I brought it up as a suggestion to have a better before/after testing mode.

I'm not a scientist but I've spent time with a few. When faced with designing a test they have methodology that has validity.

Why do you think that I would have any part to do with testing the validity? I get PI and I DON'T like it. I would never risk getting PI in this manner. If I were to ever get my gear into PI I'd have no problem washing it.

The risk of getting PI sure isn't worth it...to me anyway.

I sure hope that baking the PI works for you

Speaking of PI, I was around some last night at the base of my 'remote' anchor tree. Apparently I got a rope or webbing in contact with the stuff and then I got in contact with the gear. Doesn't look too serious right now just a rash, and it may not even be PI - yeah, it is.

Now I have to figure out what it's on and take care of that. Hmmm, if it's on my rope, I coiled that around my neck - mmmm, that could be so not good!

TECNU with it all over and rinse a few times. It works like a charm (for me at least). Caladril or similar top dressing
(calamine lotion) to cover and dry up the little ulcers when they develop and start wiping liquids.

Fun Fun Fun!

Tom is right that the thing needs a more valid test, but anecdotes are where a lot of good ideas come from in the first place. I'm SURE I'd be willing to volunteer (NOT...) if I lived in Georgia, but it's not NEARLY hot enough up here in Bemidji. We get the stuff all the time already when the cats come in from the backyard.

In any case, relying on the allergic reaction for the test is chancy - immune systems seem to turn on and off for so many different reasons. Anybody have an analytical chem lab handy?

you know what I've found that works for me? Vinegar, just plain ol vinegar. I started with the vinegar treatment today when I got home ~2:30pm - some 36 hours after contact. I soaked a small cotton ball and saturated the area. I did that three times in about two hours. At the end of the two hours, the very small, but forming blisters, had disappeared. The larger more central part that looked like the beginning of an ulcer, had flattened and closed.

Four and one half hours later, I'm looking at it and wondering if it was actually poison ivy. I've had quite a bit of PI, so I know what it looks like on me, and this looked exactly like PI.

I don't always get that good of results, esp. not that fast, but I have seen smaller outbreaks, say up to quarter size or maybe a bit bigger, respond pretty quickly. Looks like this 'patch' is about history.

Being a landscaper here in the Atlanta area I come in contact with PI frequently during the season, and am VERY allergic to it. I have found that if I wash the area that came in contact with gasoline within 15 minutes, I don't break out. When I do break out though the best thing for me is to take an over-the-counter allergy med (for me Zyrtec works best) and apply Caladril to the area at least twice a day. It doesn't clear it up as quickly as going to the Dr and getting a shot of Prednisone followed by a dose pack, but it is a lot cheaper and still works.

Vinegar sounds like a good option!

A friend of mine was in the Canadian infantry. Their solution to PI was washing it down with bleach. If I had an option between bleach and gasoline, I'd use bleach. Neither are very good for sloshing on skin but I think that bleach is less worse.

I sure do like the sound of vinegar on the skin more than bleach or gasoline. From what Ron reported, this was something that worked AFTER the allergic reaction was already kicking in, which is a pretty interesting result. If you're trying to get PI off of your skin shortly after exposure (before the stuff has had time to bind to the tissue) the best solvent is supposed to be rubbing alcohol - all of the forms of urushiol are very soluble in that. Once an allergic reaction has started, however, the stuff is already bound to the tissue and you're fighting the allergic reaction. At that point rubbing alcohol is about the last thing I want to put on. Some of this is from "Nature's Revenge" a book about PI from a Bemidji author (Susan Hauser) who does really careful research.

And it is because of that allergic reaction that I decided to try an otc allergy med, doesn't work quickly, but it works - for me at least.