Poison Ivy...help!!!

[vegascowgirl]

This morning we have discovered poison Ivy growing underneath/at the edge of our deck. I don't want my little girl or baby getting into it (or risk one of us bringing it into the house to the baby). However, I can't think of a way to get rid of it without coming in contact with it. Do they make a spray for it? preferably one that won't kill the other flowers and plants around it. I have a nice bunch of sunflowers coming up (as well as other flowers) and I don't want to kill them as well.

[halfpint]

The best thing we have found to do is to put on long sleeves and gloves and pull them up, trying to get as much of the roots as possible. Be careful not to rub the gloves/clothes on open skin as the juice may spread that way - I had a bad case on my face once from using the back of my gloves to wipe the sweat off of my face. Throw directly into trash can or bag - Do NOT Burn! Some can catch poison ivy from it being burned, and my mom was hospitalized once due to this. After finishing, I make sure to wash the clothes/gloves in hot soapy water, then I shower with tea tree soap.
What we found in the past is that the sprays (roundup is what we usually used) will kill off the upper growth, but not the roots. We no longer use chemicals in our yard due to children, pets and chickens.
Dawn

[Cassie]

I think you've already gotten the best advice: pull it and don't burn it. If your place is anything like ours was in Missouri there is so much of it that if you use chemicals you'll turn your place into a toxic dump. That is the one thing I don't miss, I fought poison ivy all spring, summer, and fall. I just look at it and seem to break out. I tried taking the rhus tox, a pill for internal use to prevent it, but it didn't work, it might for someone else. Once I get it the only thing that works is dousing the rash with bleach, which stinks for awhile. Keep some Benadryl handy.

[rwzzz]

I get Poison ivy all the time, it grows every where here in Pa. I do exactly what was suggested, old clothes, gloves, pull up, get the roots, put in plastic trash bag, through away clothes, do not burn. Then go in and take a shower wash real well. Use dish detergent first. Poison ivy has an oil called ursinol(sp?) that causes the rash. Dish detergent helps to remove the oil. My wife says to use the yellow laundry soap, I use it, doesn't hurt. Frequent applications of RoundUP will work, eventually. But its better to just pull it up, bag it, and toss with the trash.
We have so much of it my MIL bought us a goat to eat it. The goat wont go near the stuff

take care
BZ
NE Pa

[thedonkeyman]

What IF you would put DMSO in Round UP ? To get to the ROOTS. I see by their TV adds they DO NOT say it will KILL the ROOTS anymore ???

[Oggie]

When we moved out to our place, it was pretty overgrown with poison ivy. If I see a vine I know I'm going to be breaking out soon. I'm about the most sensitive (at least to poison ivy) guy I've met.

The only way I've been able to get it under control was through years of chemical warfare with Roundup. Yes, it kills almost everything it touches. But, sorry Mama Earth, you had it comin'.

I know of a few, less sensitive, folks who were able to get rid of it by pulling it up. Make sure you soak the ground with a lot of water or you will just break off roots and you'll have even more plants than when you started. Then make sure you put the ivy in the trash. If you try to burn or compost it, you run a pretty good chance of itching.

[Justaplain]

2 4 D with Amine. Spray every couple of weeks>this will not kill grass.

[Country]

Ortho sells a product called Brush-B-Gone. Our back yard was completely taken over by poison ivy and this product did the trick for us. Didn't kill the grass.

[ozark_jewels]

Get goats. End of poison ivy problem. We were over-run here in Missouri. Not anymore. Now I am overjoyed when I see a bit of poison ivy....I think "goat-food"!! It doesn't last long......

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by rwzzz

We have so much of it my MIL bought us a goat to eat it. The goat wont go near the stuff

You sure what you have is a goat? My goats will kill for poison ivy.

[MountainMama]

If you break out from poison ivy use Fels Naptha soap. It clears it up. I sometimes make laundry detergent from this but I am not sure if you could make a mixture to spray on it and kill it.

Good Luck!

[ozark_jewels]

Originally Posted by vegascowgirl

This morning we have discovered poison Ivy growing underneath/at the edge of our deck. I don't want my little girl or baby getting into it (or risk one of us bringing it into the house to the baby). However, I can't think of a way to get rid of it without coming in contact with it. Do they make a spray for it? preferably one that won't kill the other flowers and plants around it. I have a nice bunch of sunflowers coming up (as well as other flowers) and I don't want to kill them as well.

Yep, like others have said, get a good pair of gloves, wear long sleeves and jeans, and pull the stuff. Don't burn it, let it shrivel and die in a heap away from the children.

[Twogun]

I bought a goat a few years back to eat weeds around my place but all that S.O.B. would eat was grain. If I didn't feed him a coffee can full twice a day, he'd be at the back door pawing or ramming it with his head. He was a Nubian and I'm sure a rarity.

[fricknfarm]

If you contract poison ivy, try this. Take a bath and get some Epsom salts,dry, while you're in the tub. Rub the Epsom Salts on the rash, rub it in really well. DON'T rinse it off, DON'T rub it off with your towel. Just air dry. Repeat as it gets itchy again. This dries my rash within 24 hours and in about three days it's gone completely. I think the salt draws out the toxins. This works better than anything else for me.
Be VERY careful handling the items you wear if you pull out the poison ivy. Also be very careful your daughter doesn't touch anything that has touched poison ivy. Dogs can also get the oils on their fur and you can contact it that way. The oils are so powerful, I saw on TV, that one ounce of the pure extract would be enough to give everyone on the planet a case of poison ivy. Also on the same show, they found some in Egyptian tombs (why was it there??) and they said after 5,000 years you could STILL get poison ivy from it.
I think it was the "Discovery Channel", they're online. stop by and check it out,poison ivy is amzing(ly bad) stuff.

[vegascowgirl]

Thanks for the advice. I'm suiting up to go pull the dawged stuff in just a short while. I'm one of those folks that gets it soooooo easily. I won't be surprised if I am itching afterword. However hubby, who is extremely resiliant to the stuff, is off at work. He works, I take care of the "DRT Rafter C". Thats how it goes

I've heard of Fels Naptha soap, but can't find it. Is it sold in stores or is it strictly a catalog/online product? Just to ask... what is the difference between it and other soaps?

[fricknfarm]

Fels Naptha...old time laundry soap..look in the laundry aisle of the store, not the body soap area, also wash yourself with DISHWASHING LIQUID after the poison ivy pull, it's the oils that give you a rash and dishwashing liquid is MADE to cut oil. You can use the Fels Naptha as a pre-treat for laundry too and if you're really an old timer, you can grate it in your washer(hot water only) and wash your whole load with it.

[Firethorn]

I was hoping for more remedies for the getting over the rash part. DH an two of the kids get real bad out breaks a couple times a year. DS ate the berries one summer and he swelled up terribly but now almost no reaction at all. I can pull it bare handed and no problem but even when I shower and use the precautions DH gets it from any of us that have been near it, even the dogs. They like to lay in it.
We have used Burts bees poison ivy soap and herbal tinctures. But the best thing we have found is Tecnu. We can get it at wal-mart. Also hylands poison ivy/oak, it has rhus toxicodendron.
Any other cures out there?

[tcboweevil]

I have a terrible rash from ppoison ivy. My husband told me to go swimm in the ocean it would help. Instead, I made a salt solution. Quart jar with a salt brine, and put it on your skin. let it air dry. The salt really dries up the rash. Hope this helps. Theresa

[MELOC]

if i get it in the summer when i can find jewel weed, i use that as a remedy for the itch. just smush it up and rub on the juice.

i have never had luck using chemicals to kill poison ivy. i never kill the roots. i think the plant has too little foliage for the poison to work right, or else too extensive of a root system. the only definate way is to remove it manually.

[stanb999]

Originally Posted by rwzzz

I get Poison ivy all the time, it grows every where here in Pa. I do exactly what was suggested, old clothes, gloves, pull up, get the roots, put in plastic trash bag, through away clothes, do not burn. Then go in and take a shower wash real well. Use dish detergent first. Poison ivy has an oil called ursinol(sp?) that causes the rash. Dish detergent helps to remove the oil. My wife says to use the yellow laundry soap, I use it, doesn't hurt. Frequent applications of RoundUP will work, eventually. But its better to just pull it up, bag it, and toss with the trash.
We have so much of it my MIL bought us a goat to eat it. The goat wont go near the stuff

take care
BZ
NE Pa

Move higher in elevation. That is thankfully one plant we don't have here on top of the mountain.

If you pull it it will come back. It is a plant the reproduces buy seed and ryzome. Pulling it just gives it's growth vigor. The best way to kill it is with roundup dilluted buy half water and adding a little dish soap (1/2 teaspoon to a gallon). The lesser strength roundup will take longer to kill and be less likely to just burn off the top. You want to spray it once a week untill it's all dead. Or you could pull it. Each plant becomes two. It can be quite frustrating.