Are you trying to live a more natural lifestyle and replace the contents of your medicine cabinet with more natural alternatives? Learn how to make an herbal healing salve with calendula, lavender, and other herbs!

Triple antibiotic ointment is a staple in many household medicine cabinets. It’s our go-to for cuts and wounds to help protect them and speed up healing.

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But did you ever stop to wonder if that was really the best thing to be putting on your skin every time you had an injury?

Instead of reaching for the antibiotic ointment, choose a more natural alternative- a healing salve!

This salve is full of herbs, essential oils, and other skin protectors that can put on your cuts, scrapes, rashes, and other wounds or skin ailments to promote healing.

It’s easy to make, and gentle but effective.

 

dried calendula and lavender for salve

 

Healing Herbs to Include in Your Salve

 

Calendula:

Calendula is an amazing flower and medicinal herb.

This is the number one herb to include in any healing salve. It can be used as the ONLY herb in this salve if you wish.

Read more about all the benefits of calendula and it’s healing properties.

 

Lavender:

Lavender is probably one of the most common and easily recognized herbs around.

Lavender also has a ton of benefits for the skin including anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties that help promote healthy skin and the healing of wounds.

 

Comfrey:

Comfrey is an herb that grows all over and has been used in medicinal preparations all over the world.

It has properties that promote the growth of new skin cells and relieve inflammation and pain.

 

Plantain:

Plantain is often called a “weed” and is found in yards and even sidewalk cracks all over the US.

However, plantain isn’t a weed, but a very useful herb!

Plantain leaves contain anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, and antioxidant properties that make it great for the skin and healing! It’s also great for itches- and I put it in my Poison Ivy Salve as well.

 

how to make herbal healing salve

 

How to Make Your Own Herbal Healing Salve

 

Prepare Your  Herbs:

You need to start with dried herbs. To make the recipe below you need about 1-2 cups total herbs.

I’d say that 75% of that is calendula, 15% lavender, and the rest comfrey and plantain.

You can make this salve with JUST calendula- but adding in the extra herbs can really boost the healing ability!

For the healing salve recipe below you will need herb infused coconut oil and herb infused almond or olive oil.

You can follow these instructions for making calendula infused oil. But instead of straight calendula, fill your jar about 1/2 way with calendula, add a couple tablespoons of dried lavender, and maybe a tablespoon each of plantain and comfrey. 

It’s not an exact science, so don’t stress about the exact amounts. You can use either the solar or quick method.

If you happen to have infused oil on hand already- go ahead and skip to making the salve.

 

herb infused oils and beeswax melting in a double boiler

 

Healing Salve Recipe:

1/2 cup herb infused coconut oil

1/2 cup herb infused almond (or olive) oil

1/8-1/4 cup beeswax (I use pastilles)

Lavender Essential Oil- 10 drops

Tea Tree Essential Oil- 5 drops

Frankincense Essential Oil- 5 drops

Helichrysum Essential Oil- 5 drops

1/2 tsp Vitamin E oil– optional

 

2 containers of healing salve open infront of dried calendula

 

Place your infused oils together in a double boiler, or in a jar set in a pan of simmering water set at medium heat. 

Add 1/8-1/4 cup of beeswax. The amount you use will depend on how hard you want the finished salve to b.

Allow the oils and wax to heat, stirring occasionally, until the beeswax has completely melted.

Remove the jar from the water and wipe the condensation and water from the sides of the jar to prevent water from dripping in the finished salve.

Add in the Vitamin E oil, if using and add the essential oils.

If you don’t have all of the essential oils listed, that’s okay.

Stir the salve to fully incorporate the essential oils.

Immediately pour into tins, tubs, or small half pint jars.This should make 2- 4oz containers of healing salve (or equivalent)

Allow to cool completely before placing lids on your salve.

Use it on cuts, scrapes, rashes, splinters, eczema, and more!

 

 

Healing Salve FAQ

How long does this healing salve keep?

I’d say it will last about a year. Keep it in a cool location, out of direct sunlight for the best shelf life. If you open the salve and it smells off or like the oil is rancid, toss it and make a new batch.

 

I have plain infused oils, can I combine them?

If you happen to have calendula oil, lavender oil, comfrey oil, etc. on hand instead of all the herbs infused TOGETHER that’s fine. Just combine them at the approximate ratio I mentioned above to get the 1/2 cup of coconut and almond oil.

ie. start 1/3 cup calendula infused coconut, add in 1/8 cup lavender oil, and then top off with comfrey and/or plantain oil.

 

Where can I get the herbs?

I highly recommend you grow them yourself, but if you can’t the Bulk Herb Store or Mountain Rose Herbs has a good selection.

Plantain can be found wild almost everywhere and calendula is REALLY easy to grow from seed.

 

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