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A homemade black drawing salve is a perfect addition to your home apothecary or herbal first-aid kit. Insect bites, stings, splinters, and injuries are a part of life, especially on a homestead, but they don’t have to ruin your day! My homemade salve recipe contains potent ingredients that help draw out toxins or foreign objects, getting you back to your regularly scheduled day in no time. In the years since I first made this recipe, this salve has become an essential on our homestead.
This salve also makes a wonderful handmade gift, and it is especially popular with men, particularly those who work with their hands. When it comes to building a natural first aid kit, black drawing salve is a must-have! It is an excellent natural remedy for drawing out stings, slivers, bug bites, splinters, and even minor infections. The following recipe is very similar to the Drawing Salve we sell in the apothecary if you would like to buy it rather than DIY.
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What is Black Drawing Salve?
Black drawing salve is a charcoal and herbal-based salve named for its ability to draw things out of the skin. This powerful salve has been a traditional remedy for hundreds of years, particularly among the Amish communities. The active natural ingredients in this recipe combine to create a strong drawing effect when applied topically, and it has an uncanny ability to draw out the foreign substances, toxins, and unwanted particles make their way into the skin.
Active Ingredients in DIY Black Drawing Salve
The active ingredients in this tar-like topical treatment are the star of the show, so let’s examine them and discuss why they work.
Activated Charcoal
Regular charcoal is made from wood, coconut shell, peat, coal, or petroleum that has been burned to a brittle black consistency. “Activated” charcoal, on the other hand, is a highly porous powder that can adsorb over 4,000 toxins. It is comprised of wood, bamboo, coal, or coconut shells that have been burned at a very high temperature and processed to contain pores that trap chemicals and prevent them from being absorbed by the body. It has a history of being used to remove poisons and toxins from the body.
Bentonite Clay
Bentonite clay is a light gray clay that comes from volcanic ash. It is dried out and filtered before being sold. This clay's superpower is that it works to bind to toxins in the body, and then, almost magnet-like, it collects and removes them. Other benefits of bentonite clay include its ability to aid in detoxification, protect against bacterial infections, and increase healing.
Plantain Leaf
Plantain leaf is astringent, anti-inflammatory, and antiseptic, to name a few of its herbal actions. It is also known to draw toxicity from the body. Plantain has a long history of being used to treat bites, stings, and other skin irritations.
Calendula
Calendula is another powerful plant ally with some of its herbal actions, including being antimicrobial, astringent, and vulnerary. Calendula also comes with a long history of being used to treat and heal wounds and skin irritations. While removing the embedded toxin or sliver is the most important step, we also want to soothe the area and promote healing. That is where the calendula and plantain come in!
Why Is Black Drawing Salve a Must-Have for a Natural First-Aid Kit?
Black Drawing salve was one of the first salves I ever learned to make, and I’m glad it was because it is now an essential part of our herbal first aid kit. Since we heat our home with a wood stove, splinters are a fact of life on our homestead in the winter. However, we have found so many other great uses. Not only does this salve draw out splinters, but it is also an ideal treatment for stings, bug and spider bites, minor infections, and ticks. I’ve even used it like a pore strip to draw out those tiny blackheads that always seem to form on the nose.
How to Make Black Drawing Salve
Now that we understand what a black drawing salve is, how its ingredients work, and why it will soon be your favorite first aid product, let’s get to making it! This salve does take a while to make, and thanks to the activated charcoal, it is very messy, but I assure you it is also highly effective and well worth the time and effort.
The Ingredients:
2 Tbls Dried Plantain Leaf
2 Tbls Dried Calendula Petals
1 ½ tbls of Beeswax
1 Tbls Activated Charcoal
1 Tbls Bentonite Clay
½ cup of carrier oil (olive, grapeseed, or fractionated coconut oil)
The Method:
To Make The Infused Oil:
Before making your black drawing salve, it is important to properly infuse your carrier oil with the calendula and plantain. To do this, place your dried herbs in a small glass jar and top with your carrier oil. Once the lid is on tight, give the jar a shake and leave it in a cool, dark place to infuse for 4-6 weeks, giving the jar a good shake every few days. Once the infusion is complete, strain out all of the plant matter and reserve your infused oil in a sterilized glass jar.
To Make the Salve:
In a glass jar or measuring cup, combine your infused oil with beeswax and place it in a small pan of water, creating a double boiler effect. Heat on low until all of the wax has melted. Do not let any of the water get into the oil/wax mixture, and replace the water as needed to ensure the pan never goes dry.
Remove the infused oil/wax mixture from heat and very, very carefully add the activated charcoal and bentonite clay, mixing well to combine the ingredients thoroughly.
Once everything is fully incorporated, quickly pour your new salve into small jars or tins and let it sit until it has hardened and cooled completely. The completed and cooled salve can be stored in airtight containers in a cool, dry place for up to a year.
How to Use Black Drawing Salve
Drawing salve is extremely effective in battling the effects of painful stings, bites, splinters, infections, or any small foreign objects that may have wedged their way deep into the skin.
First, make sure the affected area has been cleaned well. Then, simply dab on a generous amount of black salve and cover it with a band-aid or wrap. This salve can be pretty messy, so you will want to keep the area where the salve has been applied covered at all times. Leave the salve in place for several hours or up to overnight, and in the morning, uncover and clean off the drawing salve. Some things (like glass or deeply seated splinters) may take several applications to draw.
Drawing Salve, Your Favorite New Herbal First Aid Addition
Once you make this drawing salve, it’s sure to become your favorite new edition to your herbal first aid kit. Honestly, when I first made it, I had no idea how often we would use it or how invaluable it would become, but from wood splinters to stings and infections, it’s a product we use constantly. Have you ever made a drawing salve? How did it work? Share in the comments below! Until next time,
Disclaimer:
Content from thisunboundlife.com is meant to be informational in nature. It is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice. Just because something is “natural” does not mean it’s safe for every person. Many plants should be avoided when pregnant or nursing; some can cause extreme interactions with prescription and over-the-counter medicine.
While we strive to be 100% accurate, utilizing information from scientific studies, trusted sources, and verified publications, we are not health professionals, medical doctors, or nutritionists. It is solely up to the reader to verify nutritional information and health benefits with qualified professionals for all edible plants listed on this website and to ensure proper plant identification.
The information provided by this site is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Before using herbal preparations, always research, speak to a professional regarding significant concerns, and never fail to seek medical advice when needed.