I never even thought of making my own decongestant chest rub.
In fact, I had completely forgotten that there even was a product like that.
Until I needed it.
Necessity is the mother of invention, right?
In this case, yes. And though I didn’t really invent this, I finally cobbled together information from the internet and made my own.
About two weeks ago, at bedtime, my youngest son’s nose was completely stuffed up. It’s allergy season here so a bit of sniffling is to be expected, but not the total clogging that he was experiencing. And he was pretty miserable. There is nothing harder for a mom than when her child is suffering and you don’t know how to help him.
We tried our saline nasal rinse and blowing, but neither worked well at all.
Then I remembered an email I had gotten from a reader, mentioning that she had a recipe for Vicks Rub.
So I reread her email and the web and I was once again off and running to “Make Your Own Land 
.”
If you have the ingredients on hand, this is a breeze. And it has much cleaner ingredients than the commercial brand.
Now some people might not think that it is a big deal, but there is reason to be concerned about what you put on your skin.
1. Think about how pharmaceutical companies are producing drug patches these days. You put the patch on and the drug seeps into your skin.
2. Then there is the whole paraben/breast cancer issue. Parabens (used in lots of personal care products) haven been found in breast cancer tissue. You can read this article on the FDA’s website to read more on this topic.
The jury is still out on how the parabens got in there. And I know that there are different sizes of molecules so that some things may pass through the skin while others won’t.
Then, I looked at the ingredients in Vicks and thought, “who wants to put turpentine oil on a child’s skin anyway?” Yes, there is turpentine oil in Vicks — Ugh!)
So, I whipped up a batch, rubbed some on my son’s chest and even dabbed some on his PJ’s directly under his nose. Another good tip is to place some on the sick person’s pillow.
It worked immediately and about ten minutes later, he was asleep .
Homemade Vapor Rub
Ingredients
- Oil (Use extra virgin oil for a liquid rub; coconut or palm shortening for a solid rub)
- Essential oil (I used eucalyptus, but peppermint would also work well. Consider using a mixture of the two. Vicks contains camphor. I am going to look into this, but I think it would also be a good option. UPDATE: I am trying to sort of the best essential oils company. I am currently deciding between Young Living Oils and DoTerra and a few others. See below for more info). They are more expensive, but they really seem to be quite a bit more effective than other brands that I have tried.)
Method
1. Place a small amount (approximately 2 Tbsp) of oil in a small container.
2. Add essential oil to desired strength. Start with 5-7 drops and add until the mixture is the strength that you desire. I just rubbed some on my son’s chest and increased the strength until it started to work.
I got my great little container at Mountain Rose Herbs. Nice color, nice compact size and travels well.
Important note: Do not apply undiluted essential oils directly to the skin, or injest them, unless otherwise directed by the manufacturer.
I hope this works for you!
If you enjoy frugal, healthy options to over the counter products, check out my Recipes page where you can find a lot more “Make Your Own” options including:
Do you have a favorite natural remedy that you would care to share?
Or leave a comment with something that you would like a natural remedy for. I’m game for a challenge!
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This really does work. I have made this with peppermint. Smearing a small bit under the nose also works well.
A couple of years ago I read somewhere that if you were coughing a lot at night, schmear Vicks VapoRub on the bottoms of your feet and then put socks on….it would help stop the coughing. It worked! Now I will try this recipe…far better for you, I am sure!
Thanks, Adrienne!
Now…any ideas on what to put on our cats nose? She has had a bad cold the past few days and keeps shaking her head to clear the snot out. Then she licks her poor nose. It is now raw and very tender. I put a dab of chapstick on it earlier…any thoughts?
Hey Cindy!
Try refined shea butter! Lanolin is another option, but some people (and perhaps cats too) don’t do well with it.
Adrienne…Wow, my daughter and I were in the kitchen making our shower gel, body butter and deodorant last night since we needed to stock up! This is timely with the congestion rub. I usually use Badger Balm mixed with eucalyptus and oil of oregano. Your recipe is much less expensive! Thanks. Here is a super easy body butter we’ve had good luck with: 4 T. shea butter, 2 T. coconut oil…just mash them together till mixed well and then add whatever EOs you choose..or keep it plain. Not too greasy and natural and inexpensive, too. Have a great weekend!
I am so glad to have helped! Thanks for the body butter info. Does it stain? Speaking of good timing, I have been meaning to order shea butter (refined, right?) to make my own hard lotion bars. Does your lotion stain?
Also, would you mind sharing your shower gel info? I had a reader ask about that awhile ago when I posted my recipe for homemade foaming soap.
WOW!
I’m so excited! I need to stock up on essential oils.
Oh…I’m excited to make this! I use Vicks just about every night and always wondered if it would hurt me. Now I’ll just use this…I know it’ll be fine for me! Thanks!
Enjoyed your post on vapo rub. Wanted to also tell you about a natural, organic soap giveaway for bloggers! I am just starting out selling my soap and need some help in the way of reviews. See my blog for details.
http://homemadenaturalsoaps.blogspot.com/
I also have another blog, daily life, health & food you might enjoy reading.
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Thanks for the recipe. I will definitely be trying this.
I’d love it if you linked this post to my Making a Home linky!
Linda @ Linda’s Lunacy
http://www.lindaslunacy.blogspot.com
I am a newbie at using essential oils… when you say “don’t apply directly to skin,” you mean undiluted oils, right? Because the oil-plus-essential-oil concoction gets rubbed directly onto the skin? Just checking…
Thank you so much for this! We have used Vicks for really bad colds, but I’m glad to have a natural alternative to try next cold season. One question though…I really like that the Vicks has menthol and camphor too, to help ease coughing and throat pain. Are those natural and available, or should I stick to eucalyptus oil?
We also put Vicks (and now, we will use this!) on the soles of our feet – especially for young ones. It works nicely.
You are right about not applying undiluted oils directly to your skin. I will go back and change the post
.
I saw that Vicks has camphor and menthol as well. You can get camphor in essential oil form (and I plan to do that), but I am not able to find menthol. According to wisegeek.com, menthol is “an organic compound naturally occurring in mint plants. It is also synthetically manufactured. Menthol is widely used in a number of products and features certain therapeutic qualities. It was first isolated from peppermint oil in 1771 in the West, but it may have been in use in Japan for much longer.”
I am going to email two friends who have pretty good essential oil knowledge and find out what they know.
The menthol is in the eucalyptus and the peppermint essential oils. I make this rub using coconut oil and a mixture of eucalyptus, peppermint, and lavendar (which also improves breath and has the added benefit of general calming). Also, when I have a sore muscle or tendon I take a little of this rub, add a few drops of arnica tincture, and rub it on the sore spot. It really makes a difference quickly. Beware, though, that arnica can be an irritant, so use with caution.
I’ve just recently started reading labels and I am really shocked at what is in them.I use Vicks quite alot but, I have not read its label yet.
I will have to try your chest rub!
Thanks for sharing !!
Great post! You can also get menthol at Mountain Rose Herbs – that is how I make my vapor rub. Menthol, camphor, eucalyptus, bees wax and olive oil (although coconut oil would work fine too.) I love that you are making yor own!
Hi!
Works wonders!!!
Here’s a link to the vapor rub I make w/oils and beeswax.
Also, you should consider the unrefined shea butter as it is simply more natural. They do all sorts of things to the shea butter to “Purify” it including using all sorts of nasties. You can melt it at a low temp and strain it through a fine sieve if there are nut shell particles, etc. in it. Just my two cents worth. Plus, it smells so much better!
Thanks for the info!
I had actually heard from someone in the natural skin care business that refined was the way to go. I was hoping to try my hand at making homemade lotion bars with the shea butter and it just arrived the other day.
Can you tell me what they use to refine it? I was wondering the same about the refining process as well.
Also, I was previously using NOW brand’s shea butter and they changed the process. I can’t recall what the change was, but it used to be very easy to use and now it is much more difficult to apply. Where do you get yours from?
Thanks again!
You mentioned a link, but I don’t see it? can you post it again?
We use the eucalyptus and chamomile in jojoba or sweet almond oil for a chest rub, and if they have a cough we will mix 1 drop of oil of oregano into some oil and rub on the soles of their feet – works like a charm – no more cough in about 10min!!
You can also put a vaporizer (even a bowl of hot water on the floor register) and put lavender, tea tree and eucalyptus in it for it to permeate the room.
Here’s the basic recipe for a bug repellant I came across last summer. It worked pretty well.
Mulu base (?), Citronella, Lavender, Cedarwood, Pennyroyal,
Lemongrass, Peppermint, Eucalyptus, Catnip oil, and Vitamin E. Blessings!
Hmmmm…What is mulu?
I just placed my very first order with Mountain Rose…and it should arrive Monday, I got essential oil, Lavender and what do you know eucyliptus too…I’ll try a batch of this as my son gets bad stuffed noses..thanks for sharing….
That is a wonderful substitute for the commercial product.
Hi, just found you site, it is wonderful!!!
What a great idea!!! I had a similar issue with my 5 y.o. he had green ick in the corners of his eyes and coming from his nose in great quantity this winter and I did not have the resources for and had not thought of this treatment, but I had an old bottle of colloidal silver, and since I have been reading up on all the nasties involved with meds and antibiotics, and actually giving him some (that didn’t work, it came right back). I decided to try the Colloidal silver in his nose, I dropped 3 drops in his nose once a day for three days cleared it up completely, after he had had this going on for months.
Hi Anneke!
Thanks for stopping by!
I will say, that I am rethinking this “recipe”. It didn’t work after the first time when my son and I both had very bad sinus colds. I am experimenting now with a new kind of essential oils that is much more potent, so hopefully that will do the trick! Stay in touch!
Hi! Just popping in via dandelion house. I’ve been making our “vicks” for years. Here’s a link, if that’s ok— http://kimberlys-cup.blogspot.com/2009/10/homemade-vapor-rub.html
I was shocked when I found out about the shea bc I thought I was using the best possible stuff for all my body butters and lotions.
BTW-You might want to rethink refined shea butter. The chemicals they are using for the refining are pretty nasty. You can buy unrefined and then just melt and strain it yourself.
Thanks for the tip! Kimberly, can you tell me how to strain the shea butter? I would appreciate it a great deal. I haven’t made my own lotion bars yet w/ the shea butter that I bought, but I had heard from the owner of a lotion bar company that she recommended refined. I don’t recall now what her reasoning is. Thanks in advance!
Thanks for all of this, I have made a chest rub from
15 drops Eucalyptus essential oil
7 drops Peppermint essential oil
2 drops Cedarwood essential oil
in 2 tablespoons (30g) shea butter or virgin coconut oil
1/3 cup (75ml) jojoba or olive oil
While it is not too bad I find the smell is a bit mild when you are all snuffly so have bought some menthol ess. Oil to add into it for a try, it is a nice soft consistency. Vicks is also petroleum jelly based which is not a great thing.
Here is a quick recipe it is called un-petroleum jelly a safe alternative to Petroleum Jelly
2 oz of beeswax
10 oz of oil (I used a combination of skin nutrient oils)
Melt the beeswax slowly in the microwave or in a double boiler, Once melted slowly add the oil Castor oil is good (see note below:) and mix. Pour in sterile jars and let cool.
Note: I heat my oil before I mix it with the beeswax because of the higher temperature of the beeswax cause the whole mixture to cool before everything is mixed together.
You now have a very effective safe alternative to petroleum jelly
Anything you would have normally used petroleum jelly for use this instead.
This might help someone
Hi everyone i’am new to this site and also to making soap and lotion bars.I have started a small home based buisness for right now.I am looking for a easy receipe for lotion bars for the winter.using shea butter bees wax and vicks salve .My problem is i don’t know how much of each to use for making 4 or more 2 oz bars.can somebody please help thanks so much waiting reply
Hi Pam. I have been hoping to make these as well. I can’t promise how soon it will be, but with the weather getting cooler I will try to do it soon. Feel free to send me a reminder email via my Contact Me page if you don’t see the post in the near future
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Adrienne, I’m glad to see that you’re not using the OTC Vicks! Studies have shown that it can do more harm than good. Several years ago when my cat scan showed lung issues, the first thing the pulmonologist asked was “Have you been using Vicks Vapor Rub?” Apparently, Vicks contains petrolatum which can enter the lung and cause lung inflammation. (I hadn’t been using it so that wasn’t the problem.) I’ve also read a few problms associated with the camphor. So please check that out. It’s scary what’s in products now a days! A hope your son is feeling better.
Thanks for your comment! I am planning on a new version of this and it doesn’t contain camphor – glad to hear that information! I knew about issues w/ petrolatum, but didn’t know about it entering the lungs – scary!
Hi Adrienne,
Can you tell me if you ever revised your recipe for the vicks rub. I am interested in making some myself for my family and noticed that you mentioned you were rethinking the recipe. Please post new recipe if you have a new and improved one
Thank you.
Maggie
Hi Maggie!
. I will probably revise it but I can give you what I have for now.
I am sorry but I had a recipe picked out that looked super effective. If you need it right away, you can drop me a line at wholenewmom at gmail dot com I’d be happy to share w/ you. I am in the midst of a great search for the best essential oils and will hopefully post after that
Have any of you ever tried Winter Green…VS…..Tylenol…..great for reducing fevers and aches and pains caused by the fever….just rub it all over…..used it since I was a kid, used it on my daughter and she would tell you it works…