DIY SHTF Healing Salve

When was growing up, my mother and father seemed to have a salve (which we pronounced ‘sav’) for everything. If me and my siblings fell over, a healing salve was applied. If we had a chest infection, my mother would rub a menthol based salve into our chest, that opened up our nasal passages and allowed us to sleep better. Salve was the number one item in our medicine cabinet.

Salves derive from a basic recipe for the base with added ingredients as per the use. From the base you can make a salve for almost any topical medicinal use. This article will show you how to create a salve base and infuse a herbal oil. In this case the salve we will be making is used for cuts and wound healing. The article will also list other potential ingredients for other salves you can make yourself once you master this basic salve recipe.

Preparing an Infused Herbal Oil

Many types of herbs and plants can be used as the active ingredients in a salve. In this recipe I have chosen plants that are good for cuts and small wounds.

The recipe includes the following ingredients:

1. Thyme: Thyme contains ‘Thymol’ which is an antiseptic and often used to medicate wounds and bandages to prevent infection.
2. Lavender: As well as making the salve smell good, lavender is known to have antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory action.
3. Comfrey: This plant, both the root and the leaves and flowers, has been used since ancient times to help wounds to heal. It can help to slow down bleeding and has anti-inflammatory action.

NOTE: never use a salve on a dirty wound, always clean the area thoroughly first.

Preparing the Plants for Salve Use

There are two basic methods for preparing the plant extracts, to create an infused oil, for use in a salve base:

Quick and easy method: Double boiler method of extraction of herb active ingredients into oil

Ingredients:

• Dried Thyme
• Dried Lavender
• Dried Comfrey (use the leaves and flowers from the plants)
• Olive oil or nut oil
• Double boiler
• Something to strain the oil (cheesecloth or similar)

Making the Infused Oil

1. Place your mix of dried herbs into the double boiler (as shown above). Cover the herbs with oil so there is about 1 inch of oil covering the top of the herbs. If you shred or grind the herbs up, you’ll increase the surface area and so improve extraction of the active ingredients.
2. Using a low heat, warm the oil and herbs for 1-5 hours, until the oil turns the color of the herbs. If you have a ‘warming oven’ (typically used in bread making) you can leave the mix of oil and herbs in a glass proof bowl in that oven for around 48 hours. This will also extract the active ingredients from the plants.
3. Strain the oil to remove any plant debris. Be careful as the oil will be hot
4. Keep the herb infused oil in a jar in a cool place ready for salve making

NOTE: If you don’t have a double boiler you can instead use a heat proof glass bowl on a pan of water – be careful not to overfill the pan as the water, when boiling makes the glass bowl ‘jump’.

Slow Method:

Collected herbs in jar – using in-direct sunlight to extract the active ingredient into oil

Ingredients:

• Dried Thyme
• Dried Lavender
• Dried Comfrey (use the leaves and flowers from the plants)
• Olive oil or nut oil
• Jar with tight lid
• Something to strain the oil (cheesecloth or similar)
• Some sunshine

Making the Infused Oil

1. Place the dried herbs, either chopped or loosely shredded into the jar
2. Pour the oil over the herbs covering them
3. Leave in in-direct sunlight for around 3-4 weeks
4. Every day give the jar a shake or two
5. Once the oil starts to take on the color of the herbs and smells of lavender and thyme, it is time to strain
6. Strain the oil through cloth to remove the plant debris and leave clear oil
7. Using the cloth, strain the oil until the plant debris is removed

How to Make a Salve Base

The salve base is the medium that holds the active ingredients. This is also the method used to distribute and absorb those active ingredients onto, and to an extent, through, your skin. The salve is based on beeswax but you can also use other safe waxes such as Carnauba wax (palm wax).

Ingredients

• 4 oz of a herbal infused oil such as that described in the section “Preparing the Plants for Salve Use”
• 1/2 – 1 oz beeswax pellets (amount depends on how thick you want the salve to be)
• 10-20 drops of essential oils such as Tea Tree or lavender (optional)
• Double boiler (you can use a commercial one, or a make-shift one as I have done below)
• Some tins or small glass jars to hold the salve

Making the Salve Base Using the Infused Herbal Oil

4 oz infused oil ready: 1 oz beeswax pellets

1. Place the beeswax pellets into the double boiler. Alternatively, use a heat proof glass bowl over a pan which contains water, in the same method you would use to melt chocolate. Be careful not to overfill with water as it will make the glass bowl ‘jump’.
2. Add the infused herbal oil to the softened beeswax and slowly heat and mix. You might find the wax starts to thicken when you add the cold oil, let it heat up and mix in the warmed oil/wax. Mix the melting beeswax using the handle of a wooden spoon or similar. Once the beeswax is completely melted, slowly add the infused oil to the melted wax in the double boiler. Mix as you pour. You’ll notice the wax starting to solidify as the colder oil hits it. Continue to heat and stir until the wax re-melts. Stir the two until completely mixed.
3. Once thoroughly mixed, remove from the heat
4. Allow to cool and then add in the essential oils (if using) and mix. I used a few drops of lavender oil in my mix at this stage
5. Pour the cooled, but still soft, salve into your containers. Use a clean tin or glass jar.
6. Leave for about 15 minutes in a fridge or very cold place to harden the wax
7. Use you salve on the clean cut or wound or to add to bandages

Other herbal / plant mixtures that can be used in salves:

• Menthol and peppermint: This combo is perfect for rubbing onto chests at night before sleep to help ease the symptoms of a cold or chest infection.
• Elderflower, Aloe, Lavender: Used in a salve for soothing sunburn.
• Calendula infused in coconut oil: Perfect for relieving eczema.
• Honey (preferably Manuka) used with coconut oil in the salve: For soothing burns

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