The Misty Manor, Mercers

New! An astringent, drawing salve for splinters and stings. Made with domestic pine tar and local herbs. Similar to a "black salve". Not FDA approved. Contains camphor.

My mother always had a "black salve" under the sink for use on splinters and stings. If you had a sliver that broke off below the surface, you put salve on it for an hour or so and the sliver pops out to the point where you can remove it with forceps. The idea is that an astringent preparation causes tissues to contract, forcing lodged debris to the surface and also forcing out fluid or pus which might cause infection. This can also work for removing venom from a sting (which is why people put tobacco (highly astringent) on bee stings). We do not smoke, but we usually keep a small amount of tobacco on hand for this purpose. Sometimes it is awfully convenient to have this in a salve form, a sticky paste that you can smear on the spot and then cover with a loose bandage. Enter black salve.

Truth In Advertising: Usually when people talk about "black salve," they mean either a salve from bloodroot paste or from pine tar/resin. This is the pine tar version based on a traditional recipe. The pine tar itself is quite astringent but is harsh on skin and the wrong consistency. So we mix it in a paste of beeswax and tallow with the camphor helping it to combine smoothly. The camphor is also used to make an extract of the germander (Teucrium canadense, a local herb), which is added as an additional astringent and antimicrobial. Traditionally, camphorated opium would often be used in a preparation like this; we do not use it here for obvious reasons. We have no clinical proof that this mixture is antimicrobial. Neither the Food and Drug Administration, the American Medical Association, nor the College of Bishops has verified that our "drawing salve," in fact, draws. You have only our word that it is what we use in our own family. If you buy it, do so because you appreciate a local, handmade product and want to use it in non-life threatening situations, not because it has been approved by anyone or is guaranteed to work.

We specifically do not recommend using it as your first line of defense if you are deathly allergic to bee or wasp stings. We, personally, have found it moderately effective at drying up poison ivy rash but no more so than commercial calamine lotion and not as effective at stopping the itch as the brand-name Caladryl™. As a general rule, it is more effective to use pine tar soap or Tecnu™ to avoid getting the rash in the first place. Camphor is toxic in large amounts: do not eat salve and do not overuse any product containing it. Germander is also potentially toxic if taken internally--- again, do not eat the salve. We have generally found that the taste is bad enough to discourage animals from licking it off--- your mileage may vary.

We think our drawing salve is a good product; you probably will, too, but it is not a miracle cure.

Handmade in the Missouri Ozarks