Poison Ivy

[goof008]

I'm planning on cutting down some dead ash trees this winter and the few that I had my eye on have poison ivy growing on them. Is it still something to avoid in the winter, or have all the oils dried up that give you the rash?

 

[Quadrafire2]

I'm planning on cutting down some dead ash trees this winter and the few that I had my eye on have poison ivy growing on them. Is it still something to avoid in the winter, or have all the oils dried up that give you the rash?

I am not an expert but I beleive the poison is allways in the roots and the branches. It would be very interesting to here from someone who knows for sure, I have the same problem.

 

[curdy]

Are the vines still alive? That's the first thing to tell us.

Urushiol (the toxin that your body reacts to) is most strong in the woody parts of the plant and takes quite a while to dry out of there. If you lop off the vine at the base and let it die, the leaves will dry up, fall off and with a couple of rains probably not cause any harm. The woody parts however, like I said, take a while...so proceed with common sense and caution.

Yes, during the winter they're not nearly as nasty as in the spring and summer, but if you start chainsawing and have chips hitting your face, you better plan to take a shower no more than a couple of hours of work, or you'll be in for an uncomfortable time!

When I bought my place and cleared out the poison Ivy from the property I cut the vine at the base and let it die. Then I went back to the tree the next winter and pulled the vine off and tossed it in the woods. Came back inside, placed all my clothes in the washer and took a shower. Never had a problem.

Since the trees you're asking about are already dead, the bark may be loose and you may be able to pull it off now. Just wear stuff you can easily wash while taking it down...then change your clothes and any areas of skin you think may have be exposed and then go back to firewood duty. That's what I recommend.

Hope this helps

 

[rx7145]

Funny you ask. I cut down a dead ash with ivy growing up it about a month ago. Vine was about a inch at the bottom. I cut through the vine about ten times when bucking it up. Two days later I had the worst case I have ever had. I think I got it from handling my saw and other things that had the poison ivy "oil" on them. And from there I spread it all over.

SO, be careful and wash all clothing that you used when cutting. I would even toss the gloves that you wore. I hate poision ivy!!:censored:

 

[Quadrafire2]

Are the vines still alive? That's the first thing to tell us.

Urushiol (the toxin that your body reacts to) is most strong in the woody parts of the plant and takes quite a while to dry out of there. If you lop off the vine at the base and let it die, the leaves will dry up, fall off and with a couple of rains probably not cause any harm. The woody parts however, like I said, take a while...so proceed with common sense and caution.

Yes, during the winter they're not nearly as nasty as in the spring and summer, but if you start chainsawing and have chips hitting your face, you better plan to take a shower no more than a couple of hours of work, or you'll be in for an uncomfortable time!

When I bought my place and cleared out the poison Ivy from the property I cut the vine at the base and let it die. Then I went back to the tree the next winter and pulled the vine off and tossed it in the woods. Came back inside, placed all my clothes in the washer and took a shower. Never had a problem.

Since the trees you're asking about are already dead, the bark may be loose and you may be able to pull it off now. Just wear stuff you can easily wash while taking it down...then change your clothes and any areas of skin you think may have be exposed and then go back to firewood duty. That's what I recommend.

Hope this helps

You have to be careful, just because you did not get a reaction it does not mean that someone else won't! Some people are not allergic to the poison and some are. Also some are not at the first few exposures but develop a reaction later on when exposed, and it could be very very nasty. It happened to someone I know.

I think that the poison could last on a surface for up to 5 years!

rx7145, you probably have it all over your chainsaw, I think you have to clean it, wipe it with alcohol or a soapy solution well to get rid of the Urushiol oil.

 

[kevinj]

Another thought to keep in mind,
NEVER burn poison ivy either.
The smoke also has has the poison in it.
I had a friend who inhaled the smoke once,
he swelled up like a balloon.
Nasty stuff...

 

[timbrjackrussel]

Very Toxic

Check out http://nac.tamu.edu/x075bb/caddo/poison.html One ounce of urushiol could cause a rash on everyone on earth!!

 

[mga]

i found using Borax powder laundry soap kills poison ivy....and many other things. it takes a while for the borax to react with the roots and to soak into the ground, but it does definately work. just take some hand fulls of it and sprinkle it around the roots.

i cleared out alot of it for years that way, but keep in mind, it may also kill other plants as well and nothing may not grow in that area for a long time.

 

[smokechase II]

caution

All the cautions mentioned above apply.

But:

1) Winter is the better time to deal with it. Plants, even though they are still alive, have varying live fuel moistures throughout the year. Either drought conditions or near the end of winter are best for low fuel moistures.

2) Cut vines with loppers. Don't touch nothing. Step away from the tree. Clean the loppers without hands on technique.

3) Hire some meth guy to run the vines through a rental chipper. Bonus points of also an illegal alien.

4) Realize that there is probably going to be some urisol on the tree bark.

5) Technu soap for both clean-up and prevention.

6) Laundry at a facility other than yours. Consider a disposable clothing option of those threads that your spouse wants tossed anyway.

7) Failure in any of the above think steroids. Not the same ones taken by baseball players, but still a serious medicine that is almost always effective for oak/ivy/sumac.

 

[PA Plumber]

I had my second worse case of Poison Ivy, in the winter. Cleaning out a tree for a hanging stand for late season muzzeloader: In January.

The worse case was inhalation from burning a fence row. Ended up at the the doctor's office and miserable for days. Lots of good advice here.

 

[woodfarmer]

Beware

i got a dose of it this summer not fun

 

[niv]

10-4 ON the inhalation. That is the ugly way to get it.

 

[beerman6]

I've heard bad things happen while burning it,I've never had a problem with it,but my wife will breakout in a rash just by looking at it.

 

[curdy]

You have to be careful, just because you did not get a reaction it does not mean that someone else won't!

Actually I am allergic, and I've had some pretty nasty episodes with it...but NONE when I used common sense and planned out how to deal with it.

Please don't take that as me saying anyone who's had a reaction was careless, all I'm saying is that I learned my lesson the hard way and started paying WAY more attention to how I was dealing with the removal and never had a problem sense then.

I think that the poison could last on a surface for up to 5 years!

If you mean by surfaces that have had exposure to the oil like clothes and stuff, I wouldn't argue with that. Not sure if its quite that long, but I know its years.

However, surfaces outside like the bark of a tree...once the vine is removed, a couple of good rains will wash it off. The vines themselves will retain the oil for a while, so toss them far away from the kindling pile because the branches coming off the vine look a whole lot like hickory!

 

[curdy]

2) Cut vines with loppers. Don't touch nothing. Step away from the tree. Clean the loppers without hands on technique.

I'll second that! A pole pruner works as well. You can also use a bow saw, just be very careful not to get any chips on you, that's the main thing! And if you do...get showered with in the next hour or 2 tops.

We had some vines that were several inches at the base, we're talking the thickness of your forearm. Loppers just weren't big enough so had to use a pole saw or bow saw.

BTW, I think I would have earned bonus points on #3 on a few occasions over the past year!

 

[goof008]

I was going to pull as much off before cutting the tree up as I could. Maybe I'll just get a pair of cheap cotton gloves and use those to pull the vines off then throw them away when I'm done. All the vines are pretty small, less than 1/2", probably less than 1/4", but can't remember for sure. It's winter, so they dropped their leaves at least 2 months ago.
I know that I'll see a lot of it this winter as I cut the dead ash down, just wanted to know what to plan for and what to expect. Sounds like it's a lot more harmless in winter than summer, which is what I was hopping to hear. Thanks for all the great advice!

 

[smokechase II]

No to natives

Native Americans used the urisol as a dye.

Black.

Perhaps this method could be used to detect ALL TRUE illegal aliens;

Rub everyone in oak/ivy/sumac. Make them wear some special black clothing.
Anyone that scratches - off the hemisphere .... NOW.

 

[curdy]

I was going to pull as much off before cutting the tree up as I could. Maybe I'll just get a pair of cheap cotton gloves and use those to pull the vines off then throw them away when I'm done.

If I might add some advice here...go around with your lopper and cut all the vines first. Then go back around and pull them off. That way, you're limiting your time of contact. In other words, if you cut, then pull the vine, then go back to cutting again, your not only increasing your over all contact time, you're spreading the oil around to anything else you touch (like the lopper handles) and increasing your risk of exposure. So splitting up the tasks reduces exposure overall, and also reduces the time of contact.

Maybe consider getting a pair of the basic $1.50 leather gloves from Home Depot rather than cotton. Or if you really want to protect yourself, and would have a need for the gloves later, grab a pair of heavy duty latex gloves, or the pvc coated ones. They can come in handy having around the house. When done with the ivy, just wash them off.

If you don't have to cut the trees down right away, leave them standing for a couple of months after you pull the vines off. This will give the rain and snow time to rinse the oil away.

The nubs that are left after you cut the vine may still start to grow back in the spring. All I did was go back around and shot a little Glyphosate based herbicide on the leaves.

Here's a nice looking vine on a tree from my back yard. This was a dead standing trunk with no branches. Every branch you see is poison ivy. The section in the photo started from at least 15 feet up the tree. Yes, it was one of the bigger vines we had!

 

[LNG24]

Remember that the poison in Poison Ivy is an Oil. Like any oil, it can not be washed off easily. Rubbing Alchole is good to wipe the tools down, Washing all clothing in Tecnu is great. Not a bad idea to do it somewhere else, though that can be mean also. Either throw away the gloves or wash them too. Winter is nice as you will most likly be covered from head to toe.

And, like some others have said. DONT BURN IT. My neighbor burt theirs and my Mom ended up in the hospital. She is highly allergic. Me, I'll get it like everybody, but its not a big deal. A little Tecnu and its gone.

 

[Limestone]

Buy a disposable Tyvek suit like the use to paint cars put it on over your clothes.