Yard Work Muscle Rub

In my opinion - when your medicine cabinet starts to look more like a witch's closet - you're doing something right.  I've always found the ideas and legends of home remedies fascinating and I'm always willing to incorporate a few in my day to day life.  Whether it's DIY face scrubs or a salve that replaces my Neosporin - if I can make it myself, I'm up to the task.



As much as to annoy my father as to have a pretty yard full of bright yellow flowers, I've been planting dandelion seeds for as long as I can remember.  Now that I have a home of my own, much of my yard (that hasn't been converted into various gardens) is sprinkled with that glowing yellow I love so much from late March to early June.

And they are as gorgeous as they are useful!  Not one bit of the plant is wasteful.  If it's salad greens you need, you got em!  If you want to make a tincture for your kidneys - brew some up!  And come on, dandelion wine?  Try it!  This last week I did some reading on its other uses, in the form of salves and lotions.  Below is how I made my Yard Work Muscle Rub - hoping to take advantage of dandelion's analgesic properties. 

What you need:

• 1 quart dandelion flowers, greens removed
• Olive oil, almond oil, or your favorite oil to make homemade lotions
• Bees wax
• Essential oil of your choice (I used lemon)
• Vitamin E oil
• a double boiler (or a pyrex dish that fits inside a sauce pan, as I used)
• fun jars to store your creation

Step 1:
Peel away all the petals from your freshly picked flowers.  I've heard that spreading these on tea towels to wilt over night results in a more cream and richer salve.  I did not do this and was not disappointed, but thought I would mention it.

Step 2:
Place petals in  a quart jar and cover with oil.  Store in a dark cool cupboard until the following day.

After the petals have brewed over night, place the jar in a shallow pan with water and lightly simmer the oil, stirring often for 30-60 minutes.  You don't want to boil the oil, but rather warm it to help brew the oils out of petals.

Step 3:
Strain the oil from the petals into a new clean jar.  I used a fine mesh strainer.  I'm sure old pantyhose would work or several sheets of cheese cloth.  Once the oil is cool enough to touch, squeeze and press as much of the oil out of the petals (you're hands are going to thank you after this!).  Once satisfied, discard the leftover, wrung out, flowers into the compost bin.



Now you have your dandelion oil.  This can be put into the fridge until you are ready to use it (I bet it would be great in a homemade salad dressing recipe) or used right away, in Step 4, to make your rub.



Step 4:
In your double boiler or makeshift one, mix 1 cup of dandelion oil, 1/4 cup shredded beeswax or beeswax pellets and 1 tsp vitamin E oil.  Over medium high heat melt the oil and wax together.  This creates the base for your salve.

Once all the wax is melted remove from the heat and add 15-20 drops of essential oil and stir to combine.  Pour into jars and label.





Most of the salves I have made last for at least a year.  Vitamin E oil works as a preservitive and also makes your skin super smooth!