Ok... so due to lack of interest, I did some direct research. So here's a post I just made on another forum...

I've been asking around in these garden forums and haven't had a response, but I decided to experiment with the new Cortaid on my ivy rash.

Ok, so I go to a drug store and see the Cortaid Poison Ivy stuff. $30!!! So I look at the active ingredients on the back of the package for the anti-itch stuff (I'm not interested in the soap).

Then, as you can imagine, I start looking at other anti-itch solutions nearby. Of the six or seven products, there was one with the exact same ingredients in the exact same amounts. It was a Walgreens specific product called "Calahist Clear Lotion" and it costs $5!!!!.... for at least as much solution if not more.

So the real issue is: does it work? Well, I just put it on and so far so good.

I think all the active ingrediants of pi medication can be bought genericly,hydracortasone,an inflamation suppresant,benzocaine,a topical asnesthetic,and benadrile,an antihistamine.But the secreat to proper PI treatment is,Don't scrach!So anything that helps suppress the itch is worth a try.Strong soap is good imediately after exposure,if you think you've been in contact with poison ivy,and really hot water helps quiet the nerves involved,if the reaction has already started.

1 shot Jim beam, wash thoroughly, Bleach 10 min, rinse and dry, aspercream or blue ice, additional shots Jim beam as needed.

been using tecnu, and it works well for me.
I've heard regular dish soap - straight- rub/scrub it in and rinse, rinse, rinse works well too (and you cna't beat the price).
both methods do work for me - as long as I remember to do so. -
going in to wash off before I'm thru with my work outdoors (but finished where I know the pi/poison oak is) works best.
For the times I delude myself and don't wash off,
hot hot water (as nywoodsman suggested above) works really well to calm the itch.

gotta say, I like kwoods suggestion....
don't have jim beam, but I'm sure there's an optional potable somewhere 'round here.

My husband is highly allergic to poison ivy. We live on Lake Conroe & it grows profusely around here so it's hard NOT to come in contact with it. He was having to go to the doctor & get cortisone pills so often that the doctor told him that he needed to buy a bottle of Dawn Dishwashing Liquid (this brand seems to be the best, he said). When he's been outside puttering in the yard, he ALWAYS washes down with Dawn, head to toe, & continues to do this for a couple of days. He hardly ever has a break out now. The only time a breakout occurs is when he doesn't do this. We keep a bottle in our all our showers & tubs now. You have to get the oils from the poison ivy off your skin & it may take a scrubbing or two to do this. I even wash the dog just in case she comes in contact with it as well.

Hey gang, The best thing I have found for poison ivy is a good old fashoned home remedy. Find yourself a patch of JEWELWEED. Rub the juice from the stem and leaves on your rash or exposed area for fast relief. Check this website WWW.wildmanstevebrill.com . just click on the link for Foraging/ wild plants and look up jewelweed. he has excellent photos. At the end of the page is a letter I sent him with my experiences.
My folks used to insist we scrub with fels Naptha soap if we got in contact with PI.

OH YEAH! dON'T MAKE MY MISTAKE! I use this plant so much that I decided to gather seeds and put them in a corner of my yard. I only brought home about 10 seeds. That was 2 years ago and I have just finished clearing about 300 of the plants form the yard. Luckily they have very shallow roots. They are very invasive!

Steve Brill!? Didn't know he was still at it. Used to know him when I worked at a nature center here. He's a bit of a nut but he does get things right fairly often.

Afetr 47 years of being imune to poison ivy, I caught my first case last month. After 2 days I went to the store, I saw Cortaid Kit, but for the price I bought the cheap stuff. The next day I was being drivin insane and decided it was either the doctor or buy Cortiad. I showered with the scrub, and with in minutes all the itch went away. I sprayed my body (I was carrying loads of PI with my bare arms and chest)with the 'fake skin' a few times a day. The next day I had to re shower to get some spots that I missed (or got from my bed). By the 3rd day of use all the redness had gone and no itch. I had a few blisters that took longer to scab over. Next time I will use Cortaid as soon as I think I have a PI rash.

I agree with TECNU. I have tried everything otc until last year when I tried Tecnu. Tecnu was the only thing that has worked for me. This was the first year in 12 years that I have not had posion ivy. The past two years I had to go to the Doc. and get shots. Yeah! TECNU! You can even use it to wipe down your garden tools just in case you got poision ivy on them. It's inexpensive compared to the others. Good Luck.

Tecnu is the best. It's a soap that dissolves the poison ivy oil (urushiol) and you rinse it off. I've even rubbed it on p.i. blisters and they begin to heal right away.

Instead of treating the symptoms (itch, rash), get to the cause!

I have washed with the Cortaid scrub four or five times and no real milestones of improvement seen. I paid $34 for the creams and it doesn't work . I'm pissed.

I have had success with products containing Bentoquatam, which blocks the oil in Poison Oak and Ivy (urushiol). I've actually touched the leaves with no reaction (and I do react...painfully). It's expensive, but if you know you're going to be working in a PI area--or clearing it out like I was--it's a nice safeguard.