I hate thee, poison ivy

[superchemicalgirl]

As in pouring it on and NOT lighting it on fire? That temptation would be too great! In all seriousness, I have way too much poison ivy to use gas - I wouldn't want that much alcohol in my soil. If it were a couple patches I'd give it a shot - I have poison ivy that is so thick that even before the leaves come up you can't see the dirt on the ground on account of all the vines. It's like a sick game of cat's cradle.

 

[Bec]

DH just got rid of his poison ivy all over his arms. I was reading that if you burn it and breath in the smoke, it can cause a reaction in your mouth and throat

That would be just awful! I am sure she means just to pour it on there I would guess ?

We just bought a big bottle of Caladryl Clear and it took care of the itch for him. We have some ivy over it he bushes, but we dont go over there but he got his at my FIL house.


Sounds terrible, I hope you can figure out a way to get rid of that awful stuff!

 

[herefordlovinglady]

for those of you with skin rashes of any type, this stuff is it...The best I have ever used to get rid of poison ivy, etc. It stopped the itch right away and started clearing up within 24 hours. Rx only. FLUOCINONIDE. it's a topical steroid. I hate taking the prednesone (sp) and other steroids. For me the stuff really worked perfectly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluocinonide

 

[rodriguezpoultry]

Oh no! Don't light it on fire! We're usually under a burn ban when we do this so we've never lit it on fire.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

Well the rash started on my face this morning.

Luckily I got some prednisone into me very quickly before the rash got too far. The prednisone has suppressed the majority of the rash, so far.

Unfortunately I still have a bunch of poison ivy to pull up but it's raining today and I'm not feeling that invincible. Now (that I'm on the course of prednisone) I guess is as good of a time as any other. The war resumes tomorrow!

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
Yes, poison ivy smoke is bad. I once had a campfire with wood that had poison ivy vines on it in the wintertime (I didn't recognize it, no leaves ), My eyes swelled shut for two weeks. I learned I was lucky, if I had breathed it in it would have killed me.

I keep it under control by mowing a lot. When I see vines climbing, I use a machete to cut it at the ground level. After mowing, I make sure to throw my clothes in the washer separate and do a through soap and rinse shower 3 times. (Don't do a bath tub, the oil will float and spread over your whole body)

 

[jendh]

This may be a crazy idea but here goes....

Do you have a school anywhere near you that teaches Heavy Equipment Operation? Think technical college or career center. Maybe you could talk to an instructor and volunteer your yard for some dozer lessons. Seems that you may as well just remove a foot or so of soil and start over.

Just an idea.

 

[superchemicalgirl]

To put this in perspective, I've pulled up poison ivy from my chicken coop/run area fairly religiously for about a year now when the weather's nice and bagged it and took it to the dump. It's really not that big of an area.
Yesterday I spent a few hours raking the run area of poison ivy (and some blackberry brambles) for the fence guy and I got 3 (THREE!) loads of poison ivy to haul to the dump. It was in a full sized pick up truck.

... And i'd say the run is halfway done being raked.

Sigh.

The good news is though that the prednisone is keeping my old rash (and new rashes) to a minimum. Better living through pharmacology.

 

[sgtmom52]

Remember that the poison ivy oils remain on your clothing, shoes, gloves and tools until you wash it off ~ you can get a rash just from tying the shoes you wore you pulling it out.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

Round-up will kill it, add some dish soap to the round-up mix so it will stick to the plant longer. This is what we use & it works.