Poison ivy or its poisonous cousins can be quite hazardous to people. It is not possible to burn the vines or pull them out physically and fumes released when burning can also cause harm if inhaled. Merely ripping it out doesn’t work either as the roots remain unharmed and you can find an outbreak occurring again. There are a number of ways to eliminate poison ivy and one of them is to use special sprays for killing the weed. Such weed killers contain two main ingredients, primarily there is triclopyr which fights across the waxy protective layer present on these weeds and secondly there is glycosuphate which kills the weed at the roots. Identify weed killers containing these two primary ingredients when trying to eliminate poison ivy present on your grounds.

When using these strong weed killers, the leaves will curl and wilt in a span of 24 hours, they then turn brownish yellow in a span of 2 or 4 days after which a 1-2 week period results in them dying out completely. These weeds are perennial so a total span of 4 weeks may be necessary if there is a large amount in your yard to completely be rid of them. Be sure to carefully read instructions before using the weed killer and purchase the right kind of protective gear as well when working out how to get rid of poison ivy.

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For disposal after complete wilting and dying, make sure you also cover hands with gloves, wear protective clothing and goggles ensuring minimal or zero contact with skin. Ensure you discard all of the poison ivy including shed leaves into a garbage bag and also throw away all material used when cleaning up the infestation. If you don’t want to throw out the clothes worn when doing the disposal be sure to soak them in warm water and bleach to ensure a thorough cleansing.

If there has been exposure of any skin to poison ivy one of the quick relief measures is to use cucumber slices. You can directly place the slices on the exposed area or else mash up the cucumber to form a paste and cover the affected regions to achieve the best possible results. Banana peels are also used to cool an itch from poison ivy. Apple cider vinegar is also known to be a powerful ingredient when combating poison ivy, place a brown paper bag soaked in this on the rash to draw out toxins in the skin after poison ivy exposure. Baking soda mixed in water and made into a paste can also be applied to get relief from poison ivy. This is especially good to use if there are blisters following a poison ivy exposure as it drains out the toxins and the baking soda will flake off and can be washed away easily.

When removing or eradicating poison ivy, keep children and pets away from the area. If there is too widespread growth, call in the experts if the task seems too large to undertake on your own.

 

 

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