I will agree with most of the above - but not quite all. I happen to have skin that is very sensitive to the poison ivy toxin. definitely I can tell you that soap and water is useless for me. But I can also say that very definitely I can spread the stuff from one area of my body to another by rubbing. the secondary "infection" is not nearly as bad as the primary spot - but it's there alright.

it makes sense to me that it is some kind of oil. thanks very much to the person who suggested tecnu - have not heard of it but will try it.

finally, I will mention this. at one time I learned that Native Americans in California used to increase their resistance to poison ivy - by nibbling tiny amounts of the small leaves. I was tempted to try this - but fortunately sanity prevailed and I did not. I can't imagine how much of a mess my stomach and intestines would have been in - if I had done something crazy like that. I say "crazy" because I later learned that the same Native American tribe already had a pretty good resistance to the effects of poison ivy - it was something in their genetics. They had lived in those bush-covered environments for a long time and built up natural resistance. But for people like me with no resistance - internal contact would not be good.

cheers,
Pete2