[TerriLynn]

My son has a summer job building fence, and gets poison ivy very easily.

By July he had gotten poison ivy 3 times and had to go to the Dr and get a prescription for steroids each time to clear it up, otherwise he has it forever.

The last time he had it in July he started using Fels Naptha soap while taking the steroid and it seemed to dry up even quicker than usual. So he kept the bar of soap in the shower and started using it every day as a preventative when he showered after work.

He had no recurrence of the poison ivy since he's been using it every day. That's almost 6 weeks poison ivy free and his exposure to it has not changed at all. In fact he's mentioned to me on a couple of different occasions now that he was working around a lot of poison ivy.

I was just wondering if anyone else has ever heard of using Fels Naptha soap for this?

 

[bluefish]

Yep. Famous for that in N Ca where I grew up. We always had some of that around and washed with it first thing anytime we were playing outside the yard. Works great!

 

[simi-steading]

Not the best thing for your skin or nervous system, but I always scrub my poison ivy down with lacquer thinner... dries it out instantly and removes the oils... Burns like you can't imagine, but it's better than a week or so of itching..

 

[TerriLynn]

Not the best thing for your skin or nervous system, but I always scrub my poison ivy down with lacquer thinner... dries it out instantly and removes the oils... Burns like you can't imagine, but it's better than a week or so of itching..

lol, yep hes tried that along with rubbing down with kerosene, gasoline, and rubbing alcohol, and I don't even know what else! I was just impressed that he's gone so long without an outbreak, kind of impressive if you know how often hes exposed to it, and how sensitive he is.

 

[chickenista]

The best is either the actual scrub that has nonoxynol-9 in it..I think it is called Zanfel. Or I know there is another at walmart.
Or you can make your own with sugar and spermicidal cream.
You need the scrubby part to break it open, then the nonoxynol-9 dries up the oil instantly.
We only have to scrub with it 1 time and it is all gone.
You will have some red dots, but the itch and the fear of spread is gone.
Even Dr Oz says to use nonoxynol-9.
Google it and it will explain how it breaks down the oils etc..

We haven't suffered with poison ivy/oak in several years now.
One scrub and no worries.

 

[TraciInTexas]

Washing with Tide, Fels Naptha, etc will strip the oils off, and a brisk rub down with Witch Hazel afterward finishes the job.

My son is terribly allergic to Poison Ivy, and this is what we always had to do to him. He finally quit getting into the PI after a while...

 

[NJ Rich]

I just used some two weeks ago for poison Ivy on my ankles. I washed with it and left the soap on for a few minutes then rinsed and dried. Part of my Bug Bag contents now.

 

[anahatalotus]

I believe jewel weed is effective in dulling the itch that poison ivy brings sbout, and I think it also grows near the culprit...