How To Clean Clothes That Have Touched Poison Ivy

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Urushiol — a sticky oil produced by poison ivy, poison oak, and poison sumac plants – causes nasty allergic reactions in about 85% of the U.S. population. A drop of urushiol that's smaller than a grain of salt can trigger an itchy, blistering rash that takes two to three weeks to resolve. Plus, urushiol is easy to spread through clothing and other items that have touched it. According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, urushiol left on textiles, gardening tools, camping gear, and other surfaces may remain allergenic for five years. In other words, knowing how to remove this substance from clothes and shoes can save you a lot of discomfort.

Being able to identify poison ivy reduces your likelihood of touching this plant, and learning how to treat poison ivy rash is also essential. If you think you've been exposed to poison ivy, scrub your skin with rubbing alcohol within 10 minutes. But to get urushiol out of clothes, harness the power of your washing machine. Its ability to agitate its contents helps expel the problem-causing oil from fabrics. To make the most of this feature, fill the washer's basin with lots of warm-to-hot water but only a few clothing items. Choose one of the longer wash settings so the clothes spend plenty of time jostling about. Use a heavy-duty laundry soap such as Tide Hygienic Clean 10x liquid detergent, and wash the clothes at least twice. Also run a clothes-free wash cycle afterward, which should clear out urushiol residue that could stick to future loads of laundry.

For extra urushiol-busting power, fill a big bucket with 4 gallons of warm water and mix in about 3.5 fluid ounces of detergent. Soak contaminated clothes in this solution for a half an hour before depositing them in the washing machine. A word of caution: Never handle urushiol-exposed clothing with bare hands, even if you've just soaked them. Instead, wear a pair of disposable gloves or, in a pinch, cover your hands with hole-free plastic bags. Rather than placing urushiol-stained clothes in a basket with your other laundry, store them in well-sealed garbage bags before washing them. This keeps the oil contained and lets you dump the contaminated items directly into a soaking bucket or washing machine.

What if poison ivy brushed up against leather shoes, rubber boots, wool sweaters, or other items that shouldn't go through the washing machine? Scrub away the urushiol with rubbing alcohol or a blend of dish soap and hot water. Rubbing alcohol can damage some materials, so make sure it's safe for the items in question before you grab your scrub brush. You can also use rubbing alcohol to clean and disinfect garden tools that have encountered poison ivy. Once you're done scrubbing, place the items you've cleaned in the sun to dry since ultraviolet rays can encourage urushiol to neutralize. If some of the clothes that touched poison ivy can't be exposed to water, get them dry cleaned. When doing so, be sure to let the dry cleaner know that they've come into contact with urushiol.