How to Make and Use Balm of Gilead

Balm of Gilead is a very handy addition to your first aid kit. In this article, I will tell you how to make Balm of Gilead, and how it can be used. It is mentioned in several places throughout the Bible. I’m not sure if the Balsam Poplar (Cottonwood) trees that we have in Alaska are the same ones mentioned, but they are of the Populus species, are commonly called Balm of Gilead, and have wonderful medicinal properties. In a future article, I will show you how to make Balm of Gilead cough syrup and cough drops.

Balsam Poplar buds

How to Make Balm of Gilead

The buds of the tree are used to make healing balms and cough remedies. The resin causes the buds to be very sticky; therefore, they are best collected when the temperatures are below freezing. If you wait until spring when the leaves begin to sprout, they will not be as potent for medicinal uses.

It is best to pick the buds when the temperatures are below
freezing because the buds are sticky when warm.

Collect at least a cupful of buds. You may want to make cough syrup after I post my follow-up article, so collect extra buds now and keep them in your freezer, if you have one.

Do not wash the buds. Try to collect them in dry weather, if possible, to reduce the water in your salve. Place the buds in a pan and cover with vegetable oil or melted, rendered animal fat. You may also use vegetable oils that are solid at room temperature such as palm oil and coconut oil. Melt them prior to pouring over the buds. The amount of oil isn’t an exact science. Just cover the buds so that you can stir them around a bit.

Cover buds with liquid oils, or melt rendered
animal fat or vegetable oils that are solid
at room temperature, such as palm or coconut.

Warm over very low heat for at least two hours. Because we have so much snow, I leave the lid off the pan for a little while to evaporate the water in the buds. If you are in a drier location and your buds aren’t covered with snow, covering the pan with a lid will retain more of the volatile oils. I set the pan on the coolest part of my woodburning cookstove for a few hours, and sometimes up to a few days. You could set the covered pan in the oven with only the pilot light burning. Just remember not to preheat the oven for baking while the pan is in there. Heating the oil and buds in the top of a double boiler for two or three hours is another good way to infuse the oil.

Stir the buds occasionally, and then strain through several layers of cheesecloth. I have found that I get a cleaner salve if I first strain through a wire sieve to remove the buds, and then through a few layers of cheesecloth.

If you are using liquid oil, you will probably want to thicken it with beeswax. Measure the infused oil and return to a clean pan. To each cup of oil, add 1 ½ to 2 Tbsp. beeswax. Over very low heat, or in the top of a double boiler, stir and melt the beeswax. Pour into clean tins or jars. Allow to cool and solidify before covering with lids. If your balm is too hard for your liking, melt with a little more oil. If it is too liquid, melt with a little more beeswax.

Beeswax can be purchased in blocks and chopped.
Use about 1 1/2 to 2 Tbsp. per cup of infused oil
to thicken for salves.

Vitamin E and Benzoin are good, safe preservatives. You may wish to add a dropper of liquid Vitamin E oil or ¼ tsp of Tincture of Benzoin or Gum Benzoin to each cup of your infused oil prior to pouring into containers.

How To Use Balm Of Gilead

According to Janice Schofield in Discovering Wild Plants, Balsam Poplar and Quaking Aspen are in the Willow family, and contain salicin and populin. These glycosides are similar to aspirin, and are effective in reducing pain, inflammation, and fever.

Of all the herbal salves I make, this is the best one I’ve found for chapped hands and lips. Most people love the fragrance of Balm of Gilead. When my boys were babies, I often used it on their bottoms to prevent or heal diaper rash. Friends have used it for saddle sores. It helps heal cuts and scrapes, and is helpful for arthritis and sore muscles. Be sure to make plenty. Once you try it, you’ll want to share it with friends.

Jar of Balm of Gilead, ready to use.

Another excellent book that will help you learn about using plants is "The Way of Herbs" by Michael Tierra. I refer to this book often.