# Jewelweed and soap or salve



## Guest

Anyone here ever make jewelweed soap, salve or tincture that they have a recipe they would share.. My grandson cuts down trees for a living and he is suffering so bad from poison ivy, and thistles and you name it.. I want to make him some things to take to work with him that will work immediately and then some soap to help it.. .. He also has MRSA, and gets so many painful boils,, this week I made him some of grandmas snake, actually I call it Boil oil and he says it is working.. clearing them right up.. I feel so bad for this kid, he is a hard working 23 yr old kid.. and his skin seems to take the hits on him..
Barb


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## Kalne

From what I've read, infusing your oils with fresh jewel weed is the most effective use of it. Then make your soap and salve from that. I have yet to find fresh jewel weed, though it seems to grow in abundance elsewhere. :/


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## Guest

Well it grows in super abundance here in Michigan... I would send you some, but I guess it dies off fast and making it with fresh is better.. Went and got some last night, made a batch of soap, infused some oil with it, infused some water with it and made a mash puree of it.. and put all three into the soap.. guess it should fight the poison ivy pretty good..
Barb


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## Caprine Beings

Barb, if you could collect some seed off of the jewlweed I'd pay you. I have been trying to get some seed but can't find it around here. I need some for ointments. Tammy


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## Guest

ok Tammy, give me a couple of days and I will go ahuntin... and get you some seed. no need to pay.. its only seeds
Barb


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## Caprine Beings

Thanks Barb. I appreciate it. 
Tammy


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## Aja-Sammati

Barb- Can you pick some seeds for me, too?? I suffer horrib;y from poison oak, and have been wanting to try some jewelweed.


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## Guest

I sure can Michelle, I will even send you a bar of my soap and you can test it for me.. 
Barb


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## SherrieC

Barbara, you can puree the stuff and add it fresh to glicerin soap. 

What I do though is gather the jewelweed, dry it. infuse in oo, 
I make a batch of cp soap and substitute 6 oz of the jwoo, for a lite oil then I add crumbled leaves for visual. 

jewelweed salve
I have the recipe in the soap room, basically a chap stick type thing with 3 ounces of jewelweed infused oo. I'll try to remember and post it tomorrow. unless its in my computer files brb maybe : )


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## SherrieC

nope the recipe isnt' here but my label is : )
Jewelweed Stick
Beeswax, Shea butter, 
Olive oil, Jewelweed, Emu oil Apricot Kernel oil, ,
cocoa butter, Lavender, 
Tea Tree essence oils.


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## Kalne

So Sherrie, you use *dried* jewelweed? Is it effective? I've got people asking me to make this all the time and I keep reading that it's got to be used fresh. Um, Barb, if you manage to get some seeds add me to the list!


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## Guest

I also read that it should be used fresh, because I had intended to use some dried from health food stores.. when I read that I went looking for it and found so much of it, it literally grows in every wet ditch bank here in Michigan.. I also read that the orange one with spots was stronger than the yellow one.. I did find much more of the orange one anyway.. 
I also made some salve, and used cocoa butter, infused avacodo oil, beeswax and it feels wonderful.. now for it just to work on the poison ivy.. I used three things with it in my soap, I pureed some of it, and added one cup of it.. I used 1/2 goat milk and 1/2 infused distilled water and I used 20 oz of infused avacodo oil in my soap, making some the size of the walmart recipe. 
gals, I will go and get some in the next couple of days and collect some seeds and roots, it needs very wet to survive and it likes dappled sunlight. it does not grow well in direct sunlight and that is exactly how I am finding it.. along the side of wooded ditch banks, creeks etc
Barb


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## hsmomof4

I was going to ask you to get me some seeds, too, and then I googled jewelweed. Did not know that it was the same thing as the Touch-Me-Not that grows up by my in-laws...so I sent MIL an email to ask her to send me seeds. You should have fun getting the seeds, at least. One of my kids' favorite things to do when we hike up by the grandparents' place is to explode the Touch-Me-Not seed pods as we go by! When they are ready, the least contact makes them shoot seeds in all directions. Very fun!

What part did you puree? The leaves?


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## Sondra

Oh thanks for this info. and timed just right as Sherrie sent me some and was going to make soap with it this week. Boy would love to get it growing here but sigh no stream or shade at the house.


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## buckrun

I am very interested to know what you are calling Jewelweed. 
The common name is used for both a wild impatiens and something in the balsam family.
Barb- try boosting zinc and Lysine levels for the boils. Work up slowly on the zinc and use a citrate form for best absorption. It's a miracle. Men particularly those who work in the heat suffer depletion of zinc levels which allows the staph to get out of control.
Lee


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## Caprine Beings

The constituents in Jewelweed: "Jewelweed contains two methoxy-1, four napthoquinineóan anti-inflammatory and fungicide thatís the active ingredient of Preparation H." (http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Plants.Folder/Jewelweed.html)

Plant identification:
Leaves:









Flower:









Tammy


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## Sondra

found this on the net also found that when saving the seeds use a plastic bag to gather the pods because when ripe they just pop and fly everywhere, so cover the pod first then pick it. Also if they don't pop and fly all over they are not ready to harvest.
another thing I found out is that we can grow this in our gardens if we want to, but can be invassive if you don't control the seeds and has to be in mostly shade and kept moist. 

Cut fresh jewel weed, dice it in small sections and pieces, flowers and all and pour one cup of olive oil over it. Cover and sit in a warm sunny window for 3 or 4 days. As the oil is absorbed by the plant, add more oil to cover. After 3 or 4 days, strain the plant particles out of your oil. You should have approximately one cup of the infused oil.

Mix is with 1 oz. of beeswax that has been melted in microwave. Warm the infused oil in a pot, (don't boil) and add the melted beeswax. I like to add an essential oil like tea tree oil (about 2 drops is enough for this salve) after the beeswax and jewel weed infused oil is combined.

Pour into salve container, a short squat glass jar with lid works best. This salve can be used for any skin irritation, including eczema, poison ivy rash, and chiggers. We even have used this on acne with some good results!


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## Sondra

ok so Barb if you gather lots of seeds I would also like some


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## Guest

ok, I am going today to get the jewelweed and seeds, I take a large garbage bag, cover the entire plant and pull up by roots.. that way shaking the bag out, I get the seeds.. not so hard, unless its real swampy.. wonder if the roots transplant too.???
Barb


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## Caprine Beings

I don't think so Barb, but I'm thinking if the root gets no air pockets it might be possible. Cattail roots are much like that. Fine to replant as long as theres no air. You could try cutting at the base right under the bag line and see if it grows back.
Tammy


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## SherrieC

It's called "touch me not" because of its shooting seeds
4 oz beeswax
4 oz Shea butter
2 oz avocado
2 oz apricot kernal
2 0z infused jewelweed
2 oz Emu oil
1 oz cocoa butter
(I usually use 3 oz of the jewelweed though) still with a total weight of 6 oz light oils. 
The dried Jewelweed works, it works wonders! I have never used fresh. I always have repeat customers on this every year. We use the stick for nettles, ivy, oak, bug bites. and mysterious rash. Of course if I was out in the woods near fresh jewelweed, and needed it I would crush it and rub on the effected area, and have before on the mosquitoe bites I get while harvesting. ahhh relief. The orange speckled throats are the ones you want. Also when you hold the leaf under water it will look like tin foil. Very cool try it. If your leaf doesn't appear "foiled" you may not have the right species.


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## Caprine Beings

Thanks for that info Sherrie, species makes a big difference


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## Aja-Sammati

:rofl 

Barb, stalking through the woods with her black plastic trash bag, seeking to slaughter the unsuspecting jewelweeds at play...


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## Guest

oH Michelle, thank you for the wonderful laugh... that is it in a nutshell.. DH stalks with me... 
Barb


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## Sheryls Brat

Thank you for posting pics tammy I was curious as to what it looked like :biggrin


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## Caprine Beings

Thanks Brandi. It helps all to know the identification so we are all talking about the same plant  


:rofl A fellow Stalk Stalker :biggrin
Tammy


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## Sheryls Brat

"stalking" can be fun lol that reminds me we need to go finish getting juniper berries :rofl


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## Narrow Chance

:hi I want some seed also!! If you 'stalk' enough to share.. lol


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## Sheryl

:hi :hi me too, me too can you collect some jewel weed seeds for me too????? PM me and I'll give you my address.


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## Sheryls Brat

oh no seeds -runs n hides- everytime you get seeds it means I gotta dig a flowerbed


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## hsmomof4

Whatcha gonna do with the juniper berries?


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## Guest

I will need everyone that wants seeds to pm me their address, went seed huntin yesterday and they are not ready yet, so it will be a week or two.. 
anyone anticipating poison ivy and needs a little infused oil to make the balm,,, I can get some to you,, you pay postage.. 
Barb


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## SherrieC

thats a good deal, I know folks who chare $1 or more an ounce for the oil! and $3 an ounce for the dried herb.


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## Sheryls Brat

The juniper berries are for making sauces for dressing game type meats, making a tincture for holisitc type approaches, and a triple distilled oil for using in soaps to help with psoriasis, arithritis, wounds and some infections also supposed to be good for upper respitoary type problems, heart failure and intestional problem and the berries used to be eaten to relieve rheumatism or bad breath... however they can be toxic if you ingest to much of them... they're good for making a salve for varicose veins, acne, eczema also it can stimulate menustration via massage... there are several different things it can be used for but one of the main things we are using it for is because it's supposed to aid in heart congestion and high blood pressure but also when you buy essential oils if you buy what they Call Texas Cedar Oil then you are getting the Oil that comes from the Berries and the Bark of the Juniper Tree so we plan on making our own oil infusions with it for the soap that's the main reason.... Plus it smells amazing!!!!!!!!!!!


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