Open up the tin, and smell the pine forest!
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| Pine Gum Salve in 1/2 oz. screwtop tin $6 |
Pine Gum Salve or "Sticky Gum Salve" is a traditional pioneer remedy which is used the same way you would use an antibiotic ointment. Apply to skin abrasions and cuts, skin infections, acne, etc. Additionally it has been used as a drawing salve for splinters and embedded debris.
I encountered Pine Gum Salve as a child. My Granny would gather the sticky pine sap and cut it with "mentholatum" (A petroleum based product). Older recipes called for cutting the pitch with animal fats, especially mutton tallow. As an adult, remembering how effective the salve is, I developed my own recipe, using olive oil and beeswax as the cutting base. Our family goes out into the hills periodically to collect the Piñon pine pitch we use in our salves.
I love the smell of a piñon forest!
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