DIY Black Drawing Salve

When I was a kid my mom had a small tin of what she called “Black Salve.” It was our everything. It went on every band-aid and every wound. I remember her getting so sad when it ran out and so excited to get a new one. It seemed very precious. I recently found a recipe for “Black Drawing Salve” on Bumblebee Apocathary and realized it was similar to the same little pot of wonders from my childhood. Since I had already made my Calendula Salve, I tweaked the recipe to mirror that. I am so excited to have this little pot of Black Drawing Salve in my cabinet!

The Healing Properties

I started by researching the herb plantain. I love how many ways God has given us to heal our bodies. The plantain leaf is a common growing weed and is known for its anti-inflammatory nature. It can also draw out small foreign objects from the skin. Hence the name, Black Drawing Salve. Since I am not a gardener and I wasn’t confident in my foraging abilities, I ordered mine from Mountain Rose Herbs. You can probably find some in your yard. Let me know if you do!

Next, I researched bentonite clay. Bentonite clay is a mud-like substance derived from filtered volcanic ash. It has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. It contains calcium, iron, copper, and zinc. In the personal care industry, it can be used as a face mask. It may also be used to treat rashes and acne.

Activated charcoal is a staple in many natural medicine cabinets. With good reason! It is wonderful for absorbing toxins when taken orally; that’s why it’s used in water filtration systems.

To make the Black Drawing Salve you will need beeswax, activated charcoal, bentonite clay, and plantain-infused olive oil.

It All Begins with Oil

Start by infusing the healing properties of plantain into the olive oil. This is done in two different ways. One way is long, the other short. I put 1 cup of the plantain leaf in a jar (I made two) and covered it with 1 cup of organic olive oil. Then I put the jars into my crockpot. After this, I added enough water to the crockpot, not the jars, to be level with the oil inside the jars. I then put the lid on, set it to high and let them steep for a couple of hours. The other way to make the infused oil is to simply put the herb and the oil in a jar and forget about it for the next 6-8 weeks. Next, I strained out the herb and I was left with very green oil.

Add the Dry Ingredients

You’ll need activated charcoal and bentonite clay. I recommend using loose activated charcoal. I didn’t have that, but I had it in capsules. So, I opened and dumped a LOT of capsules to equal what I needed. I literally had black power everywhere.

I put the olive oil and beeswax into a double boiler until the beeswax melted. Once that was done I added the activated charcoal and the bentonite clay and stirred until it was all combined. From there I poured it into 1-ounce tins I had purchased from Amazon. These are the perfect size to go into your bag or first aid kit. You could also use small jars; they would need to be stored out of direct sunlight.

You could also add some essential oils after the wax has melted and cooled a bit. I didn’t. The Black Drawing Salve has a sort of herbal smell that is pleasant, which is why I chose not to use any essential oils.

While I don’t WANT my children to need to use this salve, I also can’t wait to use this salve. In our house, we also use the homeopathic remedy Silica in 6x taken internally to draw out foreign objects from the skin. By using both methods, we are using a push/pull method to keep our skin healthy.

Having a big family means I made up a quadruple batch to make sure they got their own tins. I do have a few left available for sell. If you would like a tin, contact me. Let me know if you make your own.