Alternatives to petroleum jelly for body care

I'm looking for the equivalent 'grease' to petroleum jelly.  I might start a thread in the cider press later to discuss why I don't use it on me but for now I would just like some thoughts on alternatives.

What came up recently was a visit to the dermatologist to have a basal cell skin carcinoma removed...about a nickel size area on my jaw and fairly deep.  The aftercare was to wash gently and apply vasoline and a bandaide daily for a week.  I made the mistake of saying I don't use that and would use a home prepared calendula/plantain coconut oil salve instead...she insisted on the other and I kept my mouth shut and used my choice anyway. It's healing fine.

I have only used the other stuff for packing a reservoir on my old 1949 sewing machine and for babies decades ago before I knew better.....

I wish I had asked the purpose of their recommendation...maybe to slow healing, moisture protection or to keep a scab from forming?

Now I found the similar question
....lots of good suggestions at the link below although I was told NOT to use an antibiotic cream.

https://permies.com/t/169286/personal-care/natural-Vaseline-Triple-antibiotic-cream

Tallow and Coconut Oil.
Aloe, Almond, Olive Oil

Tallow can be mixed with Bergamot or anything else... Natural prefered. I have used small amount of Manuka honey with tallow on a spot that had trouble healing.

I also use Now Hyaluronic acid
"Hyaluronic acid (HA) is a natural molecule found in the human body, primarily in skin, eyes, and connective tissue. It's also found in bone broth, citrus fruits, leafy greens, starchy root vegetables, soy, nuts, and seeds. HA is a humectant, which means it draws and retains moisture on the skin's surface. It also helps maintain skin elasticity, support joint health, and with wound healing" AI

A ratio (by weight, not volume) of 1 part beeswax to 5 parts coconut oil, lard, or tallow with give a texture very, very close to petroleum jelly, with enough fat to help with absorption and enough beeswax, to give a protective coating, without being too waxy/greasy feeling. For an antibiotic ointment, I infuse the chosen fat with plantain, calendula, lavender, rose, (or any combination of those), then add frankinsense at a rate of 4 drops or so, per ounce of the beeswax/fat, by weight. I've been doing this for years, because I'm *highly* reactive to the otc stuff. As in, within an hour of putting it on, I'm blistering. I also use cloth bandages & wraps, because the adhesives in medical tape and bandaids hit me the same way...

If you are looking for a commercial product, Burt's Bees has a petroleum-free alternative: Multipurpose Healing Ointment.  You might have to look for it in the aisle with baby products  instead of with the adult skin care products.

We have a jar of petroleum jelly because my All-American Canner recommends that to help the seal.

Rather than use that stuff I use olive oil on my lips.

Coconut oil would work also.

I like the thought of using healing salves though I don't have any.

I use lanolin or pure unrefined shea butter. I second the suggestion of hyaluronic acid, i take capsule supplement by mouth for skin and eye health.

Judith, having had a bunch of these things myself, I think the recommendation of the vaseline is to keep the space from drying out and getting scabby and then itchy, and then you scratch it and it bleeds. Plus it makes a double layer of protection from things getting in there. (a lot of people have allergies to the stuff in neosporin, and then there is the question of antibiotic resistance, which i think is why they are lately not recommending neosporin).

I'd use whatever salve you have that lasts a bit. I have a honey salve with beeswax that sticks around, but tallow, whatever that is mild and has some substance to stick around longer than just an oil would should work fine. Your salve sounds fine, although personally I find coconut oil dries my skin out. I wouldn't worry too much about it as long as you're washing it and putting on the double barrier (salve + bandage).
I find there are two schools of doctors when you tell them you're using stuff like this: the ones who think it's "harmless" and just say "oh sure, keep on doing what you're doing" and the ones who assume everything they haven't personally used is poison/toxic/snake oil and freak out.

When I have cuts/dings on my hands, but still need to have my hands in soil and water, I use a dab of the aforementioned hydrocarbon goop, a tiny square of a 2x4 pad and tape the heck out of it. This works well to speed healing and keep crud/bacteria out. If I don't seal it, inflammation sets in, it takes a lot longer to heal, and more scar tissue is formed as well.

I think as long as the "goop" is somewhat elastic and reasonably insoluble in water, many things could work. For example, I might be able to use something off the rack like Burt' Bees lip balm.

Refining my Technique thank you so much for being specific.  

Carla Burke wrote:A ratio (by weight, not volume) of 1 part beeswax to 5 parts coconut oil, lard, or tallow with give a texture very, very close to petroleum jelly, with enough fat to help with absorption and enough beeswax, to give a protective coating, without being too waxy/greasy feeling. For an antibiotic ointment, I infuse the chosen fat with plantain, calendula, lavender, rose, (or any combination of those), then add frankinsense at a rate of 4 drops or so, per ounce of the beeswax/fat, by weight. I've been doing this for years, because I'm *highly* reactive to the otc stuff. As in, within an hour of putting it on, I'm blistering. I also use cloth bandages & wraps, because the adhesives in medical tape and bandaids hit me the same way...

I make skin balm with equal parts beeswax, cocoa butter, and coconut oil.  I replace some of the coconut oil with olive oil, or add additional oil, if I need a softer texture.  Occasionally I've added a little honey to it.  I don't know what a doctor would think of it, but it works pretty similarly to petroleum jelly.

Judith Browning wrote:I'm looking for the equivalent 'grease' to petroleum jelly.  I might start a thread in the cider press later to discuss why I don't use it on me but for now I would just like some thoughts on alternatives.

What came up recently was a visit to the dermatologist to have a basal cell skin carcinoma removed...about a nickel size area on my jaw and fairly deep.  The aftercare was to wash gently and apply vasoline and a bandaide daily for a week.  I made the mistake of saying I don't use that and would use a home prepared calendula/plantain coconut oil salve instead...she insisted on the other and I kept my mouth shut and used my choice anyway. It's healing fine.

I have only used the other stuff for packing a reservoir on my old 1949 sewing machine and for babies decades ago before I knew better.....

I wish I had asked the purpose of their recommendation...maybe to slow healing, moisture protection or to keep a scab from forming?

Hello Judith!



The oily balm or salve you are putting on does a few things.


When we have a deep wound healing there is often a serum or weeping that comes out of the healing area.   This can burn the surrounding skin. The oily salve protects the area below the wound so the serum will just bead up and run off.  


If you are using a homemade or other healing salve the herbs will help to speed healing and prevent infection.  


Another benefit of the oil is to keep the wound area and edge skin from drying out.  Keeping everything moist will give your body time to heal and build skin correctly rather than the quick patch we would call a scar.  If the edge of the wound becomes dry it will be itchy and you may scratch it.  


When you are cleaning your wound it will speed the healing and give you a better chance to have no scar if you "pat" the area rather than " rubbing"

The body is building a scaffolding across the open area and will gradually fill that in.  If we rub across it we can tear that up without even knowing it, it is so fragile.  If we just pat the area while running under warm water we can clean between the fibers with our disturbing them.


Your second instruction was to cover it with a bandaid.  This is to keep it clean and give you a temporary scab until your body makes one.  I have had this kind of wound and I just cut a small thin layer of organic cotton gauze.  If the layer is thin and just the size of the treated area, the salve will hold the gauze on without any need for tape or bandaid sticky stuff.

If you do need to use something to make a bandage stick to your skin you can use pine pitch.  Just a little dab and you have a secure water resistant glue with healing properties.

Pitch is an instant "bandaid" all by itself.   It takes pain away instantly, stops infection and falls off when new skin has been produced.   Any conifer makes good pitch for healing wounds.  I have mostly used pine because it is so easy.   It runs freely out of the tree and lasts forever in a jar.    

Coconut oil is magical. You have to keep it warm in the winter, though!

Thank you all very much!
Lot's of great alternatives posted

Tereza and Samantha,
You've filled in the gaps in information that I would have thought my dermatologist could have offered.
Those were the sort of things I needed to know about healing.
I've only had removals with stitches in the past so didn't think about this one healing so gradually from a nickle size deep scrape to maybe a pea size open area now...and the new skin looks good...I'm so happy with my plantain salve.

The only reason I may keep my followup appoibtment is to show how well it healed without petroleum

Glad to hear you're healing up fine!!!
I think you should show the doctor, I do the same, little by little people start to see that maybe the non-gick option works just as well.

(i wanted to add something else that came up the other day about petroleum jelly and medicated ointments. Across my family there is a lot of tattooing, and so someone's always looking for an ointment when they get a new one. Products and practices change over time, and every artist seems to have their own recommendations. Recently now two of us have heard the same thing about aftercare: avoid neosporin or antibiotic petroleum-jelly-based products. The reasons were shaky - one said it could affect the color, another said it tended to form keloids. This discussion is a rabbit hole one can get lost in forever, but i think it's fair to the tide has shifted to AVOIDING these products for tattoo aftercare, where in the past they were also strongly recommended.)