How to Make a Homemade Body Wrap

The body wrap - (sometimes spelled bodywrap) is a favorite spa treatment that uses mild compression, time, water and healing ingredients in the water to work its healing magic. Body wrap goals include skin rejuvenation, general body healing and detoxification, and sometimes even weight loss.

Body wrap recipes rely on various ingredients: Certain salts are said to detoxify and remineralize during a body wrap session, and various herbs are said to restore health in numerous ways when used in body wraps. Seaweed is said to be extremely beneficial to skin and body as a body wrap ingredient. And aloe helps deliver the body wrap recipe.

This simple homemade herbal body wrap home treatment blends land herbs, seaweed, aloe and healing salts. Popular land herb choices for herbal body wraps include: Clary sage, comfrey root, burdock root, dandelion root, rose hips, alfalfa leaf, rosemary, and chamomile. They can all be used together.

Some like to add ace bandages to this homemade herbal body wrap treatment for inexpensive tighter compression. But the herbal body wraps I've seen work only use enough light compression to keep the soaked material against the skin, and they avoid tight compression. They're aim is not for short term water loss from sweating in the compressed area, but from detoxifying fat cells and making them smaller.

Things You'll Need

• 1 cup of dried crumbled or powdered herbs that you feel would be beneficial to your skin. Dried herbs are available at bulk herb or health food stores.
• ½ cup kelp meal, dulse or other seaweed. Also sold bulk at health food stores.
• ¼ cup sea salt, Himalayan pink salt, dead sea salts or Epsom salts
• 1 cup high quality aloe vera gel
• Unbleached muslin, white or unbleached cotton sheet, or large terry cotton beach towels.
• A bathtub or waterproof area such as an air mattress on top of towels to lay for 10 to 45 minutes.
• Optional: Organic olive oil, or body oil or lotion of your choice.
• Optional: Good music or books on tape to help pass the time, and foil thermal blanket (usually inexpensive) if you think you might become chilled.

Instructions

1. Heat three cups of water to boiling in a non-metal pan.

2. Remove from heat and add salts, stirring with wooden or otherwise non-metal spoon until dissolved.

3. Add herbs and seaweed and steep for five minutes.

4. Strain mixture into very clean stopped sink (or a large ceramic bowl or plastic tub). Fill the sink 3/4s full with very hot water. (You may have to run the hot water faucet before pouring the mixture in. That way, the first water coming out will already be hot.)

5. Add the cup of aloe and stir.

6. Soak the fabrics in the water and wring them out into the same sink.

7. Wrap body parts as firmly as you can in a manner that's healthy for your particular condition.

8. Lie down in the bathtub or on the air mattress for 20 minutes to one hour, the longer the better. And stay warm. Listen to music or audio if you wish, and cover yourself with the thermal blanket if needed. You can choose to re-wet the fabrics with the herbal body wrap liquid and repeat every ten minutes or so, or just do one seaweed herbal body wrap at a time.

9. When finished, pat dry and if you choose, apply olive oil or other body oil or moisturizer.

Tips & Warnings

• Some people like to take a warm shower first to open pores.

• Apply several days in a row if possible. Once you've reached the highest goals you feel are possible from an herbal body wrap, apply once a month for maintenance.

• Test yourself with a small amount first to check for skin sensitivity or allergies.

• Always check with a health care professional before using a home health system.

• If you feel discomfort as the treatment progresses, stop and rinse off. Stinging or pain are not part of a body wrap's healing system!

• Author disclaims liability and offers article for educational purposes only. Parents are responsible for any activities involving their children.

Resources

• More homemade bath and body projects