How to Make Tinctures for Eye Wash

Commercially prepared tinctures for eye wash are expensive, and it's difficult to ascertain the quality of ingredients or preparation of commercial eye washes. You can make your own, though, for a fraction of the price you'd pay at a retail store--and you can prepare a homemade tincture with the ingredients customized for your own eye wash. A tincture is much stronger and lasts longer than a fresh eye wash, and a tincture is simple to prepare. You can ensure the quality and the ingredients of your eye wash--and save money, too.

Things You'll Need

• Dried or fresh herbs
• Distilled water
• 2 wide-mouth pint canning jars with lids
• Narrow funnel
• Cheesecloth
• Coffee filters

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Instructions

• 1

  Identify the herbs and other ingredients you will use to create a tincture customized for your needs. Use only organic herbs--you do not want residue of pesticides or herbicides in your eyes. Ensure the purity of your tincture by sterilizing your containers and utensil--wash them with hot soapy water and then boil them in a large stockpot filled with water for at least 5 minutes. Let the containers and utensils air dry on a clean dish towel.

• 2

  Chop fresh herbs, or assemble dried herbs and other ingredients in your preparation area, and boil the distilled water for 5 minutes to ensure sterility. Add 1 cup of fresh herbs (or 1/4 cup of dried herbs) to the sterilized glass jar. Add other non-herb ingredients, if you're using them, in a combination that will not fill the jar more than half full. Slowly pour the distilled water over the herbs until they're covered.

• 3

  Let this sit for 5 minutes to settle, then add another inch of the distilled water. Seal the jar tightly and put it in the refrigerator. Shake the jar very gently every day for a week to mix the ingredients.

• 4

  Repeat the sterilization process for your second jar, lid, and funnel, and assemble your other materials. Set the funnel on your sterilized second jar, and place an unbleached coffee filter in it. Lay a piece of unbleached cheesecloth over the coffee filter in the funnel. Pour the contents of the first jar slowly into the funnel, adjusting the cheesecloth if necessary to allow the liquid to filter into the bottom jar.

• 5

  Lift the cheesecloth with the saturated herbs and squeeze it gently or press on it with a sterilized spoon to extract all the liquid, making sure that the liquid passes through the coffee filter. Seal the jar containing your tincture tightly, and keep it in the refrigerator. Repeat the filtering process, if necessary, with sterilized materials and a clean coffee filter the following day.

• 6

  Use chamomile flowers for a soothing general purpose eye wash. Add fresh or dried eyebright herb to reduce redness or burning of the eyes. Bruise or crush fennel seeds for an eye wash that soothes and also reduces inflammation. Use fresh or dried elderberry blossoms, and add goldenseal for redness or infection. Add comfrey for soothing eyes, and use unpasteurized honey for its antibacterial and antibiotic properties. Use rose water for its cooling and soothing effects, and add fresh or dried spearmint for itchy or dry eyes. Incorporate yarrow leaves and flowers for inflammation or redness.

• 7

  See an eye care professional if your vision becomes blurry or if you see double. Make an appointment immediately if you feel pain or pressure in your eye that is more intense than just itchiness or dryness. According to the American Diabetes Association, you should visit an eye care professional at least once each year for a dilated eye exam.