Maggie's Farm

Poison Oak is a Western US thing. We've got Poison ivy from hell in the southeast, plus poison sumac. But the poison sumac is mostly in places you don't want to do anyhow because of venomous snake and gators. I'm allergic as all get out to urishiol, the active ingredient in poison oak and poison ivy. The oil stays on whatever it touches. I got it really badly from my husband's sleeping bag once. Technu is the best for washing it off. But that assumes you know you've been in it. Or your dog's been in it. Or your husband's sleeping bag. Or your coat.

Zanfel is good if you have it, though it's very expensive. I had poison ivy on both legs once and I used the prescription ointment, clobetasol (which is the big guns in prescription topical) and Zanfel, and it took about the same about of time to recover. Factoring in the costs, the clobetasol was cheaper. But, you can't use it on your face, so when I got it on my face, I stuck with the Zanfel. Plus you need a prescription for clobetasol. And most dermatologists will insist on starting you out on a milder topical, and work up to the clobetasol. You can get Zanfel over the counter, right away.

I had poison oak so badly once, the doctor gave me oak Prednisone. I hated that -- it made me ravenously hungry and I gained a ton of weight. I found REALLY, REALLY hot showers followed by clobetasol works the best. The Aveeno soaks did nothing for me.

Fels Naptha works well on paint brushes used for oil painting.

If you use Fels Naptha for cleaning urishiol off your skin, you really need to rub oil on your skin afterwards and then use normal soap to wash the oil off. Olive oil is good. Or else Vaseline and then normal soap. The Fels Naptha just kills your skin.

If you get oil paint on your skin, don't use Fels Naptha. Use Vaseline, and then normal soap.