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August 2022

Yarrow wound pads

Yarrow is one of the most important herbs for wound healing. You should definitely have it in your herb garden. There is lots of information about yarrow available all over the web. I will not repeat it. Just see the links in the reference section below.

2022-07-07_0955-007-yarrow-herb-garden_th.jpg
yarrow


Yarrow does not only help with the healing of wounds but a pinch of yarrow powder stops the bleeding very quickly. There is however a practical problem with yarrow powder and bleeding wounds: The wound might be somewhere on the side of your leg were it is not so easy to apply the powder because it would fall off or run away with the blood before you have a chance to hold it in place with a band-aid. It might work if you have somebody else to help you but if you are alone and you have to handle the sticky tape of a band-aid and the yarrow powder all at the same time then it gets complicated.

fresh yarrow leaves
fresh yarrow leaves


My solution: a pad or wound gaze with yarrow inside. It's easier to handle than a powder and it does not wash away when the wound is bleeding a lot. Pad -- tape -- done. This pad is basically a sandwich of fabric, yarrow and fabric.

yarrow wound pads
yarrow wound pads


I make those yarrow wound pads out of loose mashed linen or cotton fabric. You don't want a very thick and tight fabric. The fabric of re-usable cotton diapers liners or cotton cheese cloth work well but you can just search fabric stores for plain cotton gauze. I don't recommend syntetic polyester gauze even if it is sold as medial gauze. In any case wash new fabric before making those pads. This is to wash off any chemicals from the fabric production.

I put a thick layer of fresh yarrow leaves between two sheets of cotton fabric and I sew this sandwich together on the sewing machine. Create little squares and rectangular stitch patterns with the sewing machine. Cut them up with scissors and you have your nice little yarrow wound pads.

I used fresh yarrow leaves so the pads need to dry before you can store them in a container for later use. I just put the pads on a little paper tray and let them dry for 1-2 weeks. The indoor air is during the summer dry enough with my AC running and those pads dry easily just at room temperature. You can use a pad with fresh leaves immediately but don't put them in a closed container until they are totally dry otherwise they could catch mold.

After sewing the cotton-yarrow-cotton sandwich together you can also make the farbic a bit wet and then rub turmeric powder on it. Turmeric has many benefits but in this case it will act as a natural antiseptic. Here are a few photos showing how I make pads with yarrow and turmeric.

sandwich made of cotton gauze-yarrow-gauze
sandwich made of cotton gauze-yarrow-gauze
sandwich made of cotton gauze-yarrow-gauze, rubbed with Turmeric
sandwich made of cotton gauze and yarrow, rubbed with Turmeric (an antiseptic)
gauze-yarrow-gauze and Turmeric, cut into small pads
gauze-yarrow-gauze and Turmeric, cut into small pads. I dry them for 2 weeks at room termperature before putting them into a storage box

References


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