DIY Cannabis Lotion

Monsoon

Well-Known Member
There seems to be a lack of cannabis specific lotion recipes, everything's either salves or massage oils, so I decided to look into regular DIY lotions recipes instead and then just incorporate the weed/hash into the oil phase of the process.

I tried some cannabis lotion recently which seemed to work well on muscle pain so I wanted to try making some myself. I currently only have access to one brand which is over $100 for 8 oz and doesn't list potency or strain used. Making it myself lets me drastically reduce the cost, I can select all the ingredients and set the potency to where I want it. I specifically want a lotion since it's easy to rub a lot on and not be too greasy afterwards.

You should be able to buy all the ingredients, minus the hash oil, from a single store just do a google search to find them. Any place that sells soap and candle making supplies should have everything minus the weed. Some sites say beeswax will work to emulsify, others say it won't so probably best to go with Polawax or emulsifying wax for best results. I used Polawax myself and it worked great.

This is the lotion recipe I used, it's long but detailed and everything is explained clearly:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1020026/lotionmakingtutorial.pdf
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1020026/introductiontolotionmakingthingie.pdf

The site is also worth checking out for more info on ingredients and recipes. http://swiftcraftymonkey.blogspot.ca/

The only change you need to make is to decarb and extract the hash oil into the vegetable oil of your choice. Here's how I did it:
  • Placed pyrex measuring cup in a loaf pan and preheated in oven set to 250F.
  • When pyrex reached 250F, I dropped in hash oil then returned to oven for 25 minutes or until bubbles stopped.
  • Right from the oven I added the vegetable oils to be used in the lotion, gave it a good stir and let it cool down naturally.

If you just have abv or bud, you'll need to do a normal extraction first. Good process and discussion here: http://fuckcombustion.com/threads/pain-relief-abv-massage-oil.13588/

The only thing I'm not sure about is how potent it should be. This lotion uses 100mg per 8oz and this one uses 180mg per 8oz. A gram of hash oil, wax or shatter will have between 600 and 900mg of cannbinoids on average. I'm aiming for around 800mg per 8oz which is reasonable for me but I wonder where the point of diminishing returns is.

A cup of lotion (250ml) in the end should cost between $2 and $5 plus the cost of whatever cannabis you use in it. You'll need to spend more upfront for everything but most items have a shelf life of 1-2 years so it should be good for awhile.

I was skeptical of the effect of cannabis topicals on pain (I knew it worked for skin) but I've tried it for muscle pain and it does provide some noticeable relief for me especially for acute pain. I can also feel my stiff neck muscles through my skin and after applying the lotion they felt normal again.

If anyone has any pointers, their own recipes or experiences, please share below. I'm pretty happy with my results so far but I'm always looking to improve my methods.

Here's a picture of my first batch, I used Polawax for emulsification, stearic acid for thickneing, fractionated coconut oil and subbed 25% of the water for aloe vera juice. For fragrance I used lavender and vanilla bean essential oils. Turned out pretty well and works great!

e2wmr6M.jpeg
 

randomtoker

Well-Known Member
Awesome man. Nice info with lots of measurements. Thanks for sharing and starting this up. Look into Emu Oil and DMSO as agents to include in your lotion to improve skin absorption.

This is something I've followed loosely from afar and been looking forward to exploring down the road.
 

darkrom

Great Scott!
This is the motivation I need. Just ran out of the commercial topical, and I can't get any more for now. I have 3.5g of decarbed oil I made from ABV (very light abv) that I want to use. I just feel like its SO much more work than it really has to be, especially since I have decarbed oil. I gotta just get this done and see if I can fix my skin and muscles.

I'm thinking of adding the 3.5g decarbed ABV oil, +1g of cbd oil I have that is in coconut oil carrier that IDK how I'd use otherwise, + maybe even a gram of fresh hash oil. I'm trying to remove some serious skin scarring.


I know this is the laziest thing in the world, but what I really want is a pre-made lotion and just to heat and mix the decarbed oils in. Would that even work? SUPER lazy, but I've got quite a lot going on these days its hard to spend time on stuff I enjoy, nevermind making lotions.
 

Monsoon

Well-Known Member
This is the motivation I need. Just ran out of the commercial topical, and I can't get any more for now. I have 3.5g of decarbed oil I made from ABV (very light abv) that I want to use. I just feel like its SO much more work than it really has to be, especially since I have decarbed oil. I gotta just get this done and see if I can fix my skin and muscles.

I'm thinking of adding the 3.5g decarbed ABV oil, +1g of cbd oil I have that is in coconut oil carrier that IDK how I'd use otherwise, + maybe even a gram of fresh hash oil. I'm trying to remove some serious skin scarring.


I know this is the laziest thing in the world, but what I really want is a pre-made lotion and just to heat and mix the decarbed oils in. Would that even work? SUPER lazy, but I've got quite a lot going on these days its hard to spend time on stuff I enjoy, nevermind making lotions.
From what I understand, to get it to properly emulsify you can't add it afterwards. But I'm also lazy and the process isn't really hard, probably takes at most an hour to make and most of that is waiting on things.
 

Monsoon

Well-Known Member
great job making this simple and straightforward! i've been lurking at FC for years but joined just to say thanks for this monsoon!

Thanks dude, I really appreciate it! If you try it out, let us know how it goes.

While you're here, you should also check out our Rosin thread and compare notes with ICMag ;)
 

Monsoon

Well-Known Member
thanks monsoon!

i've shared a link to your thread and quoted the first post in my thread on icmag. thanks for authoring this tutorial i'm sure you will help a lot of people find relief from their pain!
Thanks for the signal boost!

I gave some thought to your "hippy-friendly" requirements, there's actually a few natural preservatives listed on this page that might be worth checking out. AMTicide Coconut sounds particularly interesting and uses coconut and Lactobacillus. For emulsifiers, I've read that beeswax combined with borax will work but there's also ECOMulse which would probably work better.
 

NorVape

Vape Rictim
Hey, thanks, @Monsoon :)

I have a lot of neck and shoulder pain, which I think is related to my work. Stress don't really affect me psychologically, but instead it manifests physically.

How would you describe the effects? Do they just ease the tense muscles locally, or do you get some kind of buzz as well?

I'm thinking I would want a strong lotion, but if it gets me really high as well it would sort of defeat the purpose.
 

Monsoon

Well-Known Member
Hey, thanks, @Monsoon :)

I have a lot of neck and shoulder pain, which I think is related to my work. Stress don't really affect me psychologically, but instead it manifests physically.

How would you describe the effects? Do they just ease the tense muscles locally, or do you get some kind of buzz as well?

I'm thinking I would want a strong lotion, but if it gets me really high as well it would sort of defeat the purpose.
No buzz at all since it doesn't reach the bloodstream, though you may feel really relaxed. To be sure I gave a sample to someone who has zero tolerance and they didn't get high at all. It just eases local muscle pain and tension and does so pretty quickly, I usually feel the pain ease or disappear within 5-10 minutes and you can feel the muscles become more relaxed. Works great and the skin too for moisturizing and healing.
 

zor

Well-Known Member
Nice! I haphazardly made a lotion by combining some thc infused coconut oil I made with beeswax, almond oil, sunflower oil, and shea butter. It's a greasy, greasy, greasy mess to use (it stays oily when applied) but I was more skeptical of the actual therapeutic effects than the consistency and wanted to whip something up easily.

I still think there's a fair bit of placebo effect going on but this shit helped me soothe a sore neck and shoulder as well as calf cramps.
 

ginolicious

Well-Known Member
Wow. I just read all of that high and a little scared to do it haha. I would be using ABV and even the extraction process is complicated for my high ass. I can't even make butter properly for cookies haha.
 
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Genki88

Well-Known Member
Excellent thread regarding the making of cannabis lotion.

Not to be rude but what is the decarboxylation step needed for? I thought decarboxylation was only for when ingesting. Wouldn't we want to keep the thc-a as is for it's healing/anti-inflammatory properties?
 
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Monsoon

Well-Known Member
Wow. I just read all of that high and a little scared to do it haha. I would be using ABV and even the extraction process is complicated for my high ass. I can't even make butter properly for cookies haha.
For ABV you can skip the decarb step, just cook it in coconut oil for a few hours and then strain it.

Excellent thread regarding the making of cannabis lotion.

Not to be rude but what is the decarboxylation step needed for? I thought decarboxylation was only for when ingesting. Wouldn't we want to keep the thc-a as is for it's healing/anti-inflammatory properties?
Depends what you want out of the lotion, if you don't decarb and it works for you then I'd go with that and share the info here. With all the heating during the process it will likely be at least partially decarbed by the end anyway. These are all of course just educated guesses since I can't test my lotion where I am.
 
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I didn't know that this kind of lotion can cure muscle pain. I've been dealing with it on and off for a year now. I sure will try this for a change, hopefully it will work! :)
 

Ace of Space

Well-Known Member
Today i'm going to make a cream/lotion for my moms Rheumatoid Arthritis.

The past year she rapidly developed it in her hands, but there's also some damage in her shoulders.
I'm hoping that the cream will ease the pain, but also reduce the inflammation so the development will be slowed down, or preferably, stopped.
I'm guessing the hands will be easier to treat than the shoulders because the joints of the fingers are just below the skin, while the shoulderjoints are packed in with muscle.

Last week i made a facial cream with about 2/3 of the cannabinoids, and my girlfriend who is extremely sensitive to thc, doesn't get high from it at all. (She can't even handle a single drop of cdb oil with <1% of thc)
So, i'm guessing my mom will be safe as well, regarding NOT getting high LOL

I'm aiming at about the same amount of cannabinoids as @Monsoon , 800 mg/cup, and i will add +/- 300 mg of cbd. (2 grams of 16% paste)

I'm not going to use a recipe that uses water, because that can be quite unstable and receptive to mold and needs an emulsifier and a preservative, and i want to keep things as clean as possible.
Instead, i will be using a technique that basically whips up the oil like whipped cream and creates an airy, light oily cream that has a long shelflife.
I made the facial cream that way, and the whipping completely changes the texture of the oils, making them less oily and easy to absorb by the skin.
The only thing is that apparently coconut oil clogs the pores of the skin, making it possibly less suitable as a carrier to deliver the cannabinoids where they're needed.
Next time i will be making the canna oil for topicals with shea or mango butter, as they don't clog pores.

I use:
One part cannacoco oil
One part shea butter (inflammation, waxy texture)
One part liquid oils that have anti inflammatory, plus other healing properties.
(70% Arnica, 20% Carrot seed, 10% Avocado)

Plus a few essential oils like rosemary, cinnamon, clove, orange, about 10 drops each.

Melt the oils in a double boiler, add the essential oils, let it cool down to solid but not hard.
Mix it with a mixer to a creamy texture.
Ready.


I'm aiming for immediate pain relief, but i don't know if that's realistic, and i would already be really happy when in a few weeks the inflammation of the joints reduces and there will be more mobility and less pain in her hands.
Can't wait to see what happens, i'll report the results here.
 
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Ace of Space

Well-Known Member
The facial cream is a whipped cream made with solid and liquid oils, too.

I used a mixture of shea butter, mango butter, canna coconut oil, calendula-chamomile macerated coconut oil and a little under half of the total amount with liquid oils that are nourishing for the skin.
(pommegranate, jojoba, rosehip, almond, wheat germ, apricot kernel)

It has a bit more liquid oils than the pain cream, and the cream is nicely soft and smooth but firm on room temp (Northern Europe, winter)
There's about 400 mg of thc and 160 mg of cbd per cup in the cream.

I know now that when i whip something like this up, it doubles in volume, just like whipped cream ;)
(so a little makes a LOT)
Because this is still an oil, whipped or not, we apply it on the face with a little pure Aloe Vera gel.
 

kellya86

Herb gardener...
Hi @Ace of Space , how effective is this cream?
my dad has rheumatoid arthritis, and I have a load of cannacoconut oil that I can't stand the taste of, can this be used for a lotion???
Or do I have to start all over again...

Does it really work??? Or is injestion a better option for pain relief???
 

Ace of Space

Well-Known Member
Hi @kellya86, my mum said yesterday that her shoulder's not much different, but she has more mobility in her hands. (but i think she uses it very lightly)
My sister treated her tennis elbow with it and after one treatment the pain was almost gone.
I have a frozen shoulder and even after one treatment i could move my arm freely again, and the pain was almost gone too. Now after 4 days or so, with now and then usage, my shoulder feels great and i only have pain shoot through it with strange movements or heavy lifting.

So i think it works, but i have no clue of what the dosage in the cream should be and the placebo effects of it lol.

I added a lot of stuff like Arnica and cbd to fight inflammation, but if you have that canna coco oil, you can also melt that on the skin and massage it in, simple as that.
There is a nice topic on uk420 about that too.
http://www.uk420.com/boards/index.php?showtopic=366648

Good luck with your dad!
 
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