Amish Drawing Salve Recipe

Wild Comfrey Plant growing in the woods in Norris, TN.

Plantain leaf growing in my yard

Amish Drawing Salve Recipe

Ingredients

2 tablespoons carrier oil infused with comfrey, plantain, and calendula

2 Teaspoons beeswax pastilles

1/2 Teaspoon vitamin E oil

5 drops Tea Tree oil

5 drops lavender oil

1 Tablespoon of pine tar

3 teaspoons activated charcoal

3 teaspoons bentonite clay 

Glass bowl

Wooden spoon

4 ounce mason jar

  Directions

Place infused oil, beeswax, and vitamin e oil in a glass baking dish

Set down in a large kettle of water on stove burner on low heat to make a double boiler.

Heat stirring constantly til melted together

Add pine tar, charcoal, bentonite and essential oils (tea tree, lavender)

Stir these in thoroughly til well blended.

Pour into mason jar and allow to harden. 

Notes

Do not use metal utensils or pots or it can hinder the effectiveness of the salve. It can render it useless.

Real Amish Drawing salve contains pine tar.  Some recipes substitute raw, local honey.  This is ok, but it is not authentic.

Pine tar can be purchased in a pint jar at Rural King or Tractor Supply in the animal department. It is kept for use on horse hooves.

It is strong smelling and stains, but so does the charcoal.  

It is best to use this with a bandage or covering because it will stain whatever it gets on in the way of clothing.

Bentonite clay is also important to use as it is natural blue clay and most healing and antibacterial. It has the strongest drawing action of all salves and the most curative properties.  Kaolin clay is sometimes substituted, but again is a second best. 

Activated charcoal also helps pull out and neutralize toxins and germs.

Comfrey is a drawing agent as well.

Carrier oil can be olive oil. If you cannot find comfrey oil infuse your own by placing olive oil  with dried comfrey, calendula, and plantain in it... placing in a cool dark place for 2 weeks and straining out the leaves. Or to speed things up place in a jar in a crock pot on low with a towel in the bottom and a few inches of water for 12 hours.  

I had to make my own infused oil.  

Use

Works great to pull out splinters or embedded objects and infection.

It needs to be used with care on an open wound.   If it is very large it should not be used.

I used it on a small open wound that was an avulsion.  Meaning my shin got mashed open in a fall onto a rotten log in the woods.

I tried stitching it shut, but within 12 hours I was in pain. I removed the stitches and used the salve and a bandage instead.  It pulled out excess tissue fluid, infection and chunks of wood from the log.  

It took six weeks for that hole to close, but it is finally gone. I have a little bit of a scar, but it saved me an emergency room visit.

 Above: finished product in a squatty mason jar. I love these little things. I like the wide mouth for easy access.

Above: You can see that even after six weeks of use I have a lot left over. I had to make my own salve for my injury.  I won't make that mistake again. It is best to have it ready to use ahead of time. 

Above: bottom of the jar to show a little better how black it is.