Re: Cleaning Poison Ivy Urushiol off Gear

Alicia,
I'm a hunter, backpacker and all around outdoors type person. I never had problems with PI until a few years ago when I took a tumble into a ditch filled with it. Since then I feel like I breakout if I see it. My worst time is during the Summer during pre-season scouting for hunting. I know this might sound crazy, but I carry wipes in a bleach/water solution in a zip lock bag to cleanse my skin in case of contact. I let baby wipes air dry and then place them in the bag. I mix about a cup of water with just a splash of bleach(a splash is a very accurate unit of measure) and pour this solution in the bag with the wipes until they are saturated. I don't use any more solution than it take to wet the wipes. I carry these in a pocket and clean potentially affected areas as soon as possible. I rarely have much more than a few little raised areas show up if I'm exposed. I'm not sure if this happens to everyone, but the oil starts to turn my skin a brownish black color. That gives me a heads up on what areas to clean.