If you’re looking for a cure all, this is it. Pine salve can be used for just about anything. Put it on chapped lips, sore muscles, or cuts and scrapes. Sap is produced by trees when it is trying to heal an injury. It can do the same for you. Watch bruises disappear and cuts be healed! This salve can be put on a splinter and it will pull the splinter out. Put it on your chest to clear congestion. Pine salve is challenging to make because it is so sticky and almost impossible to remove. Everything you use to make pine salve should not be expected to be used for anything else. Jars and utensils should be designated for pine salve. This homemade salve is worth it. It won’t solve all your problems but it’ll solve a lot of them. Let’s go over the steps on how to make your own pine salve.
Ingredients
- ½ cup pine sap
- ¼ cup beeswax
- ¼ cup olive oil
- 20 drops of your favorite healing essential oil (optional)
Collect Sap
You’ll need a lot of sap because you’re going to melt it and get all the dirt and twigs out of it. Most pine trees will have some sap on them already. Do not cut into trees to get sap. Trees produce enough sap that you can collect without injuring the tree. Pine sap looks like rock candy stuck to the side of the tree. Use a butter knife and just pop of the chunk of sap. It will usually just come off. Gather around 2-3 cups of sap in chunks. It’s surprising how much is already out there.
Image Source: Pixabay
Melt the Sap
Put the chunks of sap in a glass canning jar (a designated pine sap jar) and put a lid on it. Place your closed jar in a slow cooker with water in it, on medium heat. Then let the jars sit until the sap as turned completely to liquid. All of the tree gunk and dirt will sink to the bottom of the jar. Once the sap is completely melted, pour ½ cup of pine sap into another jar. Be careful not to get any of the tree gunk into the new jar. Make sure all the dirt and tree parts stay at the bottom of the old jar. Keep the old jar, you can use it again to melt more sap later.
Add the Other Ingredients
Now that the melted sap is in a new jar with none of the tree gunk, add ¼ of beeswax, ¼ of olive oil, and your choice of essential oil to the melted ½ cup of pine sap. Beeswax is solid at room temperature. The easiest way to measure it is to use a cheese grater and grate ¼ cup of beeswax. Your jar should have all the ingredients in it at this point. Put a lid on your jar and place it back into the slow cooker with water, on low this time. Heat the jar until the beeswax has melted. Give the jar a good stir with a designated utensil so that everything is uniform. Then remove the jar from the heat. You can keep your pine salve in this jar, or pour it into a small container while it’s still hot. Old Altoid tins work great! The salve will feel slightly sticky when applied, but the skin will absorb it quickly and the stickiness will go away.
Summing Up
Pine salve has amazing healing properties. Utilize the pine tree’s way of healing and try it for yourself. Although it might be complicated to make it’ll be worth it. This salve will be your go to for just about everything. Keep some in a tin by your bedside for your lips and hands. Or keep some in your medicine cabinet for your kids. It’s all natural, and it’s all healing.
Image Source: Pixabay
