I would never suggest anyone to do this unless you don't have sensitive skin, but I've always washed my arms really well with soap and a course rag and used a cotton ball full of bleach to kill it all out. The course rag opens it up and the bleach kills it and drys it out. By the next day it's still there but dried up and doesn't itch. I've seen people try it with sensitive skin though and the Bleach eats them up worse than the ivy. I used to weed eat for the City Parks and Recreation Dept. in my town. Where I got it on a daily basis and used this method quite a lot.