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Once upon a Saturday, just a couple of months ago, my Emma grabbed her spiffy new 10 speed (that she bought herself I might add…yay!) and started riding on the street in front of our house. As she was riding, she came across a small/medium cardboard box in the middle of the road. It wasn’t huge, but it was large enough that the few cars that come down our street were having to swerve to avoid. Emma being Emma, she stopped her bike, picked up the box then tried to ride home to put it into the recycling bin. It took all of about 30 seconds for the edge of the box to hit her tire and bring Emma, bike and box down. With a very nasty scrape on her knee, she hobbled home, ditched the box and came in for me to deal with the bleeding and all of that jazz. Enter this Homemade Anti-Bacterial Ointment.
This anti-bacterial ointment might seem like it’s hard to make, but take my word for it…it’s really not. It whips up very quickly and yes, it works just as well (if not better) as the stuff you buy in the store. It soothes and heals while keeping bacteria away from the scratch or wound just like the commercial stuff. When my Emma scratched her leg up bad on that bike accident, this healing cream, had her leg like new in just a couple of days. It works so well that this one product is a staple in our natural medicine cabinet. It sits beside my homemade lavender diaper rash cream that I use for so much more than diaper rash!
Homemade Anti-Bacterial Ointment
So what makes this healing ointment work so well? The ingredients of course! All of the oils in this recipe are anti-bacterial, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory which means that they’re the perfect combination for making a cream that can help heal. Add in the witch hazel, almond oil and the benefits they have and what you end up with is a homemade anti-bacterial ointment that packs quite the punch when it comes to germs and healing! Lavender has healing and soothing properties, tea tree, lemon and witch hazel all have disinfecting properties and the oils will help it be the texture you want while helping to heal and soothe too!
What I really like about this recipe is that it can be totally customized. Want to pack some more healing into it? Add some finely chopped herbs to it before you mix it up! Herbs like Comfrey, and Calendula are great for adding to it and giving it an extra boost. Just be sure that they’re chopped very finely before you add. If you’re going to add them, add them after you melt but before you mix. This will allow them to be mixed in with the rest of the ingredients so that they are evenly dispersed.
You Will Need:
- 1/2 Cup Coconut Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Almond Oil
- 2-3 tablespoons Beeswax Pellets
- 10-12 drops Lavender Essential Oil
- 10-12 drops Tea Tree Oil
- 10-12 drops Lemon Essential Oil
- 1 Tablespoon Witch Hazel
- 4 oz Jelly sized mason jars
Add the coconut oil, beeswax and almond oil to a double boiler and fully melt. I don’t have an actual double boiler and instead, just use a small bowl set atop of small pan of boiling water. Works the same and I don’t have to pay for the double boiler.
Once the coconut oil and beeswax are fully melted, add 10-12 drops of each essential oil to your mixture. If you’re adding the comfrey or any other herbs, add them here.
Using a mixer, blend until you get a creamy and semi-solid texture. Your cream will start to solidify very quickly as it cools so be sure you’re ready to pour into your jelly jar quickly. Also, I don’t advise using your regular mixer for this (although you can). Wax can be hard to get off, but if you don’t have a second hand mixer, soak them in white vinegar before you wash them to help make cleaning them easier on yourself.
Once you get the texture you’re looking for, pour into a jelly jar and let cool completely. As it cools, it will set up to become more of a solid cream than a runny mess like it probably appears to be now.
To use, spread a small amount on the affected area and you’re done! You don’t need a lot of this when you use it! A little really does go a long way and this one jar will last you quite a while! We’ve been using the same jar for months now and we love it!
Looking for more Natural Products you can make yourself? Check these out!
- Homemade Lavender Diaper Rash Cream
- Homemade Shave Cream
- DIY Reusable Fabric Softner Sheets
- Homemade Green Tea & Peppermint Bath Soak
- DIY Coconut Shampoo
- DIY Decongestant Tablets
I’m allergic to lavender, so I would probably use oil of oregano, which also has anti-bacterial properties, as well as anti-viral properties.
I am excited to try this! I would caution against using any citrus oils though, as they can make the skin more sensitive to sun damage.
Thanks for the tip Angelica!
This is to be used as a bacterial ointment, which typically would be used and then have a bandaid covering it, right? So wouldn’t that mean the fact that there is lemon essential oil in this that it wouldn’t matter? If you’re using it in a lotion/body wash though then I could see how it would be an issue..
Almond oil is a carrier oil, right? Would any carrier oil work to use?
Yes ma’am. Any carrier oil should work. I’ve used coconut oil with it when I’ve been out of almond oil.