How to Make Your Own CBD Salve
A CBD salve is a pain-relieving topical cream that contains cannabinoids (CBD) derived from high-quality hemp plants. Since this type of cream is applied directly to sore muscles, CBD salves and CBD vapes are effective pain relief.
Headaches and migraines can occur for several reasons. A tense or tight muscle in your neck is one potential cause. Migraine attacks generally start around age 30, but anyone who has more than five headaches per month should consult their doctor. Although they do not cure the underlying problems, pain medications help control migraines’ pain and reduce inflammation that contributes to headache pain. Other treatments include biofeedback training or cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). CBT helps people manage chronic pain by changing behavior patterns that keep them from controlling their symptoms.
CBD Salve Recipe Cannabis-Infused Baking Soda & Essential Oils – Salves and Ointments:
Step 1: Determine how much salve you need to make.
Part of learning on how to make your own CBD salve will also include finding a container of some sort to store your CBD infused-lotion or Oil. We suggest a plastic 4oz. Wide-mouth jar with an airtight lid, but any small container will do as long as it is used only for your cannabis lotions and oils, such as these. The size of the jar depends on how much salve you want to make. Generally speaking, try not to go over one ounce at a time since that’s about 20 grams of hemp material per batch – which can yield 13-14 grams of the finished product after extracting the cannabinoids from the plant fibers.
Keeping that in mind, one four-ounce jar yields about 1.5 ounces (or six to seven tablespoons) of salve. That’s enough for two good-sized joints, maybe three if you’re stingy! I like to use medium strength oil for cooking and baking… so feel free to experiment with the amounts you use to create your own personal pain relief recipes.
Assemble Your Ingredients & Supplies Here is what you will need:
Olive Oil – organic virgin cold-pressed, Extra Virgin – look for hemp seed oil at health food stores Hemp Fiber/Shreds – decarboxylated (& preferably pre-ground) Cannabis Trim /Sift/Shake – raw, organic, decarboxylated (and preferably pre-ground) Beeswax Pastilles Essential Oils – high quality, therapeutic grade. Try to find pure oils with no additives or chemicals.
Step 2: Grind & Decarb your Cannabis
Decarboxylation occurs through a process called ‘de-carbing,’ which requires heat—Preheat oven to 220 degrees Fahrenheit. Spread ground cannabis evenly across an oven-safe dish and place in the center of the oven for 25 minutes. Let cool entirely before collecting any oil that may have been released during heating (see Step 4).
You want to grind it as fine as possible so it will all fit in your oven-safe dish to be decarboxylated. You can use a coffee grinder, food processor, or blender for this task.
Step 3: Simmer Cannabutter in water until all solids dissolve.
Place the cannabis-infused Oil in a small saucepan over medium heat and add 1/4 cup water to the pan (see picture below). Stir the mixture constantly with a wooden spoon until all solid ingredients are dissolved. This process can take up to one hour. If you’re having trouble getting the Oil to dissolve, try adding another 1/4 cup of water and keep stirring!
After about 30 minutes, you should notice that there are no longer any solid pieces of ground plant material at the bottom of the pan after stirring. If this is not the case, keep stirring and heating until no solids remain.
Step 4: Strain & Simmer Salve Oil
The CBD-infused olive oil can now be strained through a cheesecloth or fine-mesh strainer to remove any remaining plant material. Carefully pour warm salve oil into jars, leaving about 1/4 inch between the top of the pot and the Oil. Let cool completely before placing lids on jars or using as directed below.
Don’t worry if some small particles make it through your filter – these will become trapped in your salve after cooling, but you should do another pass with fresh cheesecloth for an even cleaner result.
Step 5: Add Essential Oils
Once the oil has cooled, add therapeutic grade essential oils for scent and/or pain-relieving properties. You can use any combination of these oils or others like lavender, frankincense, tea tree, etc. I used ten drops each of two different CBD-infused oils – peppermint & copaiba.
Step 6: Melt Beeswax in Water
Once everything is mixed together, place a small saucepan over low heat and add about 1 tsp. water to the pan (see picture below), then slowly drop in your beeswax pastilles. Stir constantly until melted. This method allows you to slowly melt down large chunks of solid wax without burning it on the stovetop. Beeswax pastilles can be found here.
As soon as the beeswax melts, STOP stirring and remove from heat immediately! Beeswax is flammable when it gets over ~170 degrees Fahrenheit, so you don’t want to have a flame going anywhere near this stuff! Let cool for a minute or two – there may be tiny bubbles, but these will dissipate as the mixture cools.
Step 7: Pour Salve Oil & Wax Mixture
Once your Oil and wax are within 10 degrees of each other, slowly pour them together while briskly stirring with a wooden spoon (see picture below). Stir until thoroughly mixed together – this process should only take about 2 minutes once everything has been melted. Your salve will start to thicken almost immediately after mixing together.
Step 8: Pour Salve into Jars & Let Cool
After stirring for about 2 minutes, quickly pour the mixture into any glass jars you have on hand. Once cool, place lids on jars and store them in a cool dark place where they won’t be exposed to direct sunlight. This salve will stay good for at least one year!
Cannabis salve is excellent for pain relief of all kinds (back/neck/leg aches, arthritis, etc.), muscle soreness (especially good for delayed onset muscle soreness – DOMS), bug bites & stings, dry or chapped skin patches (elbows/knees/feet), acne, etc. However, you use CBD salve; no one can deny its healing properties with its ability to help cure what ails you. We hope this helped you in figuring out how to make your own CBD salve.