Now that I have that wonderful plantain infused oil, it’s time to make some anti-itch balm.
I’ve put 4 ounces of plantain infused oil into my double boiler.
To that oil I added approximately 1 ounce of beeswax. After the beeswax dissolved, I removed it from the double boiler. The more beeswax you use, the harder the balm will be.
I added about five drops of Vitamin E to the oil mixture.
I then added a tablespoon of vanilla cream fragrance oil hoping to cover up the plantain smell.
After all of that is stirred up, I poured it into my containers.
Now to wait until it cools and then try it on my bites.
Several days have gone by since I’ve made this. I have used it on some bites since my poison ivy is almost gone. It seems to help. I’ve applied it at night and then have woken up in the middle of the night and reapplied it. But once I do that the itching stops again. So for me it is working like the stuff from the store works and that’s a good thing!
What I’d do differently next time is pour this balm in push-up containers like I used for the Mango Lotion Bar. Or I could use less beeswax and more oil so it would be less solid. Either way would work. I’d rather put it in those little push up containers so I could rub it all over my itchies and not have to touch either the bites or the balm.
Another anti-itch product I want to make is with jewelweed which is great for poison ivy and just happens to grow next to the plant. We have quite a bit of it on our property. Hubby said he’d go out there once it blooms and pick me some to dry. I’m kind of scared to because of the poison ivy being nearby. More on that later.
This is brilliant Lynda and even better that it actually works!! I’m itching to try making some hand balms and stuff as well, but next on the list is making soap again, since my supply is getting really low.
The poison ivy sounds terrible, I don’t think I know it, it probably doesn’t grow here.
I was wondering: since you used beeswax how do you clean the boiler afterwards? Everytime I’ve made something with beeswax it was a terrible mess to clean because the wax solidified when I tried to wash the jar.
Kristina,
I wipe it clean with a paper towel and then put dish washing liquid in and it really cuts the wax.
Look forward to you soap adventures. We’ve got a couple in line to make but right now we’ve got so much still in the cabinet and too much to do outside!
Wow! Thank you for introducing me to something I have NEVER heard of. This is so cool. Can’t wait to try it for myself.
Lauren, So glad you came by. Let me know how it works for you.
I absolutely adore this! I’d never heard of plantain balm before. Thanks for teaching something new! Cannot WAIT to try it.
And now I’m going to have to obsessively flip through everything else you have on your blog.
(On an aside note, I just emptied out my “spam” box on my blog without reading the entries very well … but JUST as it was about to delete, I caught your comment – at least I hope it was yours … my eyes just caught on the name of your website really quickly and then the deleted page loaded and the comment was GONE! Just wanted to let you know I had NO intention of doing that, and would more than love it if you came back and left the comment again. {Also, I totally would have emailed this, but couldn’t find your email on your site anywhere?} That is all. Big love!)
Hi Leslie, So glad you found me. I just found your site and have been looking at it little at a time! Great stuff! As for that comment, can’t remember what I commented on but did on one of your posts. I’ll go back and see. Thanks again for dropping by!
You are such a woman…you need to start a business! This stuff is great. I do however feel sorry for you having poison ivy…that stuff is the pits.
Thanks Lynda, I probably should have wiped the pots clean before trying to go at them with water 🙂 I’ll try that next time!
Another thing to add to the anti itch balm that would help a lot is Nettle infused oil. A combination of nettle and plantain is wonderful to help with the itch.
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Jewel weed is also great for poison oak. I had someone mail me some a couple of summers ago from NC in exchange for some Lavender Essential Oil. My brother loved the soap and balm I made him. If he looks at the stuff he gets it. My oil to beeswax ratio is also 50/50 on the push-up style. My sister will not use store bought deodorant so I make her a few push-ups every 6 months or so. Due to a brain tumor I’ve had to cut back on all of my beloved work in my herb garden and home made personal care products. I’m a busy body, and I love to keep busy learning new things. I’m curious if the plantain weed rows in my yard? I live in SC which is zone 7. I think I’ve seen it before. I’ll have to search the yard come summer 🙂
Robyn, Yes, jewelweed is great for poison ivy. It also grows on our property but I’ve yet to harvest it but hopefully I will next year. I keep wanting to make soap and salve so maybe next year! Regarding plantain, we live in zone 6 and it grows like crazy in our yard. I bet it grows in zone 7 too. Thanks for dropping by.
How do you dry your plantain? I have tons of it growing in our yard and we use it fresh on bug bites by just ripubbing leaves in between our fingers or in our palm and apply the liquid to the bite. It’s wonderful! Can I infuse with fresh plantain?
Susan, We dry our plantain in our dehydrator, but you can also dry in the sun or the oven. It is a wonderful plant! To prevent mold, the leaves need to be dry or at least most of the moisture removed. I blog about the process on this post: https://lyndaheines.blog/2011/05/infusing-herbs/ Thanks for dropping by.