[pct-l] Poison Oak & more botany

[brick@fastpack.com (Brick Robbins)]

At 06:30 PM 3/7/02, Christine Kudija wrote:
>  Fels-Naptha is a
>laundry soap-bar that can be found in some supermarkets & old-fashioned
>hardware stores, & probably easily special-ordered.  I have no idea about
>its biodegradability, but if you've contacted the plant, you need to wash as
>soon as possible.  Unless, of course, you're Brick.   Technu products are
>supposed to be good, too, but Fels-Naptha is more versatile and you can
>slice off a small chunk for your first aid kit in the regions where you'll
>encounter the nasty stuff.

The Poison oak rash is an allergic reaction to the oil in the plant 
(urushiol). Like all allergies, it can crop up suddenly, and may be 
aggravated by repeated exposure, so just because I didn't get it last time 
doesn't mean I won't get it next time. I get enough inadvertent exposure so 
I don't go looking for the stuff.

Technu works great, according to the folks in my running club (the ones 
with the rash didn't wash with Technu). It is a mixture of a petroleum 
solvent (Stoddard solvent - also known as "naphtha safety solvent") and 
soap. The solvent dissolves the offending oil, and the soap washes the 
solvent away before it evaporates.

http://www.eugeneweb.com/~andyman/oct99.html says:
" It is interesting to note that the original TechNu product was developed 
to remove radioactive fallout dust from the skin without water and was 
stocked in fallout shelters across the country. Later it was accidentally 
discovered to be highly effective in removing urushiol."

I would assume that Fels-Naptha contains "naptha" or something similar so 
it would make sense that it would work. 
http://www.felsnapthasoap.bigstep.com/ even promotes for that use.


--
Brick Robbins                       mailto:brick@fastpack.com