poison ivy

I have a tip I didn't see mentioned yet. After putting on the long sleeves, etc., I put plastic bags over my gloves and some masking tape to hold them in place. That keeps the gloves from being contaminated. Everything else except the shoes can go in the wash. When I am done, I loosen the clothes ready to take off, pull the bag off inside out and it goes into the trash bag that I have ready. I had a really bad infestation where weeds had not been cut in a long time and the poison ivy was a huge bush in bloom! It had also spread everywhere. I have used weed killer with limited success, but cutting it leaves you with this leafy stuff to get rid of. Also I have read that it is better to use cold water to wash off your skin, as the hot water might break open the oily capsules of the irritating substance. They now sell soaps for after contact and a preventive lotion , but I haven't tried any of them. I have never had a reaction to poison ivy but I don't push my luck.

The round up thing is what my parents do to get rid of it. My dad isn't allergic, the only way he gets it if he has open sores, it gets inside of them, but that's it. So he's the one to deal with it. I don't get it either. I don't know if it's something genetic because my dad doesn't, or if it's because my mom was covered with it when I was born. When she had me, the nurse was afraid to touch her belly because she was broken out with it so bad! LOL I do really feel sorry for anyone that gets it. My little sister gets it really bad, just from the air. She doesn't have to go anywhere even close to it. It swells her eyes shut and gets in her throat. She gets a shot for it every year. My dad is very vigilant about making sure there is NONE on their property. When they bought the house, he dug about 2 feet down in the two places he found it, to get all the roots.

Talk to your local garden center and they may have a chemical that you can carefully use and rid yourself of this plant. Should be no problem to get rid of this from your locality. Good luck with this.