What's so disheartening about poison ivy is that it just won't go away. The Tecnu took away perhaps seventy five percent of the misery, and for that I am grateful. But the rest just won't go away. And based on past experience, I'll have to endure this for at least another week before it's all gone.
DrBacchus' Journal
Why am I allowed two?
After being around poison ivy, remove all your clothes and wash in yellow (Fels Naptha) soap. My grandmother used this on me and my siblings, years ago and it worked.
This soap is sold in the laundry section of most grocery stores, and stores like WalMart.
If the rash is on a part of your body (like arms, not face) that you can put under running water, try this in the sink or shower. Turn the water as hot as you can stand it without burning yourself. When it pounds on the rash, it itches like the dickens, but keep it up. When you've endured the hot water running over the rash for several minutes, dry carefully ... but don't rub dry. I've found that the itch goes away for about three hours, yes, THREE HOURS. It's the best thing I've ever tried, and I've suffered from intense and severe poison ivy allergies since I was ten (and I'm 68 now). It really works, but only ONE of my doctors had ever heard of this relief, and he agreed with me that it was effective. This hot water thing also seems to dry up the rash a bit faster, though I have no idea why. By the way, it has to be RUNNING water, beating against the rash. Dipping my arm or hand into hot water didn't work.