This sounds like a very good habit to begin, especially where tools are used in many
different areas and are being shared among different volunteers!
Donna
Russ Hapke wrote:
Hi all,
Been reading the posts concerning the poison ivy and poison oak causes and
cures...thought I might add one more cure in there.
We noticed, after being in the field, that when we worked in areas with high
concentrations of poison ivy and poison 'what-ever-else' that obviously we would
catch it. Everyone would scrub up and the stuff would clear up after a week or so. We
also found that several people would continue catching poison ivy weeks after we were out
of areas that contained any of the plants and found that the oils in the ivy will stay on
tools, especially wood, weeks to months after using them in the original areas with poison
ivy.
For us, the best cure was using Fels-naptha, a type of soap heavy in lye and used in
olden days for clothing (I believe socks and stains mostly). It dries out the skin, but it
sure clears up the area quickly; and, you just have to make sure to use some kind of skin
moisturizer on the second day or you skin will itch a lot more. We also made sure that
our equipment was washed with the same type of soap, or with the bleach water like some
mentioned in previous e-mails, to help clear up any future outbreaks.
Russ in LaPorte
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