Home Remedy for Poison Ivy/ Poison Oak

by alexdrew5858

32K2815

Intro: Home Remedy for Poison Ivy/ Poison Oak

This is my 1st instructable. It is a home remedy for a way to rid yourself of poison ivy/ poison oak.

STEP 1: "ingredients"

I know these are not ingredents, but I could think of no word to replace ingredents.

1. Source of water (sink or bottle if outside)
2. Soap (any kind I suggest liquid)
3. Rag or Sponge
4. Clear nail polish

STEP 2: Washing

Using the rag soap and water wash the area that is infected. wash thoroughly with out applying too much pressure, you don't need to scrub like you're washing dishes.

STEP 3: Drying

Either wait or use a towle or cloth and dry the now washed area.

STEP 4: Applying Polish

Now using the clear nail polish apply a coat to the infeccted area and allow to dry. Remove and repeat till the infection is gone this shouldn't take more than a couple of days and sometimes works after the first day. This works by the nail polish not allowing air to that portion of the skin there by suffocating the rash.

12 Comments

CassM32 11 months ago

I actually have poison ivy right now. I washed the 2 areas with Dawn Dish soap in lukewarm water and then took a shower to rid any other areas that may have came in contact with it. Then I applied clear finger nail polish to both areas & have been for 2 days now(showed up on my right upper thigh & right lower leg 3 days ago) Idk if it will help heal it quicker or not but it definitely keeps it from itching & only have 2 small blisters that were already there but haven't had either area get more blisters just the red bumps that were already there. It may or may not be from the polish but I'm going to keep using it to keep the itching away, especially at night!

mayaian 2 years ago

Aside from variability of individuals’ allergy severity this is easy.
1. Anytime you’re outside and think PIvy is around, mental note: Don’t touch your face or legs.
2. We get the allergic reaction from ONE thing:
Skin contact with urushiol, the oil on the plant’s leaves. If the oil is transferred to clothing, skin contact may occur, for example, while doing laundry.
3. Avoid it outdoors, then have a soapy shower first thing when you get home. Bye-bye urushiol. At that point, you “have what you have.” Time to grin and bear it. AND scratch it all you want.
Yes, scratching it feels soooo good, but you may find it hard to stop, -like your skin is begging to be scratched. If you make it bleed, follow normal first aid procedures.
4. Where you were most exposed, your poison ivy will manifest there first and worst.
5. Scratching makes it spread? No. It doesn’t.
6. Skin exposed to lesser concentrations of the oil take a little longer to erupt in the itchy rash. This time delay is what makes poison ivy rash appear to spread, but there’s no correlation between scratching and spreading if you’ve bathed thoroughly.
7. Getting rid of it. The rash, bumpy mounds of
“mini-blisters,” freaky full-on blisters full of fluid?
The fluid is lymph, produced by your body. Popping and draining will (again) NOT cause spreading. Doing so will help it dry, The exposed skin beneath is tender. Treat it with usual blister first aid.
8. You’ve bathed, scratched, popped, drained, etc as you could. Now slather w poison ivy treatment, which will dry, lessen inflammation,
and gradually dry it up.

9. Personally, I take a Scoth-Brite pad into shower and shred my rash. Then apply drying products on open rash. It will sting. Let it!
The more you do this, the faster it heals.

Nail polish? What?
I’d never do that. Cover it over to “suffocate it?
Makes no sense to me.

My 2¢

Acetone - AKA fingernail polish REMOVER, that’s different!
Look a the Material Safety Data Sheet.
Don’t drink it or flush your eyes - nothing stupid. It’s safe on your skin except for DRYING OUT THE SKIN, which we WANT, moderately, and for a short while.

Norfolkson 6 years ago

Hmmm....the washing part is good if it is in cool water. I use Sunlight soap, then I bathe it in Apple Cider Vinegar and leave it on. I've never tried the nail polish approach so I can't say one way or the other. APC is good for all kinds of things!

paleogirl 7 years ago

Nail polish isn't a reasonable item to use. The rash is caused by oil, thus, nothing to "suffocate". Wash 3 times with soap and water as quickly as you can after exposure to get rid of as much oil as possible. Use cool water as hot will increase not only the absorption of the oil into the skin, it brings additional histamine to the area and INCREASES itching. All you can do after that is benadryl or calamine lotion and wait. Will take a week or so to get better. If it continues to get worse, you'll need to see your physician about going on topical, oral or injectable steroids.

CaseyCase 10 years ago

I have found that after contracting poison ivy, there is not much you can do except wait out the heeling process. If you are having issues dealing with the itching, hot water applied to the site absolutely kills the itching. Just thought that I'd pass this along.

TaylorB54 8 years ago

Hot water makes it itch SO FREAKING BAD!!! I have a few poison rashes on my face and I'm just trying to minimize the rash as I have a date tomorrow.... will ibuprofen help? It helps with Inflammation?

paleogirl 10 years ago

As an emergency nurse, I can tell you that nail polish doesn't actually do anything. You can skip that part ... but the Dawn dish soap and washing as quickly as you can after exposure is a very good place to start.

alexdrew5858 10 years ago

I've no wish to challege you, but if I've done this myself and I've found it speeds up the healing process. I might be wrong it could be a placebo effect.

paleogirl 9 years ago

You know, if it helps you, even if it's the placebo effect, then go for it. Sometimes that's the best you can hope for. The Dawn suggestion is spot on though and my husband used it this year with great results. I'm not allergic (thank goodness), but he is. We have a yard full of it.

palombo5050 10 years ago

Poison Ivy sap is an oil. This oil reacts with your skin causing an irritation. If you use Dawn soap and rinse, it breaks down the oil and will minimize the rash. Good home remedy instructible except that I have not needed the other ingredient.

alexdrew5858 10 years ago

thanks, the only reason everything else is there is because this was something I learned in high school from the schools nurse and it's what I use now. As for the soap I never took the time to figure out what soap is the best the picture was just a random soap.