How to Make Herb Infused Tallow Salve

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Learning how to make herb infused tallow salve gives you a powerful natural ointment to keep in your holistic first aid kit!

How to make herb infused tallow salve

Cuts and scrapes seem to be a normal part of life. Little kids are always getting small injuries. Gardening, taking care of chickens and just doing outdoor work in general are opportunities where minor wounds can happen.

It’s important to take care of even little cuts and scrapes right away, because leaving them can lead to infections or just slower healing.

Rather than reaching for a triple antibiotic ointment or something similar, it’s great to have this herb infused tallow salve on hand.  It’s easy to make, and works so well. Next time you have a bug bite or skin rash, give this salve a try. It’s great for soothing irritations and mosquito bites.

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A perfect first aid ointment

Since it is so shelf stable, and fits nicely inside a metal tin, this herb infused salve is super easy to keep grab for use at home, or carry with you on the go. Stash one inside your purse or diaper bag. Keep one in the car first aid kit. If you’re going camping, definitely don’t leave your healing salve behind! You never know when little injuries will strike, so be prepared and keep this herb infused salve around at all times.

Baby salve

I’ve discovered that this herb infused tallow salve is amazing for certain diaper rashes. The antimicrobial properties of both the tallow and the herbs help to rapidly soothe and heal rashes that come from a food that was acidic or didn’t agree with baby. I always keep a tin in my diaper changing supply basket. And, it’s perfectly cloth diaper safe.

The ingredients

Tallow by itself has incredible skin healing properties. It contains so many wonderful nutrients that soothe and rebuild skin, as well as being anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial. Read more about tallow balm here.

Add to that some beautiful, skin healing herbs, and you have an extremely effective first aid ointment.

Beeswax provides a bit of stiffness and more solid consistency. When I make this salve, I use tallow balm, rather than pure tallow, because that’s what I normally have on hand. This just means that a little bit of olive oil has been added to the tallow to make it easier to spread as a balm. If you follow the recipe using pure tallow, just leave the beeswax out.

The skin healing herbs

You can definitely use a variety of herbs, or just a single one. My favorite herbs to use in this salve are comfrey, plantain, calendula, and chickweed, since they are superheroes when it comes to healing and soothing skin. Let’s take a quick look at what each of these herbs do:

Comfrey

• Has been used for centuries for wound and even bone healing
• Eases tense muscles
• Soothes bruises, sprains and swelling
• Promotes rapid healing of shallow skin injuries and burns
• Contains a compound called allantoin, which supports the creation of new skin tissue, blood vessels and cell formation

Plantain

• Has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties
• Has traditionally been used for healing snake and insect bites
• Relieves itching and pain associated with wounds, rashes and insect bites
• Promotes recovery from skin wounds

Calendula

• Is a powerful antioxidant
• Is one the strongest antiviral herbs
• Has extremely strong anti-inflammatory properties
• Helps to speed wound healing
• Has powerful antimicrobial properties

Chickweed

• Is extremely gentle, while still very healing
• Contains saponins, which cools and soothe skin
• Great for calming rashes, bug bites, and itchy skin

The infusion process

For this herb infused salve, I let the leaves and flowers sit in some gently heated tallow for quite a while. This allows the properties from the herbs to come out of the leaves and flowers, and causes the tallow to become rich with healing compounds. It’s best to let the herbs sit in the tallow as long as you can. Once the infusion has been completed, I strain out the herbs, and  the tallow now has a greenish hue. The green color is from the properties of the herbs that are now in the tallow.

How to make herb infused tallow salve instructions

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups grass fed tallow balm
• 1/4 cup dried comfrey leaf
• 1/4 cup dried plantain leaf
• 1/4 cup dried calendula flowers
• 1/4 cup dried chickweed leaf
• 2 tbsp beeswax

Directions:

1. Melt tallow balm over a gentle heat until it is liquid.
2. Pour needed amount of tallow balm into a quart mason jar.
3. Add dried herbs to liquid tallow balm and stir to incorporate well.
4. Create a double boiler by placing the mason jar on a cloth inside a saucepan with water.
5. Heat the water until it comes to a low simmer.
6. Let the mason jar full of tallow balm and herbs sit in the simmering water for at least 3-4 hours, but much longer is better. I often let mine go 12 hours. Just keep an eye on it and replace water in the pan as it evaporates.
7. Strain herbs out of tallow balm using a metal strainer lined with cheesecloth.
8. Put the jar of herb infused tallow balm back into the double boiler, and return it to the gentle simmer.
9. Add the beeswax to the herb infused tallow balm.
10. Once beeswax is melted, stir to combine well.
11. Pour hot mixture into tins or jars to store.
12. Allow tins to sit until salve is solid.
13. Put lids on containers and store in a cool, dark place.

More grass fed tallow recipes

How to Render Tallow with the Easy Crockpot Method

How to Make Tallow Balm

Tallow soap 

Tallow shampoo bars

Do you have any favorite natural first aid items?

Have you ever made any healing salves or ointments before? Which herbs are your favorites?

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Grass fed beef tallow

Olive oil, organic

Beeswax, organic

Comfrey, organic

Plantain, organic

Calendula, organic

Chickweed, organic

1 oz. metal tins

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Yield: 10 1 oz. tins

Herb Infused Tallow Salve

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Learning How to Make Herb Infused Tallow Salve gives you a powerful natural ointment to keep in your holistic first aid kit!

Prep Time 20 minutes

4 hours

Total Time 4 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cup Grass fed tallow balm
• 1/4 cup Dried comfrey leaf
• 1/4 cup Dried plantain leaf
• 1/4 cup Dried calendula flowers
• 1/4 cup Dried chickweed leaf
• 2 tbsp Beeswax

Instructions

1. Melt tallow balm over a gentle heat until it is liquid.
2. Pour needed amount of tallow balm into a quart mason jar.
3. Add dried herbs to liquid tallow balm and stir to incorporate well.
4. Create a double boiler by placing the mason jar on a cloth inside a saucepan with water.
5. Heat the water until it comes to a low simmer.
6. Let the mason jar full of tallow balm and herbs sit in the simmering water for at least 3-4 hours, but much longer is better. I often let mine go 12 hours. Just keep an eye on it and replace water in the pan as it evaporates.
7. Strain herbs out of tallow balm using a metal strainer lined with cheesecloth.
8. Put the jar of herb infused tallow balm back into the double boiler, and return it to the gentle simmer.
9. Add the beeswax to the herb infused tallow balm.
10. Once beeswax is melted, stir to combine well.
11. Pour hot mixture into tins or jars to store.
12. Allow tins to sit until salve is solid.
13. Put lids on containers and store in a cool, dark place.