Hi Jim -
Oh boy - that's a lot of poison ivy! For those who have been sensitized to poison ivy (oak, sumac), it can take 12 to 48 hours for the rash to appear. For those who are looking at their first outbreak, it could take 4 to 10 days for the rash to occur. So your wife and kids aren't out of the woods BUT you did the right thing by getting cleaned up ASAP. It's quite possible that none of them will end up with any rash.
To get the urushiol oil off your tools, lots of water is the key. We tend to just use a hard, fast stream of water to clean off the mower. For hand tools and other objects, you could use a solvent like rubbing alcohol and then water to remove the oil. Or use soap - I'm a soap person and tend to use Dawn or Joy (yup - the dish detergent) along with lots of water to wash down tools. |
