| What must have happened is that there were still traces of oil from the original plant on your skin. Normal washing is not always sufficient to remove all the oil. Scrubbing hard with oil dissolving soaps can usually do it. Also some people are more sensitive to the oil than other people and certain skin areas may be more sensitive to the oil than other skin areas. Clothing that has gone through one wash cycle can still hold enough oil to cause poison ivy with a very sensitive person. How hard the contact with the leaf is will determine how much oil is on the skin that has to be removed. Usually people just brush up against the leaf. You rubbed it on you with some force. The persistence of the oil is where the myth of contagion comes from. Lots of factors here but I would be willing to bet some of the original oils were there. |
