Making Vapor Rub

After I received my order of beeswax from Mountain Rose, I realized I was going to be able to make a lot with it. A pound of beeswax goes a long way for a small family! Today we made homemade vapor rub, and early this summer we are going to make a big batch of lip balm with Nana to share with all my sisters.

I wanted to make two variations of vapor rub - a strong one with camphor for the Chief, and a mild one with lavender for the babies. Camphor is very strong and I don't want to use it for the little ones.

I used 8 ounces of olive oil, about 2 ounces of beeswax. I warmed the oil over a double boiler (actually a cheap pot of water and a small bowl I picked up at the thrift store.) The oil goes in the bowl over the gently bowling water, so the oil doesn't burn. Next time I make this, I want to use oil infused with some kind of mint to add extra strength to it - I know we will have a garden full of mint this summer. I melted the beeswax gently in the oil, and took it off the heat as soon as it was melted.

 

I poured the wax/oil into two tubs - repurposed from butter tubs. A real herbalist probably wouldn't reuse old plastic butter tubs, but what can I say? They were the right size.

Then I added the oil. I used 40 drops of eucalyptus in each tub. I added 30 drops of lavender to the children's tub and 30 drops of camphor to the Chief's tub. I encourage anyone who wants to try this to experiment and see what works for you. Especially for kids, less is more.

The finished products smell really good!!!

I used:
Available from Mountain Rose:
White Camphor Oil
Eucalyptus Oil
Lavender Oil
Beeswax
Olive Oil (I bought mine on clearance at the grocery store)
Repurposed:
Butter tubs - metal tins or glass jars would be better

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy the latest recipe, for herbal cough drops you can make in your kitchen.