Birch Tar Oil Soap

[Sarp]

I am interested in making soap from Birch tar oil because of the smell and it is used to treat many different skin and scalp issues. Also supposed to have a calming effect. I found a place to buy it at a good price at Birch Tar Oil 100mm/cc (Antiseptic) - Otzis Pouch

Now I am having hard time to find the actual process to use this oil in making soap. Using the essential oil type of this oil is documented but I don't want to use the essential oil, I want to use this pure birch tar oil as that way the health benefits are kept, with the essential oil they are not.

Anybody here has information on using this oil for making soap?

 

[DeeAnna]

Look at how to make pine tar soap. Birch tar is roughly the same as pine tar. I use pine tar at 10% of the oils by weight.

Pine tar discussions on SMF: Search results for query: pine tar

You cannot assume the "health benefits" of any wood tar will carry over into the soap, if for no other reason than soap is usually washed off the skin. I notice the supplier has a long list of health claims for their birch tar, but isn't providing any science-based support for those claims. That's unfortunate.

 

[Sarp]

Look at how to make pine tar soap. Birch tar is roughly the same as pine tar. I use pine tar at 10% of the oils by weight.

Pine tar discussions on SMF: Search results for query: pine tar

You cannot assume the "health benefits" of any wood tar will carry over into the soap, if for no other reason than soap is usually washed off the skin. I notice the supplier has a long list of health claims for their birch tar, but isn't providing any science-based support for those claims. That's unfortunate.

Thanks for that I will check it out! Yeah the only way I see the soap having much effect for health benefits would be leaving it on for a few minutes, much in the way some dandruff shampoos work. From what I have managed to dig up it seems for many different type of skin treatments using the tar is leaving it on anywhere from 2-3 minutes to 10 minutes.

That same site has a pretty good article on its use as an antiseptic and to kill virus and bacteria.
https://otzispouch.ca/birch-tar-oil-a-powerful-antiseptic/
That does seem to have proof supplied not sure in soap though it would be very strong. At 10% estimating that the active ingredients are 60% in the oil would leave like 6%? According to the article that should kill viruses and bacteria. Is my math right?

 

[cmzaha]

And technically with some of the claims, they are selling a drug, which is an FDA no no.

 

[DeeAnna]

With ".ca" as the domain, I think this is a Canadian supplier. I don't know the differences in how Canada polices stuff like this compared to the US. If they were the US, I agree with you, Carolyn. They would definitely making drug claims as far as the FDA is concerned.

 

[cmzaha]

OOPS, missed that one DeeAnna. You are right it may not apply.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...That does seem to have proof supplied not sure in soap though it would be very strong...."

The article you gave a link to does not have any proof whatsoever. The author doesn't present any hard data about the antimicrobial properties of birch tar. The article implies birch tar might be antimicrobial because it contains cresols and cresols are antimicrobial, and so on. But that's pure speculation, not proof. Analogies might be fine to suggest what kinds of studies could be done, but that's all analogies can do. They aren't proof.

"...At 10% estimating that the active ingredients are 60% in the oil would leave like 6%? According to the article that should kill viruses and bacteria. Is my math right? ..."

Your math might be fine, but your assumption "...that should kill viruses and bacteria..." isn't based on facts. There are no data to support your assumption. You can do all the math you want, but you're basing your calculations on pure guess work and wishful thinking.

I realize the owner of this business wants desperately for birch tar to be the next wonder ingredient, but there's no proof birch tar is efficacious for any medical issue. There is no strong evidence that pine tar is efficacious against any medical issues either.

 

[Ashleigh]

With ".ca" as the domain, I think this is a Canadian supplier. I don't know the differences in how Canada polices stuff like this compared to the US. If they were the US, I agree with you, Carolyn. They would definitely making drug claims as far as the FDA is concerned.

Same for Canada. We can't make those types of claims on any cosmetics (soap included) without it being considered a drug. I would imagine it would be the same for the wood tar alone without proof from testing that it does in fact have those qualities.

 

[Sarp]

"...That does seem to have proof supplied not sure in soap though it would be very strong...."

The article you gave a link to does not have any proof whatsoever. The author doesn't present any hard data about the antimicrobial properties of birch tar. The article implies birch tar might be antimicrobial because it contains cresols and cresols are antimicrobial, and so on. But that's pure speculation, not proof. Analogies might be fine to suggest what kinds of studies could be done, but that's all analogies can do. They aren't proof.

"...At 10% estimating that the active ingredients are 60% in the oil would leave like 6%? According to the article that should kill viruses and bacteria. Is my math right? ..."

Your math might be fine, but your assumption "...that should kill viruses and bacteria..." isn't based on facts. There are no data to support your assumption. You can do all the math you want, but you're basing your calculations on pure guess work and wishful thinking.

I realize the owner of this business wants desperately for birch tar to be the next wonder ingredient, but there's no proof birch tar is efficacious for any medical issue. There is no strong evidence that pine tar is efficacious against any medical issues either.

The sources on that article show more then enough proof imo that it would absolutely work to kill viruses and bacteria. Birch tar oil is approved in Canada for over counter sales in Canada and seems to be commonly combined with castor oil. Be interesting to see if the article gets updated once the coronavirus team mentioned has finished testing it.

Going to try first batch of soap pretty quick. One thing I can say is the smell alone is enough to make me want to use it.

 

[DeeAnna]

If there's enough proof in that article to convince you of its efficacy, I can't argue with that. I can't agree either, but I won't debate it further. Best of luck to you.