I do a lot of hiking in poison oak areas and just washing off with a wash cloth doesn’t prevent a rash unless it’s done immediately and correctly. Urushiol, which causes the irritation, starts to bind to the skin within 10 to 20 minutes after exposure. The video recommends cleaning the skin between 2 to 8 hours after contact which is way too long. If all I had to do was wash with soap and a wash cloth, that’d be great, but that doesn’t work in practice.
The issue with hiking in poison oak areas, especially in Calif is knowing when you actually contact urushiol. You don’t have to get it from the plant directly. In the Big Sur areas some parts of the trail sides are covered with PO, but the urushiol can be easily be on other plants, rocks, pets, etc. Dogs, deer and other wildlife can brush against poison oak, get urushiol on their coats, and transfer this to other objects.
The interesting part is you can actually touch the PO plant and not have a rash(though I’m not going to do this!); the plant normally does not have urushiol on the surface unless it’s been damaged.
Please don’t watch the video and believe that after hiking in PO infested areas for a day all you have to do is wash off with soap, water and a wash cloth and you’ll have no issues. It’s not that easy.
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