Yarrow salve is really simple to prepare at home and has a wealth of therapeutic and healing properties. Yarrow has been used for centuries to help stop bleeding and is applied topically to treat wounds and skin irritation.
Yarrow is a wonderfully fragrant flower with equally as beautiful leaves. It's traditionally used for repelling mosquitoes and other bugs, so you'll often find it planted in backyards or parks. Yarrow has been around for centuries and is used in many ways- from food to medicine. This yarrow salve is just one of the ways we put it to use.
Benefits of Yarrow Salve
Things You Need to Make Yarrow Salve
How to Make Yarrow Salve
Benefits of Yarrow Salve
Yarrow is applied as a topical ointment and is typically used to treat minor topical injuries. It's often combined with other topically healing herbs like lavender and lemon balm.
The benefits and uses for yarrow go back way further than we could have ever imagined. They were first mentioned over 25 centuries ago by the Chinese as a cure for inflammation, bleeding, and animal bites.
Yarrow is best used as a topical treatment, with flowers applied inside the body for internal issues like fever or upset stomach. Specifically, yarrow leaves have powerful anti-inflammatory, anti-itching, and blood-coagulating properties.
Yarrow is good to bring for camping because it can help protect against UV rays and colds. You can make a simple poultice from chewing leaves and placing them directly on a burn, mosquito bite, or cut for fast relief.
Yarrow can seal wounds much quicker than alcohol, which makes it a great alternative for cuts and small scrapes. However, this salve should not be used on deep gashes or puncture wounds. More serious injuries should be left to a doctor or ER.
If you have a plant allergy in the Asteraceae family, like daisies, ragweed, or marigolds, then you should avoid yarrow.
Things You Need to Make Yarrow Salve
Making your own herbal salves doesn't take a lot of special equipment so combining that aspect with the availability of all the ingredients needed makes it an excellent option for people who want to make their own products.
Heatproof bowl and a small pot for double boiler
Herbs are typically blended with a neutral oil to create a soothing oil bath. Some oils you could try are olive, grape seed, almond, coconut, or jojoba.
Beeswax thickens the salve and can prevent it from melting quickly. Using it will also make your salve last longer than usual.
Containers for the finished salve.
How to Make Yarrow Salve
It's easier than you might think to make your own yarrow salve. The active prep time is only 30 minutes.
There are two methods for infusing herbs into oil: rapid, and slow.
When storing fresh herbs in oil, make sure to use the rapid infusion method. If you consistently store them in oil for long periods of time, they can eventually release water into the oil and cause it to go rancid.
The slow infusion method can be used for dried herbs. This process involves storing the jars in a cool, dry location out of direct sunlight for 3 to 6 weeks.
This salve uses the green leaves of the yarrow plant. You can use the leftover flowers for a soothing hot tea for cold and flu.
Densely fill half a liter of the jar with yarrow leaves. Finely chop the yarrow leaves. Pour oil into the jar to cover the chopped leaves. Leave the jar open and place it into a double boiler filled with about 2-3 cm of water. Slowly warm the water up to 45-50 degrees. Gently heat the oil but do not let it boil. Overheating will cause the substances to lose their healing properties and medicinal potency.
Leaves should infuse in oil for a total of 24-48 hours at 45-50 degrees celsius. This can be done by warming up the water every few hours to maintain an optimal temperature.
Once you have infused your oil, you can either make it into a balm or a tincture. Once you divide the plant material (leaves) out, carefully pour them into another heatproof bowl and set it over simmering water in a small pot (no more than 2 cups). Add 1 tablespoon of beeswax to the mixture while stirring until it is blended and liquid.
Pour the yarrow salve into small tins or jars and let it sit for 30 minutes. Use it within a year for bee stings, minor cuts, burns, and rashes.
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