Make Your Own Calendula Salve

You will love this DIY calendula salve with beeswax that is a natural remedy for all sorts of cuts, burns, scrapes, and other skin issues.

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Here at Our Gabled Home we like to keep it natural for as much and as long as we can. Therefore, we love this calendula salve. It comes in handy for all sorts of cuts, burns, scrapes, insect bites, even fungal skin issues.

It is so easy to make and you won’t want to miss it once you’ve tried it out.

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Why make your own?

Aside from simply enjoying the process, there are other reasons for making your own stuff.

I love being able to control the ingredients. In this case, there are 2 ingredients. It doesn’t get more basic than that.

Also, it is very inexpensive with simple ingredients that are true multi-taskers.

And lastly, you can customize this salve to your liking.

calendula salve

Benefits of calendula:

Calendula has been used for a long time by humans for all its healing properties. It is anti-fungal, anti-bacterial, and anti-inflammatory. Therefore, it can be used effectively for sunburns, for insect bites, any cuts or scrapes, and fungal skin issues.

The ingredients for calendula salve:

First, you will need calendula oil. It is very, very easy to make. If you haven’t made it before or don’t know how, check out this tutorial. The only downside? You might have to wait some weeks before it’s ready. However, the ingredients are easy to come by: calendula petals and some oil such as sunflower or jojoba oil. Neither ingredient is very expensive, especially if you grow and harvest your own calendula flowers!

The other ingredient is beeswax. It gives this salve it’s solid consistency. But it also anti-inflammatory, moisturizing, softening, and healing. Thus, it makes this salve even more effective. I prefer using beeswax pellets since they are easier to use and measure.

Technically, it is not an ingredient but you’ll want to have a container for your salve. And why not make it a pretty one? You can use small mason jars, regular lidded glass jars, or metal tin jars. You might want to double or triple this recipe right away because this salve makes a perfect present!

It also helps with the measuring to have an accurate kitchen scale.

ingredients salve making

How to make the calendula salve:

To make this salve, we will use a ratio of 1 part beeswax to 4 parts calendula oil. In other words, you could use 1 oz of beeswax to 4 oz of calendula oil. Since I had less oil than that, I also used less beeswax.

Start by melting the beeswax. I do that by putting it in a glass measuring cup and putting that in a pot with hot water. Beeswax will take a while to melt so just be patient. Towards the end, I also put my mason jar with the calendula oil into the water bath to warm it up. It helps with the mixing.

Once the beeswax is melted, combine it with the calendula oil. Fill your container with this mixture. Be careful not to pour hot liquids into a glass container that’s sitting on a cold surface. Therefore, I just put a towel on my surface (my quartz kitchen counters). Now let the salve cool and solidify.

melting beeswax

How to customize your salve

At this point, you might not be happy with the consistency of your salve. If it is too hard for your liking, simply warm it up again and add some more oil. If you find it too soft and runny, again, warm it up and add just a bit more melted beeswax. I have to say that the 1:4 ratio works perfect for me 🙂

You can also add some essential oils to your salve. You will have to add them while the mixture is still warm and runny. Lavender essential oil would be a good choice here. I recommend about 10-20 drops.

Difference between Calendula Salve and Calendula Oil:

If you have seen my other post on how to make your own calendula oil you may be wondering what the difference between the oil and the salve is.

First off, you get the healing benefits of calendula in both.

I would say the oil is a bit easier to make. If you haven’t made a salve before and want to keep thing super simple, the oil is for you.

If you’re looking for a remedy that travels a bit better, I suggest making the salve. Additionally, you get the healing benefits of beeswax with the salve.

Either way, you can’t go wrong with calendula! Wether you prefer the salve or the oil. Or make both 😊.

Happy making and healing!

homemade calendula salve

I would love to hear your comments and questions below!

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How to make calendula salve that is anti-inflammatory, anti-bacterial, anti-fundal and healing

17 Comments

  1. I’m excited about trying out your salve recipe. Does it made a difference if you use white bees wax instead of yellow?

    1. Hi Linda, I personally prefer the yellow beeswax because the white one is bleached and purified, so I wonder if some of the goodness in beeswax may have been filtered out as well. Hope this helps ~ Anja

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  3. Anja, I love calendula too! It makes wonderful things and you really gave great information 🙂 I will be sharing on my wall (I think that’s what it is called) lol

  4. Thank you for sharing! I had just ordered this for my daughter from a mama-owned shop and I’m excited to learn to make it on my own too!

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