Making an herbal salve is very easy and inexpensive. Depending on what you want the salve to do the ingredients can be as involved or as simple as you need it to be. A salve provides healing and protection from bacteria. It is not absorbed as fast or easily as some preparations. It is a wound dressing that is applied as needed. You will need to research the herbs to see what they lend to healing or if they will effect your personal health as well. There are some herbs that are pretty common in salves and are easy to find and work with too.
First you will need containers to hold your finished product. I use small glass jars or tins. The tins can be bought at the craft store, ordered online or repurposed. The small jars can be from previous salves, spices, small baby food jars, four ounce canning jars or pimento jars. I'm sure there are many others as well but these are ones I have used. Clean and sterilize your jars before filling them. Paint the lids if you like and want to cover the writing on repurposed jars.
Now some of the herbs that I have used in salves are chickweed, comfrey, plaintain, calendula, yarrow, goldenrod, geranium, self heal, speedwell, white oak bark, poplar buds, oregano, thyme, red clover, mint, burdock, fig leaves, peach leaves, mullein and cranesbill. There are others but this list gives plenty to choose from and everybody should be able to acquire something that they want to try.
After I gather fresh herbs its a good idea to let them wilt a bit so that some of the moisture is removed and not incorporated into your oil. Then chop them and add them to a glass quart jar with a lid about 2/3 full for fresh and 1/3 for dried. You can combine herbs to make that amount. Lets say you want chickweed and plaintain salve. You would use half of each. Choose the oil that you will use to infuse your herbs. I have used olive, almond and pumpkin seed oil as they are all good for the skin. You can use any type of good quality oil but if you are making a good quality salve why not choose the best. Some people may want to use coconut oil which is fine but not my personal preference. WTSHTF you will have to use whatever oil you have available including lard or other animal fats. Hard oils like coconut or lard have to be infused on the stove by heating the oils and adding the herbs in a double boiler for several hours being careful not to let them get too hot or scorch. Woody herbs and barks have to be done the same way. Either way, I heat my oil but some people don't. I put it in a small pot and warm it up being careful not to make it too hot. You're not frying anything. You just want the oil warm. Pour the oil over the herbs leaving an inch head space. Put the lid on tightly and shake the jar. Place it in a sunny window or warm spot and shake it daily for two weeks.
After two weeks your oil should be infused with the herb's oils. Strain the herbs from the oils through a fine cloth. Squeeze as much oils from the herbs as you can and discard the herbs. Sometimes I leave the very tiniest flecks of herbs in the oil as long as they aren't scratchy herbs. It looks pretty and there may still be a tiny benefit left in the herb. If you want an herbal oil you can label and bottle the oil and use it as is. It will be easily absorbed into the skin. You can bottle some and make some into salve. I usually stir in a bit of honey for the medicinal benefits and add some vitamin e oil to help preserve it.
Now to make your salve you will take your infused oil and warm it in a pot. if you have one with a spout for pouring that will be helpful. When it is warm you need to add wax which will harden the oils and make the salve. Add wax a teaspoon at a time until it reaches the desired consistency. When you insert a cool spoon and it begins to harden on the back then you know you have enough wax. Warmer climates will need more wax then cooler climates. You don't want your salve to be loose in your container but you don't want it too hard and brittle to spread either. You won't need alot of wax at all. I usually use beeswax which I buy or bayberry wax which I harvest. Beeswax is easy to find especially if you have a local beekeeper. You can buy it at a health food store or order it online.
When your wax is melted into the oils then remove it from the heat. I stir in a bit of honey and vitamin e oil as above at this time but you don't have to if you don't have it or want it in there. You can now pour the warm mixture into your jars or tins. Fill tins completely full but leave space in jars. Allow the salves to cool and harden before adding the lids. You may need to top off tins if you see an indention when it cools. Just rewarm whatever is still In the pot and top it off. They are ready to use as soon as they are done. Always label your salves and oils with every ingredient because you may forget what you have if you make several kinds. You can not sell healing salves or make medicinal claims without going through the proper government agencies. Anything either cosmetic or medicinal is not allowed to be sold as such without doing it legally. You can certainly use them on yourself and share them with others without medicinal claims.
See how easy it is? You can make lip salves, skin salves and oils all without special equipment and very little expense. There is no need to buy expensive salves which are mostly petroleum based. You can make your own with common weeds plus oil and wax.
Southern Wood Elf