Beeswax ointments.

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.herbs
Subject: Re: Beeswax Ointment
From: ewhitevhp.aol.com (EWhiteVHP)
Date: 19 Oct 1995 11:16:32 -0400

> Could someone give me a recipe/directions for making beeswax ointment. We used to get it from a hospital pharmacy, but they've stopped carrying it. If I can get the ingredients necessary, I'd like to make it myself. It is wonderfully healing for skin irritations.

Excerpts from the book:
"Super Formulas, Arts & Crafts: How to make 360 useful products that contain honey & beeswax"
120-page book by Elaine C. White Copyright 1993 ISBN 0-9637539-7-5
Available from bookstores, libraries and directly from the publisher.

Petroleum Jelly

Petroleum jelly is easy to make and it is an ingredient of many other products. Naturalists may substitute a natural oil, such as grapeseed oil or sweet almond oil, for the baby or mineral oil to create an "un-petroleum" jelly.

1 ounce (weight) beeswax
½ cup baby or mineral oil

Melt the beeswax in a microwave or a double boiler. Stir in the mineral oil. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir until cool.

Skin Cream

2 ½ ounces (weight) beeswax
4 ounces (weight) lanolin
⅔ cup baby or mineral oil
¾ cup water
1 teaspoon borax (sodium borate, CP)
Fragrant essential oil (optional)

Melt the oil, lanolin and beeswax to 160 degrees F. Heat the borax and water in a separate container to 160 degrees F. Be sure the beeswax is melted and the borax is dissolved. Add the water mixture to the oil mixture while stirring. When a white cream forms, stir slowly until the mixture cools to 100 degrees F. Pour the cream into small, wide-mouth jars.

Beeswax Polish

Beeswax furniture polish with its soft, satin shine is considered the ultimate in wood care.

4 ounces (weight) beeswax
2 tablespoons carnauba wax
2 ½ cups odorless turpentine

Melt the waxes on high in a microwave or in a double boiler. Remove the waxes from the heat and stir in the turpentine. Apply the polish with a clean cloth and rub in small circles. Turn the cloth as it becomes dirty. Allow the polish to dry, then buff with a clean cloth. If more than one coat is desired, wait 2 days between applications.

Lip Gloss

Lipstick colors this easy formula for lip gloss. This is a good way to use lipstick that is too dark because the gloss will be a lighter color.

1 teaspoon grated beeswax
½ teaspoon lipstick
½ teaspoon petroleum jelly

Melt the ingredients in a small can placed in boiling water. Stir it well and pour it into a small jar.

Dispersing Bath Oil

Most bath oils simply float on water. Dispersing bath oil mixes evenly with water, clings to skin and forms a thin, even coating.

1 whole egg
½ cup baby or mineral oil
2 teaspoons liquid detergent
¼ cup vodka
2 tablespoons honey
¼ cup whole milk
Fragrant essential oil (optional)
Liquid food coloring (optional)

Mix all ingredients in a blender for 30 seconds. Use only 1 or 2 tablespoons of the oil in a bathtub of water. Shelf-life at room temperature is about 18 months!

Chapped-lip Balm

Simple petroleum jelly is good for chapped lips, but this formula is even better.

1 tablespoon grated beeswax (½ oz.)
1 tablespoon petroleum jelly
1 teaspoon honey
1 tablespoon lanolin
3 to 4 drops essential oil

Melt the wax, lanolin and petroleum jelly in a microwave. Add the honey and essential oil. Essential oil of peppermint, eucalyptus, wintergreen and camphor slightly numb painful lips. Stir the mixture until it cools.

Suppliers: (This is from 1995. Some of these may still be in business but chances are, most aren't, and those that are don't have the same addresses and numbers anymore.)

Brushy Mountain Bee Farm
Route 1, Box 135
Moravian Falls, NC 28654
1-800-BEESWAX
Sells beeswax, carnauba wax, and containers for creams & polishes.

Haussmann's Pharmacy
534-536 W. Girard Avenue
Philadelphia, PA 19123
(215) 627-2143
Sells herbs, oils, lanolin & borax.

Lavender Lane
6715 Donerail
Sacramento, CA 95842
(916) 334-4400
Sells oils & waxes for cosmetics.

Sunburst Bottle Company
7001 Sunburst Way
Citrus Heights, CA 95621
(916) 722-4632
Sells jars, bottles & containers for practically everything!

Sax Arts & Crafts
Post Office Box 51710
New Berlin, WI 53151-0710
1-800-558-6696
Sells "everything your art desires," waxes & odorless turpentine.