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I make a small batch of salves every year. Just enough for our own use and a few refills for family members who’ve started asking for them. The healing salve goes fastest, followed closely by the drawing salve which earns its place every winter when we’re handling firewood without gloves.
Making your own healing salves is simpler than most people expect. The basic process is the same across almost all of them: infuse herbs into oil, melt in a little beeswax, pour and cool. Once you’ve made one you can make any of them.
Here are the salves and balms I make and reach for most in our house.
What is a Healing Salve?
A salve is a simple preparation of herb-infused oil and beeswax. The oil carries the medicinal properties of the herbs and the beeswax gives it a solid, spreadable consistency. Balms are made the same way — simply with a slightly different oil to beeswax ratio that results in a softer, lighter texture.
Both are easy to make at home with basic equipment — a double boiler, a strainer, and a few small tins or jars to pour them into.
The Basics
Before you start it helps to understand the simple process that underlies all of these recipes:
Infuse your herbs into oil first — either by warming gently in a double boiler for 30 minutes or by letting the herbs steep in oil in a sunny window for 2 to 4 weeks. Strain the herbs from the oil completely before proceeding.
Add beeswax to the infused oil and melt together over low heat. The more beeswax you use the firmer the final salve — less beeswax gives a softer, more balm-like consistency.
Pour into tins or small jars while still liquid and let harden completely before sealing. Label with the contents and date.
All salves and balms can go rancid — use them up within a year and store away from direct heat and sunlight.
Recipes to Try
Everyday Healing
Healing Salve: This is the one I make most and the one family members ask for refills of. A good all-purpose healing salve belongs in every home medicine cabinet — useful for minor cuts, dry skin, chapped lips, and everyday scrapes.
Calendula Salve: Calendula is one of the most gentle and effective skin healing herbs there is. This salve is ideal for sensitive skin, minor irritations, and anywhere that needs a little extra care.
Calendula Cocoa Butter Balm: A softer, lighter version of the calendula salve with the added richness of cocoa butter. Lovely for dry hands and skin care.
Drawing & Wound Care
Drawing Salve: This is the one I reach for when tweezers aren’t enough — splinters, slivers, and stubborn bits from yard work and firewood handling. Comfrey, plantain, activated charcoal, and kaolin clay do the convincing
Dandelion Salve: Made from dandelion infused oil this salve is soothing for sore muscles, dry skin, and everyday aches. A good reason to make dandelion oil every spring when the flowers are at their peak.
Skin Care & Soothing
Dry Itchy Skin Balm: When skin is persistently dry or irritated this balm provides gentle, lasting relief. Simple ingredients, straightforward to make.
Red Clover Salve: Red clover has a long history of use for skin conditions like eczema and psoriasis. This salve makes good use of that gentle medicinal quality in an easy to apply form.
Grooming
Aftershave Balm: A soothing, simple balm that calms skin after shaving. Makes a thoughtful handmade gift for the men in your life.
Once you’ve made one of these you’ll find the process becomes second nature. A few hours once or twice a year is enough to stock a small home medicine cabinet with something genuinely useful — made from herbs you’ve grown or foraged yourself.
If you love this kind of simple seasonal home herbalism The Seasonal Whisper might be just your thing — a quarterly letter by mail with recipes, herbal projects, and simple living encouragement delivered near the start of each season.
I have made and used the calendula salve and found it to be a great healing aide, for minor cuts, for scrapes, for bruises, for sunburns. I love the additional recipes. Thanks!
I’ve been making bee balm for about 17 years now….I use lots more ingredients but found that rice bran oil works better than most oils since it has a natural vitamin E in it and doesn’t oxidize. The oxidation (down the road) is what eventually ruins the bee balm. I buy it online by the gallon from California Rice Bran Oil Company…..Actually the oil doesn’t come from California which may be a good thing since the rice fields have had too many pesticides used on them and our rice comes up with arsenic in it!! I know, not good….But I believe this company’s oil comes from Thailand where they don’t use the pesticides. It’s a great cooking oil too for high temperatures!!
Do you use the flowers and the leaves. Or simply the leaves. I have it dried. What is it good for?
Are you talking about the Bee balm plant (Monarda)? Or a balm for bee stings? If using Monarda (bee balm) do you use the flower, leaf or stems?
I am surprised she uses chickweed leave dried. I though it loses it medicinal value when it is dried.
Chickweed leaves are super moist. You’ll need to at least wilt them before adding them to the oil, or you risk introducing moisture that could ruin your salve.
There’s different schools of thought on whether to use chickweed fresh or dried so feel free to follow your own plan.
Since this is salve making in a day — rather than using premade infused oils, the salve is less likely to spoil if you use dried chickweed leaves.
If I was making an infused oil for later use, I’d wilt the freshly harvested leaves overnight on a towel, and then infuse the oil, at room temperature, for long term storage.
Made chickweed salve last year and gave it to friends works great for shingles !!!! My hubby gave several jars to friends who had them God designed and created the leaves of the fields for our healing !!!!
Would love to see pictures of each of these plants. Neat article.
Can you use essential oils in the place of the fresh herb in your recipe?
This is fantastic! Being new to some of these plants, I would have loved pictures to go with the descriptions. Eager for your Beeswax Workshop book! thanks!
Is there another option than Beeswax? Allergic to bees :-/
Jackie, if you are allergic to bees, it is a bee sting allergy…meaning you have an allergy to the bee sting venom…which is not in beeswax or in honey…it is possible to be allergic to honey or beeswax, but only if you have a pollen allergy…if you only have a bee sting allergy, then you probably would have no problem using beeswax…
Jackie, I use coconut oil when I make magnesium butter, as I am also bee sensitive. It is not the same texture & in my climent it gets hard in cold weather and very soft in hot weather. Hope this helps.
Made a salve using plantain, lemon balm, chamomile, lavender and lemon thyme. Used a combination of olive and coconut oils with beeswax. Added lavender essential oil. Works for bites, cuts , rashes. Eases redness. Thanks for the inspiration.
I just finished reading your “Make 5 Healing Salves This Afternoon” and I’m going to get Bees Wax this weekend and make Salves!
Thank you for your inspiration!?
But where are these beautiful molds from?
What if you do not have any of these plants in your yard?
You can buy dried versions online and most likely in local health food shops.
@Mountainroseherbs
I make most of those salves or similar, but other than plantain, birch, and dandelion, none of that grows near me (there is cotton wood, but most everyone I know cuts it down or it’s in a spot unsafe to access) so I buy the herbs. Everyone loves the ones I make.
Love this article and your blog. So happy to get the links to all your books here. Have made a few meds and remedies as well as extracts and infusions. I love that unlike many I have seen online you dont use a ton of ingredients. I believe the active ingredients should be boosted, or they just kind of get overwhelmed. Also the smell of many is just way too overpowered in my opinion. One note I just wanted to make for those who may not be aware… all beeswax is not made alike. What I mean is recently I made a trip to Michaels to get some and there were only 2 choices. One was a 1 oz block and the other were the tiny bits called respules I believe. The thing was neither said 100% pure natural beeswax. The bar had a more dull yellow color and the respules were a very bright fresh buttery yellow. Finally I smelled the packages. OMG… the respules were very fragrant of fresh honey. Yes, it was so scentfull that it came thru the package. :) Cant wait for my own bees to give me wax!!! Namaste ;)
Thank you for sharing and inspiration.
I am so anxious to make my own salve.
Thank you
Hi!
Can’t wait to try these out!
I am allergic to bee products (beeswax & honey). What can I substitute for the beeswax?
Thanks!
There are types of vegan wax but I haven’t tried them.
@Amanda, cocoa butter would work as a substitute for beeswax, or shea butter. Any hard plant fat would work. If it is not as hard as beeseax you just use more to get the final set you like. You could even just use coconut oil instead of both olive oil and beeswax, if you either live in aclimate where coconut oil is soild, or if you kept it in the fridge.
I believe in natural remedies. I know that they are wonderful for healing as I was taught by my grandmother & her siblings & their spouses. Thank you for your help.