EPSOM SALTS

Epsom Salt Ointment

(Please note: I got this recipe from a message board, and that person had got it from a list...you get the idea.  I have not tried this myself, so it's not a personal endorsement)

>>I am sure that a handy person can come up with a cream/ ointment in the same way I did but here is the formula I have been using for about a year now. We use it after a bath before bed and as a hand and foot lotion during PT and to soothe. It absorbs fine and leaves only a little powder type residue.

1 cup Epsom salts
2 t non-aluminum baking soda
1/2 cup boiling distilled water
2 T glycerin
1/4 cup almond, olive, or sunflower oil
1/2 cup favorite natural lotion or cream from HFS OR 1/2 cup coconut butter

optional
a few drops lavender or other essential oils
a T flaxseed oil
a T evening primrose oil
a T of MSM powder to boost sulfate levels

This is like making real mayonnaise, you need to blend at high speed and add ingredients a little at a time.

Boil water and add to Epsom salts and baking soda in blender, pulse till dissolved and not grainy (must be boiling).

Add glycerin, then slowly add oils while blending to emulsify.

Still blending add lotion, cream, or coconut butter a little at a time.

Pour into a clean container, preferably ceramic or glass (I use a wide mouth mason jar that I can sterilize).

If this separates into layers when cool, rewarm and add 2T guar gum dissolved into a bit of hot water, reblend and cool.
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Mine separates almost immediately and I can't find any guar gum ANYWHERE. If anyone knows what could be used to stop the separation, please post a solution.
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It should not get grainy and should smooth on well and be rubbed into warm open pores. If you like it more or less oily change that part of the recipe, I make mine kind of thin like a light massage oil rather than a cream.<<

Check out BBB Guide: Epsom Salts.  We gathered all the information we could find, along with some great anecdotal stuff from parents like you and put it all in one guide.  Order your free copy through liz@deaknet.com.

4: November 20, 2001