I'm covered in Poison SUMACk! HELP

I just bought a place and started pulling weeds in
order to put in plants for my first tropical paradise.
I know what poison oak and poison ivy look like so I must
have gotten into the sumac. Does anyone have any ideas
about how to rid of these poison vines without getting
infected? Will rubber gloves keep me safe?

This message was edited Thursday, Aug 16th 7:15 PM

The rubber gloves will keep you safe as long as you don't inadvertantly touch another part of your body with them. After you're done, throw them away. They will have the toxic oils all over them. Also wear long sleeves and long pants. Throw them in the wash as soon as your done.

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I have killed poison oak by spraying with undiluted white vinegar and a couple of drops of detergent per quart. This will kill almost any plant so you have to watch the overspray.

Do not burn or compost the vines as the smoke can contain the irritants.

Hi - if you get into that stuff and it is itching - don't forget to grab the IMPATIENS - and break up and put in blender (everything except the roots!) add a cup or so of water and whizz it up in the blender to puree it. Bring this to a boil , let cool and dab it on the itchy areas with a cotton ball and it should stop the itching immediately (or close to it!) and it also should not blister. Works for poison ivy, poison oak and anything else along that line! There is some enzyme in the impatiens that stops it dead in its tracks! In the fall make up a batch and freeze it to have handy in the spring when the impatiens are not prolific. ALSO WORKS FOR MOSQUITO BITES!

Folks, the impatiens Kiwi is referring to is the "jewelweed" variety, not any other. You'll find it in abundance growing along creeks and rivers, and can easily identify it not only by its flowers but by sticking some of its foliage under water...it will look like it is glowing and very shiny. Hope you feel better!

Thanks everyone for your imput. I had to see the
doctor and he had no quick fix, just shots and
meds which took days before I saw much relief.
I'm just now getting back to normal.
MzMunchken, I was so excited and planning to
get several goats but was waiting until I could
rid all the Poison plants as I knew they would
eat them and I thought that it for sure would
kill'em. What a Dummy Farmer I am! I'm going
now to pick up vinegar and try to locate
Impatiens.

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