Common Knowledge:FAQ39: How to Make Herbal Salve?.
Oils of olive, almond, coconut or almond are all good choices and it is best to use fresh plant material though some dried roots are appropriate provided they have been thouroughly dried. (You can bake roots at a very low temperature for 1 hour before using.)
Herbal Salve is easy to make at home using infused oils and beeswax. The type of salve you are making will depend on the type of infused oil you are using. Comfrey and calendula make a nice healing salve. Save small glass condiment jars and lids (like the kind artichoke hearts or pimentos come in) for storing your creations. You will need a small enamel pan, a grater, and a wooden spoon.
Making Herbal Salve:
~ Warm 2 ounces of infused oil
on very low heat, just until warm.
~ Add 2 TBS of grated beeswax and stir until completely melted and incorporated with the oil. You can also add a drop or 2 of essential oil at this point for fragarance.
~ Pour mixture into a small, shallow, glass jar and let it cool until solid.
~ If it is too soft reheat it and add a bit more beeswax. If it is too hard reheat it and add a touch more oil.
~ Once completely cool screw the lid on tight and label.
Directions for Making Salve:
~ To make salve, we extract the beneficial properties of our herbs in oil, then add beeswax to harden the oil.
~ My recipes are based on the Simplers' Method of calculating proportions. These recipes require you to use parts rather than a specific volume of each herb. This technique allows you to easily adapt the recipe. If you want a small amount of salve you can choose one tablespoon as your part, if you want a large amount of salve you might choose 1/2 - 1 cup as your part. The amount of oil needed is enough to completely cover the herbs, plus an inch of oil above the level of the herbs. The tricky part of this is determining exactly how much beeswax is needed to harden the salve. You can approximate the proportions based on the following equivalents. One pint of oil will need about 1 1/2 ounces of beeswax, or one ounce of oil will need about 1/2 teaspoon of beeswax. There are about 5 teaspoons of beeswax in an ounce.
~ If you intend to make your salve using freshly collected plants, you will want to clean them. Do this by shaking them to remove dirt then spread the herbs out to allow them to air dry for several hours ( until wilted ) to reduce the moisture content. Fresh chickweed, for example, contains a lot of moisture and this water content could cause your salve to spoil quickly.
~ To begin your salve, measure the desired amount of herbs into an enamel or stainless steel pan, or into a crock pot.
~ Cover the herbs with oil. Use enough oil to cover the herbs plus another inch of oil above the level of herbs.
~ Heat the herbs and oil over a low heat for several hours ( about 3 hours). If you are using roots you should heat the oil longer( about 5 hours). I strongly encourage you to use a crock pot for heating your oil because it operates at a controlled low temperature which is less likely to be a fire hazard. If you don't use a crock pot then use a double boiler.
~ After heating, cool your oil for awhile. Set up a strainer lined with cheesecloth then pour the oil through to strain. When most of the oil has filtered through the cheesecloth, pick up the cheesecloth, keeping the herbs enclosed, and squeeze as much oil as possible from the herbs and cloth.
~ Add beeswax to the oil and heat it until all the wax is melted. To test to see if your salve is hard enough, put some on a spoon and set it in a cool place for a few minutes. If your salve is too soft, add more beeswax.
~ If you are using essential oils or Vitamin E you can blend them in now. Finally, pour your salve into containers and label.
Tips for Making Salve:
~Salves, or ointments, are fat-based preparations used to soothe abrasions, heal wounds and lacerations, protect baby's skin from diaper rash and soften dry, rough skin and chapped lips. Salves are made by heating an herb with fat until the fat absorbs the plant's healing properties. A thickening and hardening agent, such as beeswax, is then added to the strained mixture to give it a thicker consistency.
~Kept in a cool place, salves last about six months to a year. You can preserve a salve even longer by adding a few drops of benzoin tincture, polar bud tincture or glycerine. (you can find benzoin tincture and glycerine in most pharmacies, and poplar bud tincture in some health food stores). Make salves in small batches to keep them fresh. Be sure to store them in jars with tight-fitting lids.
~The key ingredient of salves is herbal oil. Make the oil out of the herb of your choice using the methods outlined in this page. Calendula oil makes a wonderful all-purpose healing salve. Use St John's Wort oil to treat swelling and bruising in traumatic injuries. Use garlic oil in a salve for infectious conditions.
~To turn the oil into a salve, mix it with beeswax and allow the mixture to become solid. A general rule is to use 3/4 to 1 oz of melted beeswax per cup herbal oil.
~You can purchase beeswax from health food stores, beekeeping supply stores and mail order companies. Grated beeswax melts faster. You can melt the beeswax in a double boiler or add the grated beeswax to heated herbal oil. Pour the salve into containers before the blend starts to harden.
Statistics
Spectrum
FAQ
Of Herbs