“Prevention and Remedies”
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“Some gardeners use lotion containing Bentoquatam (sold as products like Ivy Block), which creates a barrier on the skin and affords some protection, although not 100 percent. It must be applied 15 minutes before contact and allowed to dry fully, then reapplied every four hours or any time its dried film is no longer visible.
Limiting your contact is still best, with lotion or without, as is following up with fastidious aftercare — neutralizing that oily sap. A 2000 study compared the effectiveness of surfactants (specifically Dial soap), the grease-removing hand cleanser Goop and Tecnu, a skin cleanser marketed specifically for use with poison ivy.
“All are way better than doing nothing,” Ms. Pell said, although none was a runaway winner.
Another study she cited compared the traditional remedy of mashed-up jewelweed (native Impatiens capensis) with products containing its extracts, and with Dawn dish soap. The extract products performed worse than the mash or the soap.
Ms. Pell is in the soap-and-water camp — cold water, specifically. “I lather up with cold water at first, so I don’t melt and thin the oils, and spread them over my skin further,” she said.”
Read the entire article here.
