How can you clean poison ivy sap off of a camera?

My friends and I were out taking pictures at a local state park, and

I wanted to photograph a particularly interesting ice formation. But

there was a little bit of brush and grass in the way, so I started

moving it. My friend Keir, who is a field botanist, said "Do you

realize you're right in the middle of a big patch of poison ivy?"

 

Ooops.

 

So of course I had this stuff all over my hands. I hightailed it to

my car, put on some gloves (so I didn't get the sap all over my car)

drove to the drugstore and bought some Tecnu poison ivy wash. Maybe

I will be able to avoid getting it really bad, maybe not -- it's

still too soon to tell. ("John learns about botany... the hard way!"

Keir said)

 

But my problem is this: my camera is the one thing I touched that I

haven't been able to figure out how to clean. Urushiol, the "active

ingredient" in poison ivy is nasty stuff, stays active for 1-5 years,

etc. I know Tecnu and other things can neutralize and clean it off,

but I don't know what's safe for my camera. Probably no one out

there is as stupid as me, but if anyone has had to deal with this, or

has any ideas, I'd be more than happy to hear them.

Wipe it down with Tecnu as well as you can. Put it on a rag and wipe, don't get any into the controls or other openings. I would probably do this several times. Tecnu works pretty well on me anyway.

There is actually a product available that neutralizes poison ivy called Ivy Guard. I think it can be had at rei.com and campmor.com. But I also read that the antipersperant (not sure I spelled that right) in ordinary deodorant neutralizes poison ivy as well.

Tecnu also makes a product that's the same as Ivy Guard. You put it on you before exposure and the oil doesn't get to your skin. That's not going to help here and neither is deodorant. Your camera just needs to be washed off really well.

John,

 

WD40 will take care of the sap without harming your camera; however, I doubt if it will work as a neutralizing agent. You never know. WD40 is a pretty amazing product with a multitude of uses. Maybe you'll discover another.

John,

 

CAUTION!!!!! I should have mentioned that WD40 will breakdown adhesives - great stuff for removing glue residue from just about any surface - so watch where you apply it if you use it!

How about rubbing alcohol?

A strong solution of most liquid dish washing detergents will work, but use paper towels or something disposable and keep from back contaminating your clean solution.

If you saw Greek wedding you would know what I am talking about. "put a little windex on it".

 

Seriously ammonia is great stuff. It has a very strong positive electronic charge. Things with a negative charge are attracted to it and go along for the ride so to speak. Things with a positive charge are displaced by the ammonia too because they have a weaker charge.

 

Be careful not to get it inside the camera. Can't imagine it would be good for sensitive electronics.

The active agent in poison ivy, urushiol,is basically an oil. A good way to get rid of it from your camera's surfaces is to put some tincture of green soap (from a drugstore) on pads made from folded up papertowel, and wipe the surface off. Then, wipe clean with a papertowel dampened with water. Be very careful about handling both papertowels--don't touch the part that touched the contaminated areas. I would only take one wipe with each towel also, to avoid spreading. Put the dirty towels in a plastic sack and dispose. Tincture of green soap is a strong soap with a little alcohol in it.

 

Kent in SD

Carefully

Kent's right, about all you need is some damp paper towels, maybe dampened in some water that has just plain old mild dishwashing liquid in it. Just use latex gloves to keep it off your skin. Only needs to be mildly damp, not soaking wet. A few wipes will get the oil off. Don't sweat it too much, doesn't take much to get it off surfaces. You're not dealing with antrhax, just poison ivy. By the time you had got to the drugstore the oil would have gone into your pores anyway, you should notice any itchy rash by now. I have to pull poison ivy plants every plants, and I am VERY susceptible to it. I use dishwashing gloves with the long sleeves, and just leave them on and wash my hands under regular soap and water. It's not that tenacious. For my clothes, I just throw them in the wash with the rest of the laundry.

....that's pull poison ivy plants every summer... Don't try to post when it's late and you're tired.

Boy, ever an excuse to make something to do a job that can be done with soap and water. Technu? Gimme a break.

 

Soap and water guys, and the oils break down off of surfaces within a day, and it takes at least 8 hours to evoke a skin reaction. Abrasive soap? Overkill. Rush, rush, rush? Overkill.

 

Soap's primary job in life is to break up oils.

 

Camera? Wet facecloth, roll bar of soap around in it, wring it out. Wipe down camera. Rinse facecloth thoroughly. Wring thoroughly. Rinse again. Wring again. Wipe down camera. Let dry.

 

Dog got oils on coat? Wash dog with soap and water. Cat gets oils on coat? Keep cat inside.

 

Now for pulling the stuff. I collect all those horrid plastic bags that everyone seems determined to hand out. When I have to pull PI (and I live in the land of PI) I get a bag and put my hand in it. Grab the plant and yank. Draw the bag over the hand and the plant and let go. Bingo. Plant in bag, hand never touched anything. Close bag and if you must put twist-tie around it, put in trash barrel and put out for the trash man.

 

PI too long and likely to wave around while being pulled? Clip it into a bag, until you've reduced the plant down to something you can pull.

 

Don't ever, ever, ever burn it.

 

Emily L. Ferguson, Cape Cod

Follow up: I just cleaned the camera with paper towels and a mild

soap solution -- same with the tripod. Hopefully there won't be any

problems. I got some mild spotty rashes on my arms, hands, face,

and neck, but thankfully I can resist scratching through sheer

willpower, for the most part. Clothes went into the washing

machine.<p>

 

I'm hoping that'll do the trick for my camera (Minolta Maxxum 5000),

but I won't be playing with it very much over the next few weeks; my

new Nikon Coolpix 4500 got here earlier today. (Christmas present).

<p>

Thanks for all of your time/help/knowledge/opinions.

Something that helps relieve the itching, especially during the night when it seems the worst, is just run an ice cube over it. Takes down some of the swelling in the blisters.

Assume you are using anti-itch lotion, such as calamine, (sp) or you will be scratching in your sleep. Felsnaptha bar soap used as soon as possible the best. (for future contact)