Comfrey Salve Recipe

If you want to learn how incredibly easy it really is to make your own herbal remedies, this comfrey salve recipe is perfect. Comfrey is a natural remedy that makes a wonderful salve for your skin.

When I was growing up, we didn’t have triple antibiotic ointment in our bathroom apothecary. That may be a controversial choice, and I’m not stating that it was right or wrong, and not that I”‘m not a fan of homemade antibacterial cream, just that it was.

What we did have was comfrey salve. That was my normal. Usually, it was a salve mixed with comfrey, plantain, and sometimes other things, but always comfrey.

And I don’t mind telling you that I’m a big believer in the benefits of using it on minor skin abrasions.

Why Comfrey?

Comfrey roots and leaves are high in allantoin, which helps to relieve irritation and protect minor cuts, scrapes, bruises, and burns. 

According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information:

multiple randomized controlled trials have demonstrated the efficacy and safety of comfrey preparations for the topical treatment of pain, inflammation and swelling of muscles and joints in degenerative arthritis, acute myalgia in the back, sprains, contusions and strains after sports injuries and accidents, also in children aged 3 or 4 and over.

 

Additionally, regarding wound healing, this was said about using the leaves and flowers of the comfrey plant:

After 2 to 3 days, a significantly and clinically relevantly faster initial reduction in wound size of 49 ± 19% versus 29 ± 13% per day in favour of verum (p < 5 × 10−21) was found. From linear regression time to complete healing was determined to be 2.97 days faster with verum than with the reference (4.08 vs. 7.05 days, p = 7.4 × 10−45 in the t-test comparison of regression lines).

Source

As a blogger, I must be careful what I say; hopefully, quoting a credible source is acceptable.

How to make comfrey salve

As I said above, this salve is very easy to make, similar to homemade lip balm. Easy, but a lengthy process.

For a simple salve, you only need three ingredients – comfrey (leaves or roots), olive oil, and beeswax. You can, of course, add a number of other things to your mixture, such as another herb (plantain or calendula are favorites to add to your herbal oil), an essential oil, such as lavender, vitamin E oil, coconut oil instead of olive oil, etc. 

Ingredients:

• 1 cup comfrey leaves – either freshly plucked, cut up, and wilted for an afternoon, or dried
• 1 – 1 1/2 cups extra virgin olive oil (or your preference of oil)
• 1 oz. beeswax – I use pellets, or grate it to make it easy to work with

Instructions:

These instructions are simple, but might involve a few techniques that you’re not familiar with. 

The first step is making an herbal oil emulsion.

How to make an herbal oil infusion

1. Cover your dried or wilted comfrey leaves in the oil. Ideally, your leaves will be covered by an inch or so of oil.
   

   

   
   
2. Let this mixture emulsify at room temperature for about two weeks. OR you can speed this process up by heating it over very low heat to 110-120º for several hours. But it’s very simple to stuff your leaves in a jar, cover them with oil, put the lid on, and tuck them away on a pantry shelf for a couple of weeks.

You can see in the photos that I’m using dried, cut, and sifted comfrey leaves.

Make the Salve

1. After the comfrey and oil have steeped sufficiently, strain the leaves out of the infused oil. If you used large pieces of wilted leaves from your own plants, this may be as easy as picking them out with a fork or tongs.
   

   

   
   
   With my cut and sifted leaves, I poured them into a fine, wire mesh strainer. In my opinion, it’s not vital to get every single speck of a particle out, so no need to get the jelly strainer bags out for this.
2. After you strain your oil, measure it out and heat git ently in a small pot. For every 3/4 cup of oil, add one ounce (2 tablespoons) of grated beeswax. Stir until melted together, then pour into jars or tins.
   

   

Screw down lids, and let cool. You may notice that your salve looks brown as you pour it into jars, but it will be green when it’s cooled.

Storing homemade comfrey salve

I like to store my salve in small containers so that it’s easy to pack into a first aid kit, carry around, use, etc. I used 4-ounce mason jars for this batch. This is an easy option, since you can pick these jars up at most supermarkets. You can also order professional-looking tins for your salve. 

Or, if you’re making a large batch, store it in a quart jar. 

In any case, once your salve is jarred and cooled, store it in a cool, dark place.