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The Basics:
How to make medicinal oils, ointments and creams!
Some of this you will discover more in-depth as you read the pages on herbs, oils and ointments as there is more than one way to do this as you will see.
The purpose of this section is to give you a basic step by step guide from infusing your oil, to making ointments and finally creams. This will take some trial and error and can get very messy!!! You will need to have a look at the different sections in herbs and oils to make an informed decision when it comes to making these for physical use rather than magickal use those the same rules apply when it comes to your safety.
Before I start with this, I should first advise you on the
following:
1)Look herbs up before using any of them to see if there are any
contra-indications for a person especially if making them for someone else such
as pregnancy or age factor or underlying medical conditions such as liver or
kidney disorders. Please check if there is a possibility of allergic reaction, ie
do not use Chamomile if you have a ragweed allergy. The active chemicals in the
herbs and oils are absorbed very effectively through your skin and into your
system!
2) Do check whether certain herbs not mix or will they effect prescribed
medication. This is important as herbs can potentiate some drugs such as
cardiac, antidepressant or diabetic medications or cause light sensitive
reactions in some people.
3)No responsibility for what is posted will be accepted if someone tries the
recipes or mixes without checking and has a nasty reaction. This may seem like
overkill but in this day and age it is a sad reality
4) If you already know all this then sorry to bore you!!!!
Boring stuff out the way! The next thing you need to consider is whether you
want to use raw material or essential oils in your mixtures. Essential oils such
a Rose and Jasmine are very expensive so a mistake is costly where as with raw
material although you can make a lot more for less but you need to make sure
that there is no mould and they are not old stock. Most herbs loose there
volatile oils if not kept sealed and also after a year they will be pretty weak
so use a supplier who won't sell you old stock or your own fresh or dried.
Depending on what strength you want the usual quantities given are half the
amount of dried herb to fresh given in a recipe though you can play with this.
The next thing to consider is the base oil you want to use.
This
page
will give you a description of all the oils that you might want to use though
you need to consider nut allergies when choosing your oils and underlying
conditions with oils such as St Johns Wort. The other consideration is whether
you want to use mineral or vegetable oil. There are many debates about this and
the closest I have got for not using petroleum products such as white petroleum
jelly if that it doesn't get absorbed into the body though the herbal oils do.
Thus the base oil forms a barrier. I have not been given any reason other than
this or that it is a mineral product (though mainly carbon) for not using it. If
you want to discuss this aspect then maybe Wilder would like to start a
discussion on it rather than in this thread.
The next step is due you want to infuse an oil with the herbs by slow infusion
so you don't lose any of the volatile oils or do you want to make your cream
sooner. It takes about 6 weeks to do the slow infusion method.
I use both methods depending on the amount of raw material I have.
Slow infusion:
Pick your herb in the morning after the due is gone and shake all excess dirt
etc off. It is better not to wash your herb as this can lead to mould and will
turn the oil rancid but if you have to then allow to dry in warm, dark place.
Bruise and chop up your herb and loosely place it into a kilner jar until it is
nearly full. Pour in your chosen base oil until it reaches the top.. nearly
overflowing as you don't want air in the jar. Seal and tap the jar until you are
satisfied that all the air bubbles have gone to the top. You won't get them all
in one go and a small amount won't hurt. Top up to the brim again and seal.
Place on a sunny window. Tap/shake daily and top up with oil as required. After
6 weeks your oil is ready to strain of the herb to leave the infused oil which
should be bottled in sterile containers and kept in a cool dark place. As long
as there is no raw material left in it, it should keep for 2 years minimum.
The alternate method I use is to take 50g of herb and add it to warmed oil
200ml. This can either be a vegetable/fruit oil of your choice or melted
petroleum jelly (200g). Bring to a simmer over a LOW heat and infuse for 15 - 20
minutes making sure that you don't burn the oil or herb. Also, if you heat it
too high all the volatile oils will evaporate. Strain through a sieve or muslin
bag (I use the jam bags as it doesn't soak up as much of the oil as thick muslin
and you can squeeze out all the oil where as sieving you can loose up to half
the oil as those herbs do not want to give them up especially if using dried
herbs though make sure you don't burn yourself). You can either use this
straight away to make your ointments or creams or bottle it for later use. If
you use petroleum jelly then this makes an instant salve that needs nothing else
adding to it.
There are many other ways of doing this but these are the ones I have found
easiest.
The next stage is the ointment base. To me this is a semisolid
state rather than cream texture. This will last a lot longer than creams as it
does not have an aqueous base.
For an ointment, you need to add beeswax to solidify the oil. The normal
suggested ratio is 20% beeswax to the amount of oil you are using. This still
makes a fairly solid mix though it does melt easily with body heat. Play with
the amounts until you find the hardness you want. For a very soft mix you would
only use 5% beeswax.
To make the ointment gently heat your chosen oil over a low heat but do not
allow it to simmer. Add your beeswax and stir often until the beeswax has melted
and then pour straight away into sterile jars and seal. Store the jars you
aren't using in a dark place. I keep the ones I'm using out but because they are
in dark jars this keeps the light out and so doesn't degenerate the active
ingredients.
Essential oils and ointments
If you are planning on using essential oils rather than raw herbs, the ratio is
50 drops to every 100mls of base. You would choose your carrier oil and melt the
beeswax over a low heat and then add the essential oils. Mix well. This is
another reason why you do not use a high heat for melting the oils as you would
soon evaporate them and end up with zilch as far as the properties for the oils
goes. Jar and store as above.
With any ointments, it is suggested that you patch test it on the inner part of
your forearm before using more to test for any reaction.
Finally, making the cream!
With the Ointment, you have made the base for a cream.
However, the amounts required to make a cream a different.
You will need:
1cup of your oil (either plain or infused)
1cup of shaved beeswax
! cup of distilled water
Essential oils if you are going to use them though on the ration of 50 drops to
100mls of cream.
over a low heat melt the beeswax and oil. At the same time heat your water until
it is finger warm. When the beeswax is melted, allow to cool until it is finger
warm. You will notice a haze form across the mix when it is about this
temperature and is safe to stick your finger in.
Pour the water into a blender and start it at a medium speed. Slowly add the
oil/wax mixture, allowing each addition to blend before adding more. You may
have to scrape down the sides as the oil mix cools to the sides. You may also
have to increase the speed as it gets thicker. If you are using essential oils
slowly add them as you add the oil mix. Ensure that all the water and oil has
mixed and there is no water left at the bottom as if it isn't mixed then your
cream will separate and go rancid a lot quicker when you have jar'd it. You will
have to scoop most of the cream out into your prepared pots.
You will find that different oils blends differently and sometimes you may need
more oil to water mix. You will find this out when you play with it so only make
small amounts up at a time.
Store in a cool place, even the fridge if you want it to keep for a while.
You can also add vitamin E to help to prevent it from oxidizing and so increase
the shelf life. Vitamin E does not stop microbes though so if you develop mold
or it smells odd after a while, discard it!!!!
Also, don't use metal saucepans as you may get aluminium or other metals in your
mix. Use either glass or enamel pans when making any mixture.
And that is the basics of making infused oils, ointments and creams!
Enjoy!!
Cheyun!!
