# Just learned about "Nonenal." Not a happy discovery **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 19, 2026, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583 "2026-03-19T18:30:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![keeganst94](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a6a055/32.png) [@keeganst94](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/keeganst94)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/21 "2026-03-19T22:52:11Z")
Soap encapsulates dirt, or oil, or really anything that’s less polar, and then allows it to be solubilized in the more polar water layer. The first step of every place I can find for dealing with poison ivy is “wash with soap and warm water”. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/22 "2026-03-19T22:55:55Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > That’s why you don’t want to use soap on poison ivy. It just moves it around making things worse. Huh? If you have been exposed to poison ivy you want to wash it off as soon as possible. Wherever the oil has landed it binds to and you want to get any not yet bound oil off you before you touch it and spread it elsewhere. Immediately washing off with soap and water is key. The reaction to the oil bound to the skin is delayed. A few days typically. Showing up first where the load is highest, then other locations where it was spread to before washing with soap. It isn’t being spread at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2026, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/23 "2026-03-19T23:04:06Z")
I liked the way my Granny smelled. And she was ancient. Cancer at the end. I could smell that on her. It wasn’t unpleasant just different. When Lumē tells me my Granny stank, it pisses me off Life smells. Bodies can just do so much. A good wash with your favorite soap oughta be enough, daily. I promise, @ThelmaLou I would not find you offensive if you smell like a human being. It’s ok. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/24 "2026-03-20T01:02:26Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > If you have been exposed to poison ivy you want to wash it off as soon as possible Yes, but with something that cuts through oil. Regular bar soap will push it around making it worse. Use isopropyl alcohol or a dish detergent like Dawn that is designed to cut through oil. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/25 "2026-03-20T02:36:16Z")
There is no evidence that any soap works better for poison ivy exposure than any other. They all have the surfactants that work on the oils fine. As quick as possible is the key. Bar or liquid doesn’t matter. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/26 "2026-03-20T02:52:16Z")
Also, it’s helpful to use a washcloth, along with the soap and water. And then wash the washcloth. Anecdotal evidence that soap works: When i was a baby, i went crawling through a big patch of poison ivy. My father took me out. My mother washed me, and my father washed himself. Except he only washed the parts that he realized were exposed to poison ivy: his legs, his hands, his arms. He didn’t think that I’d held onto him with my arms around the back of his neck as he carried me to be washed. I didn’t get poison ivy. And my father only got it in patches on the back of his neck, where my grubby little hands were. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/27 "2026-03-20T02:55:00Z")
Speaking of smells, in a really stupid moment, i decided to try to kill a poison ivy plant with boiling water. I was enveloped on the scent of cooking vegetable. It smelled really good! And i was terrified I’d get poison ivy in my lungs. Thankfully, i didn’t. I may have never been sensitized to it. Or maybe the oil didn’t volatilize, despite other stuff obviously being carried by the steam. Anyway, I’m not going to try that again. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/28 "2026-03-20T03:01:29Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > There is no evidence that any soap works better for poison ivy exposure than any other. That’s simply not true. Dish detergent is used to clean oil from animals exposed to petroleum oil spills. Not hand soap, dish detergent. It’s designed to break down oil. Hand soaps are generally based on plant-based oils or animal fats. Isopropyl alcohol works well for breaking down oil so it can be washed away. It was used for years in hospitals so it’s not toxic for such an application. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/29 "2026-03-20T03:02:08Z")
nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/30 "2026-03-20T03:02:43Z")
Next time kill it with fire! Or nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. Boiling water? That’s for sissy plant-sympathizers. 🤪   ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/31 "2026-03-20T03:06:13Z")
I know that people have been seriously injured from inhaling smoke from burning poison ivy. So please don’t kill it with fire! At least, not around me. Nuking it from orbit probably works fine; everyone close enough to be hurt by the volatilized poison ivy is already dead, and can’t mount an allergic reaction. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/32 "2026-03-20T03:08:51Z")
OK; I bow to your expertise. Time for compromise: kill it with Roundup. That shit _always_ works. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/33 "2026-03-20T07:04:06Z")
There are so many plants out in the wild that will cause skin irritations and itching. I was helping my son work on his tomato bedding plants today and I was itchy up to my wrists. Okra does me the same way. I had a kiwi the other day that made my tongue itch. We fight the ivies and poison oaks and sumacs. Plus stinging nettle, some kind brush browse with purple berries, and even pine tar from a pine tree can make you have a burning sensation. Wisteria burn is real. Every year. Til we get tired of it and tell the kids “you know what hurts you, don’t touch it. And don’t step in that fire ant hill, barefoot, again…” Nature will naturally kill us all. ---
**Author:** ![vbob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vbob/32/4439_2.png) [@vbob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vbob)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 9:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/34 "2026-03-20T09:58:53Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > Youngins can identify a faint sweet grassy smell on me and everyone 40 and up? I told you to get offa my lawn! ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/35 "2026-03-20T10:13:11Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Next time kill it with fire! Or nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure. Well that’ll get rid of any smelly old folk, certainly… ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/36 "2026-03-20T13:41:52Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Nature will naturally kill us all. The other day I saw a “humorous” sign hanging in a tourist schlock shop at the beach. The picture was a skeleton on a surfboard riding a large steep wave. The caption was > **EVERYTHING** will kill you. > So pick something fun! ---
**Author:** ![sunacres](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@sunacres](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sunacres)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/37 "2026-03-20T16:51:18Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > I’m not ashamed of living long enough to smell the way I am supposed to smell at my age. It is nice to hear a voice of reasonableness here from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/38 "2026-03-20T19:20:35Z")
Don’t listen to him, sir. You’ve got an enchanting musk. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/39 "2026-03-20T20:27:50Z")
> **[Tecnu](https://tecnu.com/a/docs/guides-how-tos/tecnu-original-versus-tecnu-extreme)** > > Trust Tecnu the “Outdoor Itch Expert” to solve your poison ivy & oak rash, insect bites, and more so you can keep enjoying the outdoors. I will always have a bottle of tecnu in my house or packed for an outdoor trip it is hands down the BEST skin cleanser for exposure to PI or any other itch causing vine/plant. I will not mess around with hand soap and water, give me tecnu stat. But back on topic, look tor hypochlorous acid spray, keeps musty fusty smells away. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583/40 "2026-03-21T00:07:44Z")
Oh, my god, thanks for mentioning this! My poor little dog, a low-to-the-ground dachshund, suffers terribly from poison oak every time we visit a friend who loves to let him romp around their place. This is exactly what we need, as I see it is safe for pets, too. And it’s made less than 100 miles from home! Just ordered some! * * * I’m aware of the nonenal odor, have smelled it since I was a kid and continue to smell it now – even on me and in my own home. Didn’t know there was a name for it, though, so thanks for fighting my ignorance, @ThelmaLou! I’m clean, bathe regularly, clean clothes, etc., but it is nonetheless there on me and most everyone I know who is older. I’m not bothered by it unless it is made especially intense by poor housekeeping or hygiene habits. Then it gets a bit off-putting. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-learned-about-nonenal-not-a-happy-discovery/1028583.md?page=3)