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2 juli 2023
Easy Recipe For Making Your Home Made Calendula OintmentWith Marigold And Lavender
I finally took the plunge and made my own calendula ointment! And it was so much easier than I imagined that I think I’ve now got the hang of it to make a lot more myself!
For years I admired people who make ointments and tinctures themselves. In my mind that was very complicated and time consuming. Despite the fact that I quit my job almost three years ago, I don’t feel like I have a lot of time left. I still give a lot of time to others. At times, too much time is spent on social media. And actually I often wonder how I ever had time to work :’) :’) :’).
Close to my then work in Utrecht is De Moestuin. A beautiful place where the accompanying restaurant prepares delicious dishes with veggies directly from their garden. Years ago, I bought a jar of calendula ointment there. And I’ve never had such a good ointment! It’s only 60 ml. But so I have been using it for more than 3 years because I bought it for 2020. I am starting to see the bottom by now and now that we were temporarily going back to the Netherlands, I was hoping to score another jar from them. I wrote to them, but unfortunately they turned out to be out of stock and the marigold had even yet to be sown.
The place we were in France had marigolds. And so the idea arose, using the ingredients that were on the label, to make my own calendula ointment. My jar contained beeswax. I understood that you can also use carnauba wax for this, so you don’t need animals to make the ointment.
What are the ingredients?
- Marigold
- Lavender
- (Lanolin – was in the oilnment from De Moestuin, I didn’t use it after all)
- Jojobaoil (organic)
- Beewax (organic)
And you need small glass jars (30-60ml)
Check out the simple steps to make calendula ointment:
NOTE: You need at least 1 month from start to finish!
Step 1
Pick leaves from the marigold and from the lavender.
And put this in a clean glass jar.
Ratio: 5/6 part marigold 1/6 part lavender
Step 3
Take a new clean jar and a strainer and drop the oil with the leaves into the strainer, so that clean oil comes into the new jar. Press the leaves with a teaspoon, so you really squeeze out all the oil!
Step 5
Beeswax melts at > 70 degrees °C. Heat the jar by placing it in a bowl of (almost) boiling water.
Keep moving the jar in the water. If necessary, replace the water with boiling water. And shake the jar regularly… Do this until all the globules have dissolved.
Step 2
Fill the glass jar with jojoba oil until the leaves are covered.
Now leave the jar in a warm (and sunny) place for 30 days.
Shake occasionally and make sure the leaves get back under the oil.
Step 4
I bought 30ml glass jars from Action. And sterilised these by holding them in boiling water for a few minutes. Fill a jar with 30 ml of oil and add 5 grams of beeswax or carnauba wax.
Step 6
Your Calendula ointment is now ready to use!
Leave the lit closed until you want to use it.
I used 100 ml of oil in step 2 and was able to fill 2x 30 ml jars with it.
I can’t say much about shelf life. I used the jar from De Moestuin for 3-4 years and it still works great.
So unlike others, I say you can use the jar until it is empty 
.
I honestly must confess that smearing a salve you made yourself is immensely satisfying.
I hope you will soon make your first calendula ointment too. You can still sow, especially in a greenhouse.
Or find unsprayed marigolds, which you just need to pick.
Lots of fun!
You also might be interested reading:
How our marriage really is starting after 25 years
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