Making Arnica-Infused Oil for Topical Salves

Now that we’re heading into the more active summer season, I wanted to share what I’ve recently learned about the herb Arnica. It is not as well-known as lavender and calendula and it is sometimes included in over-the-counter ointments and creams sold to soothe occasional aching knees, joints and muscles. It is often used in homeopathic remedies, which means the products contain very small amounts of the active ingredients. Making infused oil with dried arnica plant material is a great way to incorporate these ingredients into body care products.

About Arnica

Arnica is a perennial herb Arnica montana. It is a yellow-orangish flower that grows in the mountains of Europe, Siberia and the mountains of northwestern North America. It is sometimes called the “mountain daisy,” because its color and petals look like the familiar flower. It yields an essential oil that is appreciated for its ability to reduce pain in osteoarthritis joints and reduce bruise discoloration.

Note: This plant does have some drawbacks or cautions for people that are allergic to certain plants of the Asteraceae family–like ragweed, marigolds, chrysanthemums and daisies, or are using blood thinning medications. I wanted to have some of this infused oil on hand to make a salve if needed this summer. Because of these cautions, I do not plan to share any salve I make with others, since I have no way to know who might be sensitive to the plant.

Please do your own research about any plant material you might work with, but this process of infusing oil with any plant material would be the same process.

Making Infused Oil in General

I’ve previously shared how to do this with Calendula plant material at https://marykisner.com/making-calendula-nfused-oil-for-topical salves/. Dried lavender works the same way. I usually use olive oil, but you can substitute sweet almond oil, jojoba oil, or even grapeseed oil.

Arnica-Infused Olive Oil

Here are the basic instructions to make this oil:

First, I filled a quart jar with dried Arnica flowers. I ordered this bag of dried flowers from Amazon. This 8 oz. bag will probably last me the rest of my life!

Starting with a quart jar, I filled the jar loosely with dried flowers and poured about 2 1/2 cups of olive oil over them.

This filled the jar about 3/4 full. I used a long-handled spoon to gently poke the flowers to distribute the oil. I put the filled jar in a deep pan of water and brought the water up to a boil and lowered the temperature so it would just simmer for about 6 hours. I did have to add water to the saucepan every hour or so as it evaporated and poked the flowers down now and then just to make sure they stayed submerged.

Then, I poured the oil/flower mixture through the strainer and pressed flowers to squeeze out as much oil as possible.

After disposing of the plant material, I strained the oil again by lining the strainer with cheesecloth to make sure I didn’t have any crumbs left from the dried flowers.

After straining out all the Arnica plant material, first with a large strainer and again with cheesecloth, I had about 1 3/4 cups of lovely arnica-infused olive oil. Before pouring it back into the washed and dried quart jar, I added about a teaspoon of Vitamin E oil to help as a preservative.

This jar of oil will be stored in the refrigerator until I need it.

Making Arnica Salve

This recipe will make a small batch of salve. Since I don’t plan to share it yet, I’ll keep the batch small.

Combine 3 1/2 Tbsp. of Arnica-Infused oil with 2 tsp. beeswax (about 8 gms).

Place the cup into a pan of water and bring the water to boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer.

Simmer until the beeswax is melted. Remove from heat.

Add 10-20 drops of your preferred essential oil. (I chose Vanilla for the scent and Manuka for its healing properties).

Pour into small containers or lip balm tubes. Cap tightly and label.

So now I have a simple salve ready for my aches and pains, bumps and bruises! I’ll keep you posted on how it works this summer!

If I find it works really well, I’ll have cards ready to go with the samples.

Look for Arnica in your over-the-counter creams and salves! It might be the magic ingredient. Enjoy!

Please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.