Infusing Plantain - Natural Remedies

Infused oil made from the plantain plant is an all around great treatment for damaged skin from rashes, insect bites, dry skin patches, help to heal pulled muscles, or anytime you want to relieve pain and swelling of the skin.

What you will need: plantain leaves, knife, virgin olive oil (other oils can be used but olive oil has the longest shelf life), cutting board, glass jar, vitamin E if you want it, lid to seal jar, and something to wash the leaves in if you are wanting to wash them.

I have repeatedly been told by herbalist not to wash the leaves in order to keep all the oils from the plantain plant...but I do and I think you can see from this picture why I do so. I have no desire whatsoever, to have the dirt and other nasty gunk in my infused oil.

After washing the leaves, you can either give them a spin or two in a salad spinner, or do like I do and lay them out onto clean cloths and pat dry. I have heard that you should allow 24 hours of drying time before adding the leaves to the oil, but I don't and it always seems to work out okay for me.

 

Make a medium size stack of the leaves

Then roll the leaves

 

Then slice the rolled leaves into thin stripes. What we are looking for here is as much exposed surface area as possible so as much of the oil in the plantain leaves can be infused into the oil

Next, put the leaf stripes into the glass jar and cover them with the virgin olive oil. Make sure all of the leaf strips are submerged in the oil or you risk mold forming. If you wish, you can add vitamin E at this point. Then, poke around the jar with a knife to get rid of the air pockets.

Now, screw on the lid. Some people place cheese cloth over the top of the jar before screwing on the lid, but I never have done this. Label the jar and keep the infusing oil at room temperature and where oil will not ruin the surface that it is sitting on. Mix the contents daily. (I just shake the jar one or two times) After several days, it will start to smell like salami. This is very normal. Allow to sit for 4-6 weeks but no longer than 6 weeks or your oil may go rancid. Strain off the oil and discard the leaf strips. Keep the infused oil in a cool dry place in a dark bottle or jar.

Thanks for reading and visiting my blog. :-)