Why make plantain salve?
Plantain salve is sold online or at boutique stores, but a small container of the healing salve will cost at least $20. If you're not willing to shell out that much money, knowing how to make your own plantain salve is a cheaper alternative.
Broadleaf plantain (Plantago major) is considered a weed, but this plant offers many health benefits. But before you haphazardly pick leaves in your garden, you need to learn how to identify plantain leaves.
Plantain has wide, glossy leaves with almost parallel venation. The leaves grow in a rosette or a circular arrangement.
The plant has green flower spikes that produce a lot of seeds in the summer. The presence of broadleaf plantain suggests that the surrounding soil is very damp and compacted.
When harvesting plantain leaves, stick to your own garden. It's better to avoid polluted areas or spots that may have been sprayed with herbicides. (Related: 5 Medicinal plants that you need in your home garden.)
How to use plantain salve
Plantain salve is commonly used to ease skin conditions and draw out splinters.
Below are some of the other uses and benefits of plantain salve:
- It soothes pain, prevents infection and promotes healing of dry and cracked skin.
- It promotes faster healing when applied to minor burns and cuts.
- It helps reduce swelling and soreness in bruised areas.
- It helps reduce inflammation.
- It can relieve swelling, itching and minor pain from insect stings and bites.
- It reduces itching and the swelling of bumps, as well as facilitates healing when applied to poison ivy, sumac and oak rash.
Plantain salve can also be used as an active ingredient base. Combine plantain with eucalyptus or other herbs and essential oils and rub the final product onto your chest to break up mucus and ease cough.
You can also combine plantain with yarrow for a natural remedy that works best on dry, cracked skin and rashes.
Plantain salve recipe
You will need a double boiler or a coffee pot and a medium-sized pot to make plantain salve in your kitchen. The recipe below makes at least one quart of plantain salve.
Ingredients:
- 1 Cup of plantain leaves
- 1 Tablespoon of carrier oil (e.g., olive oil)
- 1 Tablespoon of beeswax
- 3 Drops of lavender essential oil
- 2 Drops of tea tree oil (optional)
- 2 Drops of vitamin E (optional)
Preparation:
- Make an herbal infusion oil using a carrier oil and fresh plantain leaves. Olive oil is often used as a carrier oil for herbal salves because it significantly extends the shelf life of the final product.
- Use a double boiler to melt the beeswax. If you don't have a double boiler, use a coffee cup and heat it in a pot with several inches of water.
- Remove the pot from the stove, then stir in five parts of the plantain-infused oil.
- Mix well to thoroughly combine the infused herbal oil and the melted beeswax.
- Add three drops of lavender essential oil, then stir again to combine the ingredients. The vitamin E and tea tree oil are optional, but adding them helps enhance the skin healing properties of the salve.
- Pour the salve into containers, then seal with a firm-fitting lid.
- Label the container. Include the ingredients used and the date.
- If you used fresh plantain leaves, add a couple of drops of grape seed extract. This ingredient is needed for home remedies that contain some fluid, like plantain leaves.
Make a batch of plantain salve to naturally relieve painful burns and insect bites.
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