Learning how to make herbal salves at home will save you the discomfort of chapped lips or the dry palms that result from using hand wash.
Here is a detailed guide on how to make salves that will leave you moisturized and smelling great.
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How to Make Potent Salves From Scratch
Creating the Herb-Infused Oil
1. Solar Herb-Infusion Method
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Preferred Herbs
- Olive oil (Or any other preferred neutral oil)
Equipment You’ll Need
Instructions
1. Firstly, place your herbs in a quart jar leaving at least a two to three-inch headspace in the jar to fill with Olive oil.
2. Next, fill the jar with your favorite oil, ensuring the herbs are fully submerged throughout the infusing period.
3. Now, tightly cap the jar and shake well before placing it on a sunny, warm windowsill. Shake it at least once per day.
4. After a two to three-week digestion period, line a mesh strainer with cheesecloth, wear your gloves, and strain the infused oil and squeeze out any remaining oil.
5. Afterwards, transfer the infused oil into cleaned glass jars and label with the date, herbs used, and type of oil before storing it in a cool and dark place.
Tip: You can put the oil and herb mixture in a brown bag to avoid exposing it to direct sunlight.
2. Heat Herb-Infusion Method
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Preferred herbs
- Olive oil (Or any other preferred neutral oil)
Equipment You’ll Need
- Electric yogurt maker or double boiler
- Cheesecloth
- Strainer
- Latex gloves
- Storage bottles
Instructions
1. Here, place your preferred herbs in a double boiler or an electric yogurt maker and cover with at least two to three inches of the carrier oil of your choice.
2. Secondly, gently heat the herb and oil mixture over the lowest heat possible until the oil takes on the herbs’ scent and color. Once the oil gets to this point, turn the heat off and allow it to cool.
3. Next, strain using a cheesecloth-lined strainer and transfer to clean glass bottles. Remember to label the bottles with the date and contents before storing them in a cool and dark place for up to six months.
Tip: For the best results, infuse the oil in controlled heat for up to three days.
3. Intermediary Method With Alcohol
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Dried herbs of your choice
- Olive oil (Or any other preferred neutral oil)
- Vodka
Equipment You’ll Need
- Weighing scale
- Blender
- Glass jars with airtight jars
- Cheesecloth
- Strainer
- Latex gloves
- Storage bottles
Instructions
1. After weighing out your dried organic herbs, place them in a blender, and grind them into a coarse powder. Be careful not to overdo it.
2. Next, transfer your ground herbs into a clean jar, then add the vodka. The amount of alcohol should be half the amount of your herbs.
3. Now, using a spoon, work the mixture to evenly disperse the alcohol in the herb powder. The final consistency should resemble damp sand.
Afterward, set the mixture aside to macerate for at least 24 hours.
4. Once done, place the damp herb powder in a blender and add your neutral Olive oil until the herbs are well submerged and moving around in the blender.
5. Next, blend for about 5 minutes or until the blender jar is warm to the touch. Now pass the mixture through a cheesecloth-lined strainer.
6. Finally, transfer the herb-infused oil into storage bottles and store it away in a dark place.
Remember: This is the fastest infusion method if you do not have much time to spare.
Making the Herbal Salve
Ingredients You’ll Need
- 4 oz. herbal infused oil of your choice (one or a combination of two or more)
- 1 oz. beeswax
- 10-20 drops essential oil of choice
Equipment You’ll Need
- Meat Mallet
- Kitchen towel
- Knife
- Saucepan
- Glass bowl
- Spatula
- Funnel
- Lip balm tubes or glass jars
Instructions
1. Wrap a beeswax bar in a kitchen towel, place it on your kitchen counter and use a meat mallet to break it up into small chunks. Alternatively, use a knife to chop up the beeswax bar roughly.
2. Next, place the beeswax chunks in a double boiler and gently warm over a low frame until the beeswax chunks melt.
3. Now, add preferred herbal infused oils in a steady flow while stirring until well-mixed while maintaining a low frame.
4. Once uniformly mixed, remove the bowl with the mixture from the heat and quickly stir in the essential oils of your choice.
5. Lastly, quickly transfer the warm mixture into cleaned and dried glass jars or lip balm tubes fitted with a funnel and leave to cool completely before storing for up to three years.
Tips:
- Adjust the amount of the beeswax to match the consistency you want your final herbal salves to have. More wax will yield firmer salves.
- Use Carnauba wax if you want to make vegan salves.
Watch this video from Meli Mystic on how to make herbal itchy skin salves/balms:
There you have it, homesteaders. With this guide, you can now infuse oils at home for culinary, beauty and healing uses. And making herbal salves is a genius way to make use of your custom infused oils for timeless beauty products.
Have you tied making homemade salves before? Let us know in the comment section below!
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