Jewelweed ~ Milk Weed ~ Poison Ivy Remedies

This is the jewelweed solution prepared by an acquaintance.  She simply boiled it in water, strained it and cooled it.  She gifted it to us in an old soda bottle.


We simply apply it with a cotton ball.  It's helped dry up Hubby's hands, but the rash is worse in other places.  I read up on jewelweed and the actual "juices" of the plant work best, and before, the rash appears.  Now this plant has me curious.  I'm reading all sorts of information on it.    

As for my own poison ivy, I opted to try the milk weed. 
I walked out to the pasture, pulled a few milk weed leaves and applied the milk to my ivy rash.  On contact, it burned a bit.  When Hubby got home from work, his rash was worse and irritated (his hands were dried up however).  So, he walked out and applied milk weed on his rash too.   He had been using a tube of Ivy Dry (has used up two tubes) all day, and it was not giving him much relief.  He's also been using Technu shower scrub (cost him $12), and again, no quick relief.  He works out in the heat at work, so the heat makes his even worse.

The milk weed burns, but it dries a layer over the rash.  We left it there overnight, washing it off with soap and water in the morning.  

I saw a difference right away with my rash.  Hubby's worst areas healed much faster too.  The milk weed does speed up the healing process.  It helps dry up the rash and gives relief to the itch.