I AM SO UNCOMFORTABLE BECAUSE BURS

May 1, 2018 10:48 AM

I am waging war with last year’s dried burdock plants so I can actually use my back yard. Stupidly, I was wearing a tank top and rained tiny itchy ouchy hairs ALL OVER MY BODY. I AM SO UNCOMFORTABLE AND PRICKLY FEELING. I just took a shower and loofahed off, and that helped the immediate itchiness, but I just put a shirt on and realized the hairs are definitely all still on me. What should I do?

Bonus question: should I just throw out my loofah?

posted by Grandysaur to Health & Fitness (8 answers total)

Best answer: Do you have a lint roller? Roll that all over your body. If you don't have one, use duck tape or packing tape.
And yes, I would throw out the loofah.
posted by OrangeDisk at 10:50 AM on May 1, 2018 [9 favorites]

Best answer: I don't know if it is specifically recommended for burrs, but I know that baby powder is often recommended to help clean off your skin when water isn't doing the trick.
posted by Rock Steady at 10:56 AM on May 1, 2018

Best answer: Going over the hairless parts of your body with a new double bladed razor might help.
posted by jamjam at 11:12 AM on May 1, 2018

Best answer: I'd take the sticky side of a strip of duct tape to myself.

For the loofah if it's a loofah loofah I'd vigorously swish it around in a large bowl of water for a few minutes. Should be fine. But if it's one of those mesh poofs and not a real loofah, just toss it.
posted by phunniemee at 11:14 AM on May 1, 2018 [2 favorites]

Best answer: Youtube said to take an old pair of nylons and use them to kind of exfoliate the area. Supposedly the little spines will stick to the stockings. It also suggested white glue: schmear on, let dry, peel off.
posted by Don Pepino at 11:16 AM on May 1, 2018 [2 favorites]

Burn the clothes and throw away anything that came in touch with the burdock. That's what I do... but I have the added reason that burdock can ruin our sheeps' fleeces and we can't risk it.
posted by terrapin at 12:15 PM on May 1, 2018

Best answer: For splinters, a poultice of baking soda and water will make the splinter swell up and dislodge itself, or it makes the skin eject it, whatever, it's surprisingly effective. Try it on an itchy patch, leave on 30 minutes, scrub off. I am also on Team Lintroller.
posted by theora55 at 12:37 PM on May 1, 2018 [3 favorites]

pantyhose, glue, lint roller / tape will all work.

shaving may make it worse bc if anything is embedded in your skin, you'll remove the "handle" that would have let you pull it out.

if your loofah is a plant based one, toss it- the hairs will never come out of that texture. if it's a synthetic net one, washing it really well with lots of agitation should remove the hairs.

getting all the hairs out of the shirt(s), pants, and towels you've now exposed to the hairs may be tricky... use up a whole lint roller on them (don't be stingy, you need good adhesive) and wash them separately from your other clothes.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 7:54 PM on May 1, 2018