Sam Fraser-Smith
Last month, a nasty brush with poison ivy (my summertime nemesis) moved me to write a “Reflections” column to the subject. The subsequent flood of tips, tricks, hacks, poultices, and potions sent in by readers following publication suggests that I am not alone in this suffering. So in the spirit of crowd-sourced folk remedies, here are a few of the most memorable. Some seem sensible enough; others seem like a bit of a Hail Mary. But hey! As anyone susceptible knows, when the itchy red monster has you in its grip, just about anything’s worth a try.
(Some of the following have been lightly edited for length):
“We use Zanfel. Highly recommended by linemen and right-of-way workers.
Try it!”
— Lucile St. Romain
“I use “Go-Jo,” found in the automotive dept. A grease remover, it breaks down the oils. Just slather it on and leave for about 20 minutes before washing off. Then use Lanacane, Walmart has stopped carrying Lanacane, so if you found it in Woodville, lucky you! I may have to do a road trip.”
—Mary Hunt
“You can get long-term relief by depleting your body’s supply of histamine. Heat will cause your body to dump histamine. For poison ivy, my husband directs a stream of warm/hot air at the lesions using my hair dryer. It hurts like hell for 5 or 10 minutes but then he gets 6-8 hours of relief. When I say it hurts like hell, I mean a big strong grown man screams bloody murder at the top of his lungs. But then he can sleep through the night.”
—Sherry Reeder Zorzi
"Many years ago a co-worker and I were good fishing buddies when he was "stung" by a catfish. He pulled out a bottle of Adolph's Meat Tenderizer and applied it on the sting. Within a matter of minutes the pain was gone.
"He explained that the papaya extract in the tenderizer neutralizes the poison. It was discovered that some tropical island natives who dove in jellyfish infested water to pick sponges would not be harmed by the jellyfish because they would rub papaya on themselves. I tried this numerous times and found that it worked not only on jellyfish stings but also on poison ivy, bee stings and just about any insect stings.
"Even in severe stings it worked. But lo and behold Adolph's quit putting papaya extract in their product. So I bought a bag of papaya chunks and brought some with me on every fishing trip. A neighbor of mine is severely allergic to poison ivy and one day he was out in the woods and when he got home he was already being affected, so I offered him a piece of papaya to rub on himself. He gave me one of those "yea right" looks but tried it and within minutes, the redness started to disappear and no itching whatsoever, and had no other problems. Whenever he plans a trip to the woods he comes for the papaya and rubs it on himself before he goes into the woods."
—Lionel
“My husband, who used to be a chemist at LSU, found that if you make a weak solution of copper sulfate and water and scrub yourself with it [no contact with eyes or mucous membranes] before you take a regular shower, you can oxidize the poison compound of the poison ivy. Finding copper sulfate is not easy unless you have a connection with a lab. I am down to my last teaspoon of crystals which I use only in cases of known exposure. At all other times I use a commercial product called Tech-Nu, available in some drug stores, which I think does the same thing. Tech-nu says it will get rid of skunk smells also.”
—Anonymous
“All you need is brown paper bags (like the brown lunch sacks, 9000 for $1 anywhere) and apple cider vinegar. Simple! Cut the bag in strips as big as the spots you’ll be covering and soak those strips in the vinegar. Simply apply to the areas and allow to air dry (about 15 min).
You will see, physically, the oil being pulled from the ivy spots! It is amazing! Really good hack if you’re prone to the itchy red monster!!”
—The Farmacy
.jpg)