Pine tar soap recipe help needed

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rosyrobyn

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My son has psoriasis and I'm looking for soap recipe that might help. I've read that pine tar soap sometimes works so I've found a couple recipes online as a jump off point:

Recipe #1


olive oil 60%
coconut oil 25%
castor oil 5%
pine tar 10%
1 teaspoon salt ppo


Recipe #2

5% SF
1/2 oz of neem oil per 24 oz of oil after cook.

Tallow 27%
Olive Oil 10%
Rice Bran Oil 15%
Palm Kernel Oil Flakes 15%
Shea Butter 3%
Lard 10%
Castor Oil 10%
Pine Tar 10%

1 tsp of activated charcoal ppo
1/2 tsp of tea tree oil ppo
substitute the water for aloe juice or goats milk if you'd like

Recipe #3

75% lard
20% pine tar
5% coconut oil
5% castor

Does anyone have any experience with pine tar soap? Any recipe recommendations? Anything to add? Anything to take away?
 
For psoriasis , I'd probably stay away from the stripping oils like CO and PKO. My aim would be something gentle.

I'd go for something like:

15% Pine Tar
5% Castor
50% Lard
25% OO or Avocado Oil
5% Shea Butter

I love using calendula tea (just leaves brewed with hot water and frozen) as a water replacement in my pine tar bars. It's a gentle additive that I have been told "something is missing" when I omitted it. My particular recipe for that bar is aimed at acne though so it's a little harsher than I would imagine your son would want.

One thing... pine tar is exciting to soap. I bring everything BUT the pine tar to emulsification and then hand stir in the pre-warmed PT. It goes to instant pudding in about 10 seconds and then I have less than a minute to mold it.
 
For psorasis and eczema I would use a low low superfat. <3 I wouldn't recommend using a stick blender with pine tar soap. I would just whisk everything and I also wouldn't plan on swirls, swirly tops, colors or anything else fancy. I would consider what E.O.'s you might want to use.
 
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I'll give both recipes a try (#3 and SnappyLlama's). Thank you for your feedback.

I've read about using neem oil for psoriasis but he can't stand the smell and won't use it. I've also made a couple recipes of gentle soap (high lard, olive oil, and castor oil) - one plain, one with goat milk and charcoal. I'm really hoping to hit on something that alleviate some of the symptoms even is it isn't a holy grail cure.
 
Yes, it is included as if it is a normal soaping fat, so it's part of the 100% of the fats. Hope this helps!
 
Is pine tar something you can buy downtown, or is it something you typically have to order online? I can't say that I've ever looked for it before.
 
I'll give both recipes a try (#3 and SnappyLlama's). Thank you for your feedback.

I've read about using neem oil for psoriasis but he can't stand the smell and won't use it. I've also made a couple recipes of gentle soap (high lard, olive oil, and castor oil) - one plain, one with goat milk and charcoal. I'm really hoping to hit on something that alleviate some of the symptoms even is it isn't a holy grail cure.


Neem oil is great. I believe that it is a very good choice for a soothing oil. I use Tea Tree and Orange EO and that seems to work to cover the smell. I also use Aloe Vera juice for the additional liquid when I use my 50/50 lye/water masterbatch and my olive oil I use is infused with Chamomille. This also great for a pet shampoo for Dogs. DO Not use on cats. It is great for "hot spots"
 
I wrote up an article with my advice on making PT soap if you're interested: http://classicbells.com/soap/pineTarSoap.html

Well that was interesting. Just made my first(and quite possibly last) batch of pine tar soap. Thanks Dee Anna for the write up! I used your Method #2 (split the batch) and it pretty much went as you described it. I didn't wait too long and was able to pour it into the mold. But wow it does setup fast.

And pine tar, that is some nasty stuff. I guess I was expecting it to be more, uh, piney. Not whatever that smell is. I added some tea tree and eucalyptus EOs to help mask the smell. It actually smells ok now.

Does this soap gel like a normal soap? How long do you typically wait until you unmold and cut?

Edit - Never mind on the gelling question. That baby is HOT right now.
 
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Yep, it gets pretty warm! When a person can unmold and cut really depends on the recipe. If you use a bit higher % of fats rich in palmitic and stearic acids, you may be able to unmold the next day. At least that has been my experience. If the recipe has a lot of liquid fat, it might take a day or three to be firm enough to unmold. Also the water content has an effect too. If you use a higher lye concentration => faster unmolding.
 
And pine tar, that is some nasty stuff. I guess I was expecting it to be more, uh, piney. Not whatever that smell is. I added some tea tree and eucalyptus EOs to help mask the smell. It actually smells ok now.

Pine tar smells just like, well, tar! When I smell it OOB it always reminds me of newly paved streets or standing near a train track. It's certainly not a scent that appeals to all! Since you added tea tree and eucalytus it should be an okay scent in the end. Let it cure 6-8 weeks then see how you like it. I've found it mellows quite a bit with time. My DH and SIL can't live without it!
 
I added ginger snap fragrance oil to the recipe and it helped to get rid of the heavy pine tar smell. It now has a very nice woodsy smell to it. I cant wait to try some out one more week of curing and I will update on the outcome :)


Todd
 
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