Making herbal salves at home is inexpensive and easy. You can customize the salve by choosing various oils and herbs.
Start with a clean 500ml or 1000 ml jar. Fill the jar with fresh leaves and / or flowers. You can use leaves and flowers from one type of plant, or combine them. Choose whatever you have easy access to or choose a plant based on its medicinal qualities. Some good choices are rose petals, calendula, plantain, comfrey, lavender, self heal, or violets.
Top with a carrier oil of your choice. Olive oil is inexpensive and is a good oil to try if you don’t know where to start. Or use jojoba oil, coconut oil or avocado oil. Make sure the oil covers the plant material, press the plants down if needed.
Cover the jar and let it sit in the sun for a few days, shaking the jar daily. Move the jar to a cool dark room for 4-6 weeks to let the herbal constituents infuse into the oil. Check the jar every few days and give it a good shake. Make sure mold is not growing in the jar.
After 4-6 weeks, strain the oil infusion through a fine sieve or cloth and squeeze the mixture to extract every drop. I like to use a hand held potato ricer. Throw the plant material in the compost.
The infused oil is now ready to be combined with melted beeswax to make a salve. Beeswax is available at most health food stores and animal feed stores. You can buy beeswax in small blocks or pellets. The pellets melt faster, but are more expensive. If you buy a block of beeswax, you can grate it to make it melt faster.
You will be mixing one part beeswax to one part infused oil. Gently heat the beeswax in a heat proof jar or measuring up in a double boiler until melted. Remove from the heat and stir in the infused oil. At this point you can add a few drops of essential oil if desired. Quickly pour the mixture into small jars and allow to set. To make a softer salve, use less beeswax or more infused oil.