If you love using herbs for wellness, making your own herbal salve is a must. That doesn’t mean there aren’t a thousand questions that can come up about it!

Whether you’re crafting a soothing balm for irritated skin, a muscle rub, or an all-purpose healing salve, the process for making a salve is generally the same, and relatively simple. However, there are some tried and true practices that, if followed, will definitely yield you a better result than just throwing it all in a pot and calling it good.

Salves are customizable, and incredibly rewarding. Let’s dive into the essentials of making your own herbal salve and answer some of the most common questions along the way, at least, the ones I ran into!

Yes, yes, yes! The oil you choose as your base plays a huge role in the texture, absorption, and shelf life of your salve. Different oils have different properties, choosing the correct one for your salve is going to ensure that every ingredient in your medicine is working towards the same goal, instead of against.

For example: If you were making a salve for the face, you wouldn’t want to use coconut oil, since it can clog pores. Going with a jojoba oil would be better for that purpose.

That’s not even mentioning the type of herb you’re using – which might release more constituents in a particular type of oil.

When I made my first salve, I was under the impression that more herbs makes a better infusion. However, this is in fact untrue.

You can create an overpowering solution – some herbs are meant to be taken in specific doses, and creating something more potent than desired can sometimes have adverse affects.

A good rule of thumb is 1 part dried herb to 4 parts oil by weight, though this can vary.. This ratio ensures you extract enough beneficial compounds from the herbs without making the infusion too weak or too overpowering. The temptation to just throw them all in a jar and eyeball it is strong – but you must resist! I NEVER do that, no way, never ever. Haha, anyway.

You may have noticed that almost every salve recipe calls for specifically beeswax.

Beeswax is what gives an herbal salve its solid, yet spreadable consistency. In essence, it’s what makes it an herbal salve, instead of an herbal oil.

It also provides a protective barrier on the skin, locking in moisture and increasing the salve’s shelf life. Organic beeswax is of course best for this reason as well – you want as little additives or modifications as possible.

There are actually two methods – one is much faster, the other is slower, but in my opinion, better, though it really is dependent on your herb of choice. Root herbs, or bark, might benefit from the double boiler method – filling a glass jar or bowl with your oil and herbs and heating in/over a pot of water for several hours.

This is because tougher herbs require a little more “oomph” to their extraction process. If you want to learn more about this, read my post about herbal decoctions!

However, most herbs will pull in oil just fine, given enough time. I’m tempted to go off on a tangent about the difference between creams and salves and why a cream is sometimes better – but I am going to stop myself, and stay on topic.

Oil infusions, in my opinion, are often best done using the solar method, as opposed to a cool method. Place your infusion jar in a window that gets some sun (we are not trying to bake your jar, so if you’re somewhere that gets a LOT of sun like AZ, maybe not directly in the window.) and let it infuse for 6-8 weeks, shaking daily.

Okay, We’ve answered a bunch of questions now. We know which oil we want, how much herb to use, and which wax we’d like – now, let’s bring it all together.

Here’s how you’re going to make your herbal salve:

Items:

Ingredients:

1. Infuse Your Oil

2. Strain the Oil

• Use cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer to remove the plant material. Remember if it’s a finely ground herb, lay your cheesecloth over the strainer and allow it to pass through both, giving you a clean render.

• Squeeze out every last drop of herbal goodness. Press down on it with your stick spoon, to really make sure you get every bit of it. No oil goes to waste.

• If you compost, this is a good time to toss your herbs in there. If you don’t have another use for them, throw them out.

If Slow Infusing…

If you’ve chosen the slow infusion method then at this point you have your gorgeous oil, but it’s cold! Oh no!

Easy – just heat it up in the double boiler method described above. for quick infusions. The only difference is:

Hot infusions are going to mean straining herbs from hot oil and adding them back to a clean jar – you’ll just be leaving it in the jar once it comes to temperature, meaning you only need to heat the oil in the double boiler to a melting temperature.

3. Add Beeswax (or Alternative)

Okay. Your oil is now in a beautiful bowl. Pour it back into a clean jar, and place that jar in our double boiler, and get it to melting temp.

I won’t lie, I completely forgot to get a picture of this step. It’s really very simple: it would look just like the double boiler image above, just with no herbs! A clean oil, in a jar, heating in a pan with water.

• General rule of thumb is for every 1 cup of infused oil, add 1 ounce of beeswax (adjust for a softer or firmer texture to preference or if using an alternative wax.)

• Melt together over low heat until fully combined, stirring to ensure a complete amalgamation and even distribution of your wax.

This is an great question, and the answer lies in your chosen oil.

Generally, salves can last up to a year when stored in a cool, dry place, like a medicine cupboard. However your chosen oil can affect this lifespan, if it is proven to rancidity, which is pretty much our main concern with salves. We only worry bout this because salves contain no water, unlike a cream or a lotion.

Olive oil – Contains vitamin E, so it lasts longer, 2-3 years in my experience.

Coconut oil – naturally antimicrobial, 2 years.

Jojoba oil – actually not an oil at all, essentially a wax, so it lasts quite awhile, i’d say 4 years.

Sweet almond oil – 6 months to a year.

Grapeseed oil – this one will go bad quickly if not taken care of. Store salves in fridge to lengthen shelf life – 3 months to a year if refrigerated.

Sunflower oil – I use this one for a lot of salves we go through quickly – lasts 1 year.

How Can I Tell If My Salve Has Gone Bad?

Your salve is made of all natural ingredients – of course it will go bad eventually. You can tell if a salve is rancid based on its smell, texture, appearance, and age.

Smell – If your salve smells rotten, like bad oil or old flowers, it’s gone bad! Throw it out, sterilize your container with boiling water, and make a new one.

Texture – Your salve should be smooth. If the texture has grown grainy, it’s likely gone bad.

Appearance – if your salve has any growths, such as mold or fungus on it, it means moisture has gotten into it, and it is no longer good for use! That is why we specify a cool, dry place for storage, and making sure your herbs are fully dry before use.

Age – If your salve is well beyond the shelf life for its oil type, for example a grapeseed oil salve that is two years old, it is likely bad.

Yes you can! This is done by adding antioxidants – which are not preservatives, they simply slow down the oxidation of the ingredients, allowing them to stay fresher for longer. Some excellent antioxidants are vitamin E, clove oil, rosemary oil, green tea extract, and essential oils with antioxidant properties: frankincense, lavender, myrrh. Essential oils are very strong and should be added in small amounts – only a couple drops per 1 cup of oil. You won’t need much of any of these, just a little bit!

If you choose to add an antioxidant, add it in the oil before adding the beeswax so it doesn’t cling and distributes evenly.

If you are completely new to salves, starting with single herb salves is the best place to begin. You’ll want tried recipes and well-rounded herbs that can be applied to a myriad of needs.

For those of you that fall into this category (or if you just want to make one for fun) I recommend the following three recipes! You can use the exact recipe I’ve outlined above for all three of these. I’ve linked individual resources for all three, so you know where to get them. All sources are sustainably, eco-friendly companies.

Calendula Salve

Calendula is an incredibly versatile herb with a rich library of skin-soothing constituents. Good for almost everything, calendula is a great place to start.

Best Used for healing balms, diaper rashes, dry skin, or sunburn relief.

Click Here To Read About or Purchase Calendula

Plantain Salve

Plantain is an unsung hero of the herbal world. Its an excellent drawing agent for pulling out toxins, and a great skin soother and healer.

Best Used for anti-itch balm, bug bites, bee stings, rashes.

Click Here To Read About or Purchase Plantain

Arnica Salve

Arnica is my personal go-to for swelling, bruising, and just overall impact=abased pain. I’ve got a lot of unidentified bruises okay, and arnica helps.

Best Used for pain relief, post-workout rubs, bruises, sprains, swelling.

Click Here To Read About or Purchase Arnica

Making herbal salves is one of the easiest and most satisfying ways to incorporate herbalism into your everyday life. Once you get the basics down, you can start customizing with essential oils, antioxidants, or different herbal combinations to create the perfect salve for your needs.

Got a favorite herbal blend for salves? Let me know in the comments! ~