lots of water to rinse. Now since it can't usually rinse super well I will still get a rash but it's always way less than if I did nothing. It also helps with it spreading via my clothes.

Yikes! I had a very similar outbreak on my legs, similar to Jonas. It was like I had flesh eating disease for a month. It also ended up popping up all over my body. I believe it got into my blood stream and then just started popping up all over. Wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

A waterless hand cleaner dissolves the oil, grease, and resins, so rather than scrubbing with a detergent, you can massage with the waterless hand cleaner. You can find them at the auto parts stores. Avoid the ones with pumice for poison ivy.

The same works for pacific poison oak (Rhus diversiloba, Toxicodendron diversilobum). Immediate detergent scrub will prevent blisters.

You need a rough rag and some soap. The blending was crazy because of spill potential.

Awesome video. I grew up getting it all my life as a kid, one year to the point my legs went septic looking similar to your cameraman. It’s purely anecdotal but I kept bottles of isopropyl around forever after that. I don’t think the alcohol helped but learning to identify it definitely did, I haven’t have it since. I’ve heard about the 7 year itch I don’t know how true that is.

I had a terrible reaction to the sap from a mango tree. I was holding the mangos in arm while grabbing others off the tree. Completely oblivious to all the sap getting on my arms and chest. The next 3 or 4 weeks were rough. ☹️

Jewelweed soap is FANTASTIC. I'm out in the woods all the time clearing brush and there's PI around me all the time. I just use Jewelweed soap and I don't have issues. I also use Jewelweed salve if I miss a spot.

Boxelder Maple (Acer negundo) leaves look almost identical. The Boxelder Maple trees and seedlings are very prevalent in the mid-Atlantic and I see them often growing in the same areas.

Oils are miscible in alcohol, it's a lot easier to wash with rubbing alcohol (iso or ethanol)... I might be part of 15%...