Wonderful pine tar soaps!

[DeeAnna]

If you have a question not specifically related to the main topic of this thread, you are likely to get better response from forum members if you ask your question in a new thread rather than hijack this one.

In this thread, we've gone from pine tar to jewelweed to soap ash to acne to pet shampoo in short order. It's getting confusing.

Everyone goes off topic at times, including me, so I'm not trying to point any fingers or name any names, cuz I'd have to point at myself and name my name! Just offering a helpful tip to those who might be feeling their questions are being ignored or overlooked.

 

[goji_fries]

Congratulations on this successful recipe

 

[shaan]

Thanx so much dorymae! You took time to search. Yes all these are easily available..i will use these..thanx.

 

[soapshark2013]

This link might be of interest to you. It has a tutorial on getting rid of soda ash. http://lather-be-soaping.blogspot.com/2012/04/dreaded-soda-ash.html

This has been a great thread, I really want to play around with some pine tar now. Has anyone tried out "solventfreepaint.com"?

Hi Earthen_Step...thank you for taking the time to give me a, could be, solution to the problem...I thank you, thank you, thank you....:clap:

 

[soapshark2013]

Animals metabolise essential oils differently to humans. I would be very careful!

And I want to thank you as well for your valued opinion...

 

[cmzaha]

I did a quick search for plants in India for acne and came up with:

Fenugreek or methi
neem leaves
tumeric powder
or sandlewood powder

I'm not sure if you have access to any of these but I'd try an oil infusion of them.

Sandlewood powder works fantastic for my daughter. I even put it in her pine tar soap because we know she does so well with sandalwood powder

 

[shaan]

Hi all! I tried to make pine tar soap today.. my recipe was
Cocoa butter-4%
Coconut oil-27%
Neem oil-7%
Pine tar-10%
Olive oil-44%
Castor oil-8%
I made 260 grams of soap,so i added 48 grams water and 43 grams witch hazel as water part at 35% and added 1/2 tea spoon of lactic acid. And lye-33g.
I mixed all the herb paste i made and essential oils,with oils..i mixed oil and water-lye mixture at 111° F each.. i mixed with a stick..after 5-7 minutes it became very sticky like tarcoal and formed a film over it as i mixed..it was like a wet sticky dough and got very hot..i poured in the molds and now its lying in a safe place..m afraid it won't turn into a soap..it does not look like the batter of other soaps i made earlier.lets see what happens tomorrow.. n if some how it turns into a soap,how long should it be kept to cure? Its so hard waiting.

 

[newbie]

Pine tar makes soap softer. I didn't run your recipe to see how hard the non-PT part is, but you can expect it to possibly take longer to unmold than your regular recipe. PT soaps need a normal cure of minimum 4 weeks and preferably more.

Also, pine tar greatly accelerates trace, so it will generally be very different from your other soaps you've made, in terms of how the batter acts.

 

[shaan]

Hi all! Its been a month i made my pine tar soaps..i am using it from last 6 days..it is not creating any foam..its like i am applying a thin black paste on face..its rinsing off well,but skin gets dry after use..and face looks dull and dark,and no improvement in acne or pimples.. :-(

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

What sort of superfat did you use?

Looking at the recipe in general it is very different from my pine tar which lathers well.

But I can only think that the oo means you need to give it a longer cure. But with that much co (which might well be why it's drying) you should be getting some bubbles at least. Maybe leave it for another month or two

 

[shaan]

No, not a single tiny bubble..just black watery thing when i rub my face..i cant figure out where i went wrong.

 

[KatieShephard]

* And what does the annotation in Soap Calc mean? It says "lye calc only, no FA"

Pine tar consumes some lye so it needs to be included as an ingredient in the soap recipe so you use the right amount of lye. Pine tar does not have any fatty acids (FA), however, so it doesn't actually make soap.

This thread was a long, but good read.

DeeAnna...when you say that the pine tar eats some of the lye, but doesn't turn into soap...what does it turn into then? Just curious.

 

[dosco]

Hi all! I tried to make pine tar soap today.. my recipe was
Cocoa butter-4%
Coconut oil-27%
Neem oil-7%
Pine tar-10%
Olive oil-44%
Castor oil-8%
I made 260 grams of soap,so i added 48 grams water and 43 grams witch hazel as water part at 35% and added 1/2 tea spoon of lactic acid. And lye-33g.

I put your numbers in soapcalc and I can't quite make it work because I'm not sure what you mean by "I made 260g of soap."

Does that mean you used 260g of oils? Or does that equate to the "Soap Weight before CP Cure or HP Cook" field? If it's the latter then the amount of water and lye you used appear to be incorrect (soapcalc says for a 264g "weight before CP cure" you'd use 61g water (35%) and 23g NaOH).

I'm not sure what happened ... maybe you can check your notes?

Cheers-
Dave

 

[goji_fries]

After reading through this very informative thread, other threads and other online sources, I've decided to give it a go. I developed my recipe based on inspiration from David Fisher (about.com) and the oils I have on hand. Sinful 7, the pics of your beautiful niece are the biggest inspiration as I also have family members that suffer from a bad complexion. Here's my recipe:

28% Lard
28% OO
17% CO
12% Sunflower
15% Pine Tar
5% SF

I thought I would add Tea Tree EO for the benefits it will bring to the soap. The smell of the tar itself doesn't really bother me so if you think it will not be affected by the tea tree, I won't worry about it. I'm on the fence about the % of PT. Should I leave it at 15% or decrease to 10%? I was able to find PT today at our local Tractor Supply store so I've attached a pic. The label says "Light Pine Tar 100%". Does the brand of PT look safe and does the recipe look good as a bar for problematic skin?

Thanks in advance!

Where'd you get your PT Kristay/?

 

[shaan]

Sorry its 260 g of oils that i used.. with 7% superfat, 35% water. Which gave -
Cocoa butter-10.4g,
Coconut oil-70.2g,
Neem oil-18.2g,
Pine tar-26g,
Olive oil-114.4g,
Castor oil-20.8g,
Water-91g,
Lye-33g.

 

[dosco]

Sorry its 260 g of oils that i used.. with 7% superfat, 35% water. Which gave -
Cocoa butter-10.4g,
Coconut oil-70.2g,
Neem oil-18.2g,
Pine tar-26g,
Olive oil-114.4g,
Castor oil-20.8g,
Water-91g,
Lye-33g.

According to soapcalc that ingredient list should "work."

Did you HP or CP it?

If the stuff is bad ... perhaps someone else can provide some suggestions/insight.

-Dave

 

[DeeAnna]

"....when you say that the pine tar eats some of the lye, but doesn't turn into soap...what does it turn into then? Just curious. ..."

I haven't looked into it, to be honest. Lye (whether KOH or NaOH) is a powerful chemical that can react with a lot of things -- triglycerides (soaping fats), proteins, other organic chemicals, acids, etc.

 

[DWinMadison]

Sorry, I'm late to the party. Is pine tar added at trace like colorants and eo? In what ratio to lbs of soap do you add it?

 

[reinbeau]

It's calculated into the soaping oils. Read through the thread, all discussed within.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...260 grams of oils... [and] ...added 1/2 tea spoon of lactic acid... [and] ...with 7% superfat..."

Why did you add lactic acid ... and furthermore, why add that much? Lactic acid will increase your superfat by consuming part of the lye -- and you say you added a whopping 1/2 teaspoonful for only 260 g of oils. That is a lot of acid to add to such a tiny batch even though it may not look like much. It's hard to say exactly why you're not getting any lather, but this fact is my major suspect in this case.

My advice?

First, use KISS when making pine tar soap -- Keep It Simple, Soaper! Stick with a PROVEN soap recipe that gives a firm, long lasting, mild soap. By proven, I mean a recipe that you personally know works well without pine tar -- not something you've never tried.

Also, use a moderate to low superfat to keep the bar as firm as possible at the time of unmolding. Too much superfat and/or a soap that is normally soft at umolding do NOT mix well with pine tar soap. And finally, if you must add acid to the recipe, then also calculate and add the proper amount of extra lye needed to neutralize the acid.