A friend of mine uses cannabis salve to manage pain. I offered to make salve for him, because my harvest was more abundant than anticipated. I compared several recipes online to check for common ingredients, and oil to beeswax ratios to get the desired consistency, eventually coming up with the prototype version of this recipe.
My friend and my parents tested the first batch. It worked for them, but they wanted something stronger…and firmer. I used twice as much cannabis in the second batch, with more beeswax. I was surprised at how well it worked for a variety of maladies. My mom told the aunts and uncles, who also wanted to try it. Creating a useful pain salve and balm became a fall project.
Cannabis Topicals
Cannabis topicals come in a variety of forms: oils, lotions, creams, salves, and balms. These products work by delivering cannabinoids, and the terpenes found in the cannabis plant, directly to receptors in the epidermis and dermis. Cannabis topicals are a great alternative for people who want to benefit from the beneficial medicinal properties or marijuana without getting high.
Additionally, without decarboxylation, which is optional for this recipe, cannabis doesn’t have psychoactive effects. None of the cannabinoid acids found in raw cannabis flower are psychoactive. The only cannabis compound that’s known to produce psychoactive effects is THC. Prior to decarbing cannabis, the THC is an acid, THCA, which has shown promising results camping inflammation, which is often a source of pain.
To Decarb Or Not To Decarb
Raw cannabis contains little to no THC. The raw flowers of the marijuana plant don’t produce THC and CBD directly. Instead, they produce cannabinoid acids that become cannabinoids after decarboxylation, a reaction usually triggered by heat. Decarboxylation is a chemical reaction that changes compounds within the cannabis plant into tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), cannabidiol (CBD), and other cannabinoids.
Decarboxylating is a necessary step for oil infusions that are intended to be edible, because the low heat activates the psycho-active properties of THC. However, based on reading about the merits for topicals, there’s ongoing debate about whether it is necessary. I ended up trying all sorts of variations on this, but no one noticed a difference in effectiveness from one batch to the next. If you opt to decarb your cannabis for the salve, place your cannabis flowers and sugar leaves on a baking sheet in a 220°F oven for about 30 – 35 minutes.
Cannabis Oil Infusion
This is where you can determine the potency of your salve/balm. Most of the products available commercially seem to be approximately 350 mg THC in a 2-ounce tin. Based on fiddling with online THC content calculators, that would be approximately 2 cups of oil infused with one ounce of cannabis that is 15% – 17% THC. I used 2 ounces of homegrown, with unknown THC content. Based on feedback from family and friends, they don’t need to apply much and it works quickly.
Note: I suggest starting with a lower dosage to make sure the salve works for you, like doing a half recipe with 1/2 ounce. Many of the people that were providing feedback are dealing with chronic pain management rather than standard aches and pains.
Directions
The infusion is the most time consuming step. To maximize the THC absorption, it is best to infuse slowly. However, I lack patience so I purchased a handy machine that takes care of decarbing and the oil infusion. Herb Decarboxylator Infuser 2 in 1 – Decarb Machine for Butter and Oil, which can be used to infuse all sorts of oil with all sorts of herbs, including rosemary, oregano, etc. Handy if you like infusing olive oils for culinary purposes.
I infused the oil for a total of 4.5 hours, doing three 1.5 hour cycles. I used progressively lower heat with each cycle (175, 170, 165 degrees), then allowed the mixture to steep for 8 hours. Based on experimenting, the slow infusion method, and allowing it to steep, rendered a darker oil. I don’t know if that is indicative of THC absorption or chlorophyll.
Strain and store the oil. Put a mesh strainer or cheesecloth over the container for oil and pour the oil/cannabis mixture through it. Do not squeeze it out—this will add more chlorophyll to your oil and make it taste more vegetal. Discard the plant material. The oil will have a shelf life of at least two months and can be extended with refrigeration.
Stove Method
If you do a stovetop infusion, add oil and decarbed cannabis to a double-boiler, slow cooker, or saucepan, and simmer on low heat for 2-3 hours. Make sure the temperature stays between 160-210ºF.
Cannabis Salve or Balm?
The salve/balm recipe is easy and fast once you have the oil infused. It is best to everything out and ready to roll so you don’t have to heat the infused oil that much and you have time to get it into containers of some sort. I ordered 2 oz tins for the salves and 2.5 oz deodorant sticks for the balms. I used a turkey baster to get the salve into the containers.
Consistency: About a 3:1 ratio of beeswax to oil renders a thick balm. 4:1 is what I use to make the salve. At 5:1 or less, the texture is more like a cream.
Ingredients
Infusion
- 1-4 oz. Cannabis flowers/sugar leaves (calculator)
See information above regarding infusing. The amount of cannabis used will impact potency. Larger quantities may not be practical if you aren’t growing your own. However, if you are growing your own, this is a great way to use up the sugar leaf trimmings, smaller flowers inside or lower on the plant, etc. - 2 cups of Coconut oil (16 ounces). I put it a bit extra, because there’s always some absorption loss.
Alternatives: apricot kernel oil, sweet almond oil, olive oil, MCT oil
Salve or Balm???
If you want to make salve, use 4 ounces of beeswax. If you want to make balm, use 5.25 – 6 ounces of beeswax. The beeswax with residual honey gets slightly sticky when you use over 5 ounces, but beeswax ratio will determine consistency. Initially, I used white beeswax pellets from Amazon, but Mike at Taos Honey hooked me up with his beeswax. I want honey in the mix.
Melt the beeswax over low heat or in a double boiler. If you use a double boiler, bring the water to a boil, then add the wax, and turn the heat down. You don’t want to overheat the infused oil, which you will be adding last. When the beeswax melts, add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
- 3 Tablespoons Shea and/or Cocoa butter
- 1 teaspoon Vitamin E oil
- 1 Tablespoon Arnica oil
- 1/2 teaspoon Tea Tree oil
- 1 teaspoon Camphor and/or Eucalyptus oil
- Optional: 1-1.5 Tablespoons of essential oils
Last step is adding the infused oil to the beeswax mixture. Mix everything together well over low heat. The heat should be just high enough to keep the beeswax liquid. Use a dropper, turkey baster, the big syringes that you get from the vet, or something like that, to get the salve or balm into the containers of your choice.
Please leave your recipe modifications, or any questions that you may have, in the comments below.
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