How to identify poison ivy: take a piece of white paper, fold it in half and capture a leaf in it, but don't get it on you! Crush the leaf in the paper. The plant juice on the paper will turn black within 4-5 minutes if the culprit is poison ivy.

Vinegar has been used over the ages to treat everything from rashes to stings, bruises, sunburn and heat exhaustion. Make a paste of apple cider vinegar and baking soda to calm and soothe the skin from bee stings, poison oak or poison ivy. Mix lavender and apple cider vinegar to treat sunburn. Mix a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar into water to replace electrolytes and combat heat exhaustion like sports drinks do. Straight vinegar will counteract the alkaline in a wasp bite. Press it against the skin in a cold compress to heal bruises.

Baking Soda (bicarbonate of soda) can draw out impurities, calm irritated skin and sooth redness. Make a paste of baking soda and very cold water to treat poison ivy, or baking soda and apple cider vinegar to treat ant bites and bee stings.

Jewelweed is used to prevent and cure poison ivy. And conveniently, poison ivy often grows right beside jewelweed. It will help to dry out the rash and remove irritants from the skin. Pick some jewelweed, slit the stem and rub the juice on the affected areas of your skin. Or you can crush the jewelweed in a jar and use a cotton ball to soak up the juice and apply it that way. Also look for creams made with jewelweed at health food stores.

Quercetin is a flavonoid that treats cold sores, hay fever, and poison oak or poison ivy. Quercetin occurs naturally in many foods and is often recommended for allergy sufferers because it acts as an antihistamine. You can buy it in supplement form, or boost your intake by upping your consumption of black tea, green tea, apples, onions, raspberries, red grapes and broccoli.

Aloe. The hydrating juice of the aloe vera plant has been used for thousands of years to treat skin conditions. You can buy packaged aloe vera gel at most drugstores, and any grocery stores sell large aloe leaves. To use, cut off a small piece and squeeze out the gel, rubbing over affected area.