Late at Night while you’re sleeping, poison ivy comes a creeping all around-ound-ound-ound.
Poison ivy, Lawd, will make you itch.
Thanks, Coasters, for that classic song reminding us of the evils of poison ivy, a plant so vile as to send shivers up the spines of those who are extremely allergic – like half of my family.
Fortunately, when I accidently bump into the noxious plant, it comes and goes quickly with few symptoms. But others – like my wife Nancy – break out in whelps and bubbles and itch terribly.
Last fall, Nancy was helping my daughter, Laura, with a little landscaping at Laura’s Durham, NC. residence when they foolishly decided to pull up some deeply embedded and mature poison ivy vines.
Lawd, that poison ivy made them itch. They ended up on cortisone.
But recently I ran across something at Southern States that caught my eye. It was Poison Ivy Soap. The clerk at the store said that landscapers swore by the product, so I bought a couple bars.
Though I had never heard of poison ivy soap before, a number of companies make it. Mine is made by Poison Ivy Soap, LLC in Marshall, Arkansas, but I suppose most manufacturers use similar ingredients.
To be effective, it has to be applied soon after contact. The soap cuts into the urushiol poison secreted by the vines and washes it away. It’s also supposed to relieve itching if you contact a rash.
The smart thing to do, I suppose, would be to wash with the soap every time you are in the yard, or where you may be exposed to poison ivy.
I’ll give a full report the next time Nancy and Laura decide to pull up any poison ivy vines and then wash with the soap.