Urushi....Beauty AND The Beast!!

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chriselle

chriselle

Member
Joined
Sep 1, 2008
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1,251
Location
Ito City, Shizuoka, Japan
As many of you know from my raving about Urushi..it makes for one of the most amazing finishes and I have had many folks asking me about how to get it. BUT......Are you sure you really want to try it??

While reaching for something I inadvertently brushed my forearm across a semi-cured rag that I used for finishing some blanks. It was definitely an Oh..S%!t moment. I immediately hit the area with rubbing alcohol to neutralize the urushiol but after 4 days this is what it looks like and will probably get much worse before better. I love urushi......it looks like maple syrup and smells like parmesan cheese....but man it BITES!! I'm off to the clinic.
 

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Ouch !!!! but the finished product is worth a little pain . A quick trip to the clinic , some Calamine lotion (or prescription equivalent) and back to the shop to finish the pen .
 
Is not Urushi akin to poison ivy? Just looking at poison ivy causes me to break out. Oh yea, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER EVER burn poison ivy ... the smoke is just as deadly as it every stinking part of the plant. I would imagine burning the used rags would also cause one great discomfort as well. :eek:

From having suffered a lifetime of discomfort from this plant I have learned that a gentle washing with Neutrogena soap is far better than anything else in eliminating the noxious oil from the skin. Be sure to wash the cloths several times separate from the other cloths.

Many folks are often heard to state that they "know what poison ivy looks like" and are sure they "never touched any", but they get it anyway. Guess where from ... their pets rubbed up against the plant and then rubbed up against their owners. Instant transfer ..... Oh well, live and learn the hard way I guess! :beat-up:
 
Hay Chris, that looks like it is no fun at all, turning is suposed to be fun. Take care of that, I hope it gets better soon, there is a wood over here in Hawaii called silver oak, it is in the same family as poison ivy and a lot of poeple have bad reactions to the wood and dust, even the Mango wood can affect some people.
I got some Koa wood with your name on it send me a PM when you get better, aloha.

Chris "Kalai"
 
Fred said:
Is not Urushi akin to poison ivy? Just looking at poison ivy causes me to break out. Oh yea, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER EVER burn poison ivy ... the smoke is just as deadly as it every stinking part of the plant. I would imagine burning the used rags would also cause one great discomfort as well. :eek:

From having suffered a lifetime of discomfort from this plant I have learned that a gentle washing with Neutrogena soap is far better than anything else in eliminating the noxious oil from the skin. Be sure to wash the cloths several times separate from the other cloths.

Many folks are often heard to state that they "know what poison ivy looks like" and are sure they "never touched any", but they get it anyway. Guess where from ... their pets rubbed up against the plant and then rubbed up against their owners. Instant transfer ..... Oh well, live and learn the hard way I guess! :beat-up:
Click to expand...

Yes. Urushi is concentrated poison ivy oil (urushiol) in a tube.:eek:
 
Anyone who suffers from poison ivy should have a tube of this on hand: http://www.zanfel.com

The stuff is a solvent for urushiol and it works great. I am extremely allergic to poison ivy and the stuff has saved me a lot of misery.
 
Thanks for the link Jeff. I'm going to look into getting some of that. I often get a wee bit of rash on my hands and it doesn't bother me but this one has taken over my forearm and is quite uncomfortable.
 
A good cure for poison oak/ivy is vinegar diluted a little with water. Put in on the rash. Also if you have been out working where you may have come in contact with it you can wash with vinegar and water and prevent a breakout. Coarse you don't smell so good.

My brother was very alergic to it. Ended you in the hospital once after we burnt some brush. Had it all over his body. Then there was the guy at Camp Pendleton, when I was training in the USMC, that went out in the brush to releave himself. It was the wrong brush and got on his privates! Had to walk around in his boxers for a while out of uniform! He was a size to brag about for a while, but not very comfortable.
 
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Damn Chris!! Does it spread as well? I remember when I joined and saw your pens I read up on what Urushi was and was quite surprised you worked with it. How you doing now?
 
Fred said:
Many folks are often heard to state that they "know what poison ivy looks like" and are sure they "never touched any"
Click to expand...

I had thought so also, and never had a reaction to it in my youth (spent running through any woods I could find) but began breaking out every year when we moved into our new house. Researching I found several of the standard photos of it, and surprisingly, each looked quite different. The leaves will always have some characteristics (groups of 3, center leaf being larger than the side 2, etc) but many, including the color and texture of the leaves will change with plant age and time of season, making spotting it a little harder for those who aren't 100% positive. Also, along with the pet transfer, there is also the likelihood of coming in contact with the vine in areas with no leaves, which are just as reactive. Poison Ivy is just that, an Ivy, so it will grow along the ground, and fill in patches like groundcover, but it will also run up the sides of trees and attach with hairy feelers into the supporting tree. I found it running up trees in our back woods, over an inch thick without a leaf in sight.

Personally I've never seen the finish you can get from it, but even if it looked like liquid diamonds dipped in gold, I would never use it as a finish, just like I would never use gasoline as lighter fluid.

And yes, Toni, some say it doesn't spread, but the oil can remain active for up to 2 years on unwashed clothes and dead plants, and if you get enough of it on you, you can transfer it to other places on your body by rubbing/scratching and it will stay on you until you scrub it off in a shower or such(Me to my wife: "I KNOW that that body part never came in contact with poison ivy..." :eek:). Sweat also seems to "enhance the effect"...
 
PaulDog....wince.......good story.


Toni, sure it can spread....via transfer as Todd mentioned. The good thing about urushi once it's cured the urshiol oil becomes inactive. It's pretty amazing that they figured that one out over 10,000 years ago.

A little perspective though. I've been using urushi for over ten years now and this is only about the third or fourth time I've had a bad reaction and each of those times have been due to being careless. Todd, I can see your point on not using gasoline for lighter fluid (good analogy:wink:) but you really do have to see a piece of work finished with it....diamonds dipped in gold with a little added mojo..:biggrin:
 
Ah the days and nights of being in the US Marine Corps drilling in the woods of North Carolina...a series of practical jokes...standing watch over a field gets old after 20-25 days...I found a copperhead in my sleeping bag (dead thankfully)...so some how the snake culprit ended up with poison ivy being rubbed into the inner crotch zone of his spare set of boxers...ah yes a day passed with anticipation but it was worth it...best part was that he had "bug juice" (military grade insect repellent...which should never ever touch an area of broken/raw skin...think liquid fire) applied to his hands/neck/etc....hands scratched/rubbed the itchy skin...as he ran past us I nearly had to change my pants I laughed so hard...

Sounds kinda mean now...but it was a fair while back and we were Marines after all
:bananen_smilies026:

PS
My sympathy for your pain...that looks rough!

Raymond
 
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