For itch, hot shower or run area under hot water as hot as you can take it. Will stop itching for a few hours. Mean Green hand cleaner has a chemical composition that sticks to the urushiol oil in PI. It's also has that sandy texture like Fast Orange or other auto mechanic hand cleaners, so it's great for grease/oil. I use it right after work outside, I keep it by the shower and do my legs and arms. It's the same formula as that expensive Poison Ivy soap, but much cheaper (Buy it instead of zanfel), I bought the 60.5 Oz tub for $30. For bad case or itch, I use Quadriderm cream which has a steroid, anti-fungal, and antibiotic in it.
"A new over-the-counter lotion is available for about 8 times the cost of calamine. Your pharmacy probably carries a box or two of the new “Z” lotion for more than $40, still cheaper than a doctor’s appointment although even the Mayo Clinic web site suggests that most poison ivy is self treatable. So are there any new self treatments that don’t cost an arm and a leg (no puns here)?
The urushiol oil in poison ivy is the cause of our allergies. That is probably why harsh soaps have been used in the past to wash away the oil. There is anecdotal evidence among sufferers that a particular hand degreaser is extremely effective in removing that oil while soothing your poison ivy. Without going into poly-bead scrubbers and the efficacy of ethoxylate and sodium lauroyl sarcosinate in Mean Green Power Hand Scrub, it is a product you will wish you had in the medicine chest because it is not necessarily available locally."
http://www.examiner.com/article/poison-ivy-beware-outdoor-enthusiasts-and-gardeners
"I’ll vouch for the Mean Green claims.
After learning about Zanfel years ago and experiencing that it worked, one of my fellow chemists and I pulled their MSDS and patent application to see if we could reverse engineer it easily (since it’s absurdly expensive). Much to our happy enjoyment the patent application, #20020183284, was obligated to refer to Mean Green which is highly similar in terms of active ingredient composition (ratios of ingredients differ). Rather than continue in our effort to reverse engineer the product, we have simply started purchasing direct from the company that markets Mean Green.
Mean Green = low cost Zanfel. Save your cash, buy a 4 – pack of 64 ounce tubs of the mean green handcleaner with scrubbies and use it extensively after landscaping, yard work, hiking, etc."
http://www.hanskellner.com/2003/04/25/poison-oak-treatment-zanfel-ingredients/
http://www.topix.com/forum/chicago/TC286R2N283PFE5C6
