I can't even look at it now. I've gone into the rough near the woods twice and both times I've erupted into painful tracts that have merged into patches of raw, bubbling skin.

I can't use roundup. I have to trim manually. I'm done for. Anyone have a goat I can borrow?

I was newish to the west coast and didn't realize that poison oak had red leaves in the late summer/early fall. When I started climbing a sand dune, after a bit it was covered in these red broad leafed vining plants, which I used to pull myself up, getting my hands & knees somewhat abraded in the process. I quickly noticed my skin starting to burn. By the time I got home I had big rashes all over my knees and hands. By the following days, I had huge weaping sores all over my stomach and legs, hands and arms, it just kept spreading. I tried everything at the drug store for 2 weeks, nothing worked. In desperation, I finally went to the dr. and got put on steroids and told to never ever get near this plant again as the reaction would be worse and I'd probably end up in a hospital.

I have never climbed a sand dune since then, and now that I have relocated back to my home state, I look closely for poison ivy.

It seems to really work on poison ivy and other nasty stuff. I try to squirt it directly on the plant instead of spraying it widely. And I do always keep a spray bottle of vinegar handy. It neutralizes the poison.

I'll wait till winter when they are dormant for that. Now it's rip and tear only.

Try to keep the contact as precise and tight as possible

it can be so very toxic to some folks (like me). So I hope it didn't affect you or if it does that you aren't highly allergic to it.

I do get the blistering rash but it doesn't escalate with every new contact. My cousin has real problems with it.

The reaction occurs when it soaks into the skin. If you wash it off before it starts to penetrate the top layer, you can often avoid the bad reaction.

Wash often while working outside.

I have some growing on the side of my house. Thus far I mowed down all of the poison ivy that I could get to with the mower.

However, there is sufficient amount that is growing right up against the side wall of the house and the mower can't reach it.

I'm looking for the best way to take that poison ivy out without having to touch it or rip it out with my hands (gloved of course). But I'm still worried that I'll accidentally come in contact with it.

Is there a weed killer or a technique I can use to remove it.

I'd appreciate any type of advice you may have to give me.

Thank You!!!

Last year I found a massive vine of poison ivy climbing up the plum tree. I used a limb saw to cut through the stalk in several places to create big gaps. Then I sprayed it with lots of the Brush Killer. That stuff really works. I'm careful to limit where it makes contact, though. I've also used it on the Trumpet Vine I'm trying to get rid of, but with limited success. That plant sends shoots out EVERYWHERE.

I can highly recommend Tecnu after exposure. More info at Tecnu.com.

They used to have a pre-exposure preventive called Armor, but a quick scan of their website didn’t show it as a current product maybe I’m missing it.

As for the plants themselves, the only thing I’ve found that works is RoundUp. If you’re sensitive to that, hire someone to do it for you. It often takes two applications, a week apart.

If you try to mow it, be very careful. I was never sensitive until I went through a patch of poison ivy with a weed trimmer. Man, that was nasty. Also, the ivy will just regrow from the roots. I don’t like RoundUp, either, but I keep some around just for poison ivy.