Monday, October 29, 2012

Salves for your Medicine chest



St Johns Wort Salve
This salve is healing and soothing for use for diaper rash, sunburn and skin irritations. It has now become our favorite salve and we use it for everything. It has taken care of Athlete's foot, all rashes and healed cuts, scratches, and abrasions. It is quite amazing how quickly things heal when we use this salve.

1 part St. John's Wort
1 part Comfrey leaf
1 part Calendula flowers

Follow the instructions for making oils on my "crone cronicles blogg". First make the oil and then turn it into a salve!

To make a salve use equal parts oil made above and beeswax melted in double boiler or microwave beat together. allow to cool

*****

Scrape burn and sunburn salve

Take equal parts of three or more of the following;
Plantain leaves,
Pine needles,
Comfrey leaves,
Elecampaign roots,
Baby Oak leaves (not old ones),
Wild Sarsaparilla roots,
Bee Balm leaves,
chopped Horse Chestnuts (the meat of the nut and the shiny brown covering), fresh,
chopped green Walnut hulls.
Add Calendula blossoms,
and Lavender flowers, fresh or dried.

 Place the herbs in a non aluminum pot and cover with good quality olive oil. Bring to a simmer and simmer with a tight fitting lid for 20 minutes. In a separate pot bring fresh bees wax to a simmer. When both pots are of equal temperature, add 3
Tablespoons of the hot beeswax for every cup of Olive oil to the pot with the herbs. Stir, strain and seal in a clean jar. This salve is great for diaper rash and if you add the Horse Chestnuts it makes a wonderful remedy for piles.
****

Breath Better Salve

This salve is comparable to Vicks®, without all the petroleum hydrocarbons.

First make an herbal oil using equal parts of these herbs: Peppermint, Spearmint, Wintergreen, and
1 tsp. cloves. If you do not want to use the herbs you may use the essential oils.

Use about a Tbsp. of each oil and at least 2 or 3 cups of either extra-virgin, cold-pressed olive
or coconut oil.

Once the oil has infused and is strained, warm the oil and add 1/2 tsp* menthol crystals (or
menthol crystals with bees wax) to the desired consistency.

NOTE: in warmer climates you may need a little more; in cooler climates, less.

Rub on the bottom of a childs feet for a good nights sleep and to ease congestion.


****

Salve for bad burns

You can apply this salve to badly burned areas. These two herbs have antiseptic properties,
also act as a painkiller and will promote healing

1 2/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup calenula flowers
1/3 cup St Johnswort

Mix together and place in top of double boiler. Simmer over low heat for 2 hours. Remember to replace the water in bottom pot if it gets low. Strain out herbs. In seperate pan or bowl if using microwave,

melt 2 tsp. beeswax and
1 tsp. cocoa butter or lanolin.

Add to the infused oil and stir until cool.
*****

Itchy salve

For help with itchies If using fresh herbs, gently spray clean and let wilt overnight in a dry place.

1 handful of chickweed
1/2 handful of chamomile heads
1/2 handful of calendula heads
2 Tbs. of thyme
2 Tbs. comfrey root
2 Tbs. marshmallow root

Cover with olive oil, infuse over low heat (never get above 200) for 3 hours.
Strain and add 1-2 oz.cocoa butter and 1-2 oz.beeswax, heat until
melted and pour into containers. Just drop a little on a plate and see
if it hardens enough, if not add more beeswax only a little bit at a time and re-test.

*****

Easy pain salve

Here is another easy salve recipe. Lemon Balm contains Eugenol which eases pain and calendula is great for all types of skin conditions, very soothing. Most of you will remember that I don't always weigh my ingredients, so these are approximate.

2 cups olive oil or sunflower oil (olive lasts longer)
3/4 cup lemon balm and calendula. Just throw handfulls in the measuring
container until you get 3/4. Try to use equal amounts of each.

Mix together and place in top of double boiler. Simmer over low heat for
2 hours. Remember to replace the water in bottom pot if it gets low.
Strain out herbs. In seperate pan or bowl if using microwave, melt 2
tsp. beeswax and 1 tsp. cocoa butter or lanolin. Add to the infused oil
and stir until cool. If you wanted to make this antibacterial, you would
add a few drops of tea tree or thyme eo when it cools. Put into jars and
label!!!!! Add the date.....
You might think you'll remember what you made, but you won't....lol


Pain relief salve

1 tablespoon Chickweed powder
1 tablespoon Wormwood Powder
10 drops Tea Tree oil
2 pints Sweet Olive Oil
3 ounces Beeswax

Mix together chickweed, wormwood powder, add the mixed herbs to sweet olive oil and simmer 3 hours. Strain and add beeswax and Tea Tree Oil. Pour into salve containers.

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Red clover salve

Here is another easy salve for wounds and  ulcers

2 cups olive oil or sunflower oil (olive lasts longer)
3/4 cup red clover flowers. Just throw handfuls in the measuring
container until you get 3/4.

Mix together and place in top of double boiler. Simmer over low heat for
2 hours. Remember to replace the water in bottom pot if it gets low.
Strain out herbs. In separate pan or bowl if using microwave, melt 2
tsp. beeswax and 1 tsp. cocoa butter or lanolin. Add to the infused oil
and stir until cool. If you wanted to make this antibacterial, you would
add a few drops of tea tree or thyme eo when it cools. Put into jars and
label!!!!! Add the date.....

****

Carpenters salve

This salve heals and also helps pull wood or metal splinters to the surface of a worker’s hands.

• 1 part self-heal
• 1 part plantain
• 1 part comfrey leaf
• 1/2 part rosemary
• Olive oil
• 1/2 part beeswax
• 1/4 cup bentonite clay
• 1 tablespoon lavender oil Infuse the herbs in olive oil in a ratio of 2 parts of oil to 1 part of the herb combination.

After adding beeswax but before pouring into jars, stir in bentonite clay and lavender oil.

*****

Foot salve

A great salve for those aching feet after a day shopping or at work.

10 oz. coconut oil (solid, not fractionated)
2 oz. jojoba
3 oz. olive oil
3 Tbs. candelilla wax
1/2 oz. beeswax ( you can replace this with all candelilla wax if you'd
like, I was not happy with the consistency so I added some beeswax)
1 oz. cocoa butter
.5 oz. menthol crystals
10 drops peppermint
10 drops eucalyptus
10 drops naouli

Melt all ingredients together except for the menthol and essential oils.
Remove from heat, stir in menthol crystals, re-heat until crystals are
melted if needed. Remove from heat and let cool before stirring in the
essential oils or they will evaporate, pour into containers.
If you don't have experience in using menthol crystals, they are quite
powerful, so do wear a mask when using them and caution, you don't want
to have your head right over the bowl when mixing this item.

*****

Crack salve for fingernails

It works wonders on those awful cracks you get along your fingernails

1 oz Beeswax
1 oz Calendula infused olive oil
1 oz Plaintain infused olive oil
1 oz St. Johnswort infused olive oil

Melt all together til beeswax is melted then add:
6 drops Vit E
5 drops Pine needle e.o.
5 drops Chamomile (german) e..o.
5 drops Lavendar e.o.
5 drops Tea tree e.o.
Cool a bit , then pour into clean jars.

******


Vapo rub

2 T. vaseline
10 - 15 drops ceadarwood, clary sage, eucalyptus, ginger, myrrh, pine, tea tree essential oils (your choice....or you can use a combination of any of these oils)

Slow melt the vaseline in a heatproof bowl in the microwave on low heat, Stir every so often to facilitate melting. Add your essential oils and stir well. While this is still in liquid form, pour into a dark, sterilized glass jar with a tight-fitting lid. Store in a cool, dry place till needed.
Warning: Vaseline is flamable

*****

Chest Rub

Olive oil 1 cup or enough to cover the herbs(I don't like to
substitute, olive lasts a long time)
grated ginger root fresh 2 Tbs. dried about 4Tbs.
dried or wilted peppermint leaves 1/4-1/2 cup

Put in crock pot or double boiler and simmer over low heat for 3 hours. Strain out herbs, put back in pan over low heat and melt 1-2 Tbs. of beeswax in the oil, depending on how hard you want to make it. When beeswax melts, remove from heat stir and pour into container, let sit until cool.
*I add poplar buds to the herbs for pain and inflammation, simmer as instructed.
******

 Pine Pitch Salve

This is anti microbial, anti inflamitory nad easily removes splinters

First you need to find your Pine pitch. Here in the Gila, our PiƱon Pine trees often have semi-hard globs of pitch on their trunks or at the base of the tree. Summer seems the best time to harvest, since this is when the trees tend to ooze more and it’s easier to pry off the harder chunks. If there’s a major wound that the pitch is coming from, I suggest not pulling the whole chunk off as the tree is trying to heal itself and needs that pitch.

After you’ve collected about half a pint jar’s worth of pitch, you divide it into three different grades. Rock hard chunks, sticky goo and semi-solid bits. Put the goo and semi-solid stuff in a pint jar with the semi-solid stuff on the bottom, and then break up the hard chunks into smaller pieces. I don’t recommend a mortar and pestle for this, it can very messy. The smaller you break up the hard pieces, the quicker they will break down. Sometimes I get lazy and just throw golf ball sized pitch rocks in there, and then it takes damn near forever to properly infuse the oil. Pea sized bits are a lot quicker. If you like, you can wrap the hard bits in some canvas and than hammer the hell out of it, that usually works pretty good.

By this point you likely have very sticky hands and are worried about being permanently glued to whatever you touch next. I’ve seen lots of people try cleaning with rubbing alcohol with less than optimal results. I recommend some nice oil, just rub it into your hands and the stickiness will slide right off. And then your hands smell very nice too!

Next you just fill your pint jar to the top with olive oil (or your salve oil of choice). Now, in order for your infused pine oil to be really effective, you have to get a large percentage of that pitch to dissolve into the oil. Heat is the best way I know to do this. Beware that whatever you heat the Pine pitch in will be pretty hard to clean, so you may not want to use your favorite crockpot. Personally, I just take the whole jar and stick it in my wood stover warmer and leave it there for a couple weeks, shaking occasionally to help break up the chunks. The sun might not be hot enough (depending on where you live), although if you half bury it in some hot sand directly in the sun, it’ll be a lot hotter.

When the chunks are mostly dissolved, strain the oil through a mesh sieve to get out any bark or whatever else was stuck to the pitch. Now you have lovely Pine oil, and can just proceed with your normal salve making process.

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