Comfrey oil is an amazing natural remedy that can help heal wounds bruises sprains and more. With its potent medicinal properties, comfrey has been used for over 2000 years to treat a variety of ailments. The good news is that you can easily make your own comfrey oil at home using just a few simple ingredients.
In this easy DIY comfrey oil guide, I’ll walk you through the entire process step-by-step You’ll learn
- The benefits of comfrey oil
- How to make infused comfrey oil
- How to use comfrey oil for healing
Plus I’ll share my favorite comfrey oil recipes you can try at home Let’s get started!
Why Make Comfrey Oil?
Comfrey contains beneficial compounds like allantoin, rosmarinic acid and tannins. Allantoin helps regenerate skin cells, while rosmarinic acid is a potent anti-inflammatory. Together, these compounds give comfrey powerful healing abilities.
Comfrey oil helps:
- Speed up healing of wounds, cuts, scrapes or burns
- Reduce pain and inflammation associated with sprains, strains or bruises
- Soothe arthritis, joint or muscle pain
- Fade scars and minimize the appearance of stretch marks
Comfrey oil can be used safely on the skin to heal all sorts of ailments. It should never be ingested though, as comfrey does contain toxic compounds that can damage the liver.
How to Make Comfrey Oil
Making infused comfrey oil is simple. Here’s what you’ll need:
- 1 cup dried comfrey leaves
- 1 cup carrier oil like olive, coconut or jojoba oil
- Cheesecloth
- Glass jar with lid
Step 1. Start by filling a glass jar with the dried comfrey leaves. Crush or bruise the leaves first to release their beneficial oils and compounds.
Step 2. Pour the carrier oil over the comfrey leaves until they are completely covered.
Step 3. Place a lid on the jar and store it in a cool dark place for 4-6 weeks. Shake the jar daily to mix the contents.
Step 4. After 4-6 weeks, strain the oil through a cheesecloth to remove the leaves. Squeeze the cheesecloth to get all the oil out.
Step 5. Transfer the strained comfrey oil into a jar and store it in a cool dark place. It will keep for up to a year.
And that’s it – you’ve made your own easy DIY comfrey oil using just 2 ingredients!
Tips for Making Comfrey Oil
- Use young comfrey leaves for best results. Older leaves can be bitter.
- Grind or crush leaves to release the beneficial compounds.
- Shake the jar daily while infusing.
- Strain carefully using cheesecloth to get pure oil.
- Store the finished oil away from heat and light.
How to Use Comfrey Oil
Comfrey oil has a variety of uses for natural healing and pain relief:
For wound healing: Apply a thin layer of comfrey oil on superficial cuts, wounds or scrapes 1-2 times a day. The oil helps heal tissue and minimize scarring.
For bruises and sprains: Gently massage comfrey oil on bruised, swollen or tender areas to reduce pain and swelling. It helps heal damaged tissue.
For muscle/joint pain: Apply comfrey oil and massage it in to soothe arthritis, sore muscles, gout or back pain. It can provide anti-inflammatory relief.
For skin irritation: Lightly dab on comfrey oil to help heal rashes, bug bites, acne breakouts or other irritations. It calms itching and redness.
Always do a patch test before wider application. While rare, some people may be allergic to comfrey. Start by applying a small amount of oil on inner arm and watch for any reaction.
Handy Comfrey Oil Recipes to Try
Once you’ve made the comfrey oil infusion, you can use it to create other healing remedies:
Comfrey Salve: Melt beeswax pellets with comfrey oil and a few drops of vitamin E oil. Pour into tins or jars and let cool completely before use. Apply to wounds, scrapes, cuts and burns.
Comfrey Bath Soak: For an ultra-soothing bath, mix 1 cup comfrey oil with 2 cups Epsom salts and 10-15 drops lavender essential oil. Sprinkle under warm running bath water.
Comfrey & Calendula Oil: Infuse calendula flowers in comfrey oil for a combined healing effect. Use on diaper rashes, skin irritations and burns.
Muscle Rub: Mix 4 parts comfrey oil with 1 part peppermint, wintergreen or ginger essential oil. Massage into sore muscles and joints.
The possibilities are endless! Experiment with creating your own comfrey oil remedies to stock your natural medicine cabinet.
The Takeaway
It’s simple to make high quality comfrey oil at home using basic ingredients. Comfrey oil offers a safe, natural way to heal wounds, bruises, sprains as well as soothe muscle and joint aches. It has powerful medicinal properties that make it helpful for many conditions. Follow my easy DIY comfrey oil steps to make this useful healing oil yourself.
Why I am Making Comfrey Infused Oil:
According to the great herbalist Rosemary Gladstar (in her book Herbal Recipes for Vibrant Health):
- Comfrey helps damaged bones, tissues, and joints heal by stimulating the healing process.
- It is one of the best herbs for pulling muscles, sprains, and bruises.
- Comfrey can help with a lot of different kinds of wounds, like poison ivy, scrapes, broken bones, sore muscles, etc.
It is great for skin problems and problems with deep muscles, joints, and bones, so I am going to use it in my salves this winter. I’ll add links to those recipes to this post as soon as I finish them, but for now, here is a list of great salves and recipes that use infused comfrey oil:
I love learning how to make my own herbal remedies. If you want to grow in confidence in being an at-home herbalist for your family and friends, I strongly recommend taking a course from The Herbal Academy. They have many courses available, from beginner courses to intermediate and even clinical herbalism classes. They also have quicker courses about things like foraging, skin care, perfume making, and more.
Check out The Herbal Academy to find the perfect herb course for you. They are totally worth it!
Here is a list of great herbalist books that you can read to learn more about the health benefits of different herbs:
How to Make Comfrey Infused Oil:
- Pick out a glass jar that is the right size for the amount of Comfrey Infused Oil you need. A pint-sized mason jar is what I’m using because I’m going to mix it with other infused oils.
- Harvest the comfrey leaves on a dry and sunny afternoon. Use a scissors to cut the comfrey leaves into pieces.
- On a tray or herbal drying screen, let the comfrey pieces dry for one to three days. **(see note at end of post about dry vs. fresh herbs for infusion oils).
- In case you don’t have comfrey, Mountain Rose Herbs sells dried comfrey leaves.
- With your Comfrey Infusion Oil, use one of these ways to make an infusion:
This is an old-fashioned way of making Infused Oils. Put half of the herbs or plants in the glass jar and then pour oil (I like good quality olive oil) over the top, all the way to the top.
Stir the plants slowly with a spoon or butter knife to make sure there are no air pockets. Cover tightly. Place the jar in a warm and sunny spot and let it steep for 4-6 weeks. Check it every few days and gently shake it to encourage the plants to release their medicinal benefits.
After 4 to 6 weeks, strain the oil through cheesecloth. Make sure to squeeze the cheesecloth very hard to get every last drop of your medicinal oil.
This is used to be my preferred method. Being that way always makes me feel very old-fashioned, and I loved letting the sun power my herbal-infused oils. Since a few batches of herb-infused oil went bad, I now use the dark cupboard method instead, which I’ll explain in more detail below.
If you want to make herbal oil that is infused with sunlight, you should use VERY dry comfrey leaves. Before you use this method, let them dry for at least three days on your counter, tray, or screen. The more dried out the comfrey leaves are, the less likely it is that the flower water will rot your herbal tea. Additionally, make sure you use a good oil so that it doesn’t go bad in the sun.
How to make infused Comfrey oil!
FAQ
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