Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re:Poison Ivy - Summary

[Pablo Halpern (phalpern]

Bob Lilienfeld wrote:
> 
> At 8:46 AM 5/9/95, Pablo Halpern wrote:
> 
> >A special type of laundary soap "brand
> >name unknown" can be used to alleviate the blisters and prevent them fro
> >spreading. It might be a good thing to wash with after removing the plant
> >by hand. To find the soap, look for something that looks like a large bar
> >hand soap but is sold in the laundary soap section of the supermarket.
> 
> The type of soap you need is tincture of brown soap. It's sold in
> pharmacies as a liquid. After being exposed to poison ivy, wash with it
> thoroughly and immediately. If you can't find it, wash yourself with
> detergent, not soap.

Actually, the soap I was talking about was Fels Naptha. As you suggest, it 
is not really a soap, but a detergent (sold in the laundary section of the 
supermarket).  I heard that Fels Naptha is effective from three different 
sources now. One mentioned that lumberjacks apply it before exposure and 
don't wash it off until after exposure. Might work as a barrier(?). Tecnu 
(Tech-Nu?) and green soap are also good, according to one artical I read. 
Thanks for the info about tincture of brown soap.

> The nasty actor in PI is uhuru oil. 

That's urushiol.

> >From a person who's been there.

Good to hear from someone with first-hand experience.

- Pablo

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Pablo Halpern              (508) 435-5274         phalpern [at] world.std.com

New View Neighborhood Development, Acton, MA, U.S.A.
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