I’ve been hearing about pine tar soap for awhile now… and I finally took my courage in both wings and tried to make some. It came out AMAZING! I love it so much.
One reason that I hadn’t tried it before was that I heard that it seized up (which means “got too hard to pour into the mold”) really fast. Another was that I was told that it smells bad (“like a campfire,” she said). And then, the bars that I’ve seen of pine tar soap are not… well, they aren’t PRETTY! And I’m all about pretty! So, I hadn’t tried it.
But, part of the discussion of pine tar soap has been about the benefits of pine tar itself. Did you know that it’s most commonly used by riders on horses’ hooves? That’s right! Riders paint their horses’ hooves with pine tar because it can help the hooves retain moisture, which can make them stronger and more flexible, and help prevent chipping and cracking. Pine tar is also a natural topical antiseptic that can help prevent and treat bacterial and fungal infections.
So, what is pine tar, anyways?
Pine tar is made by heating and pressurizing pine wood in a closed container, also known as dry or destructive distillation. This process breaks down the wood quickly, leaving behind charcoal and pine tar. Traditionally, pine tar was made by cooking pine stumps in fire pits, but today most pine tar is produced in kilns using heat alone.
AI generated definition
Pine tar looks like thick molasses, but you’d never want to eat it! It has a smell all its own, and yes, it’s reminiscent of a campfire.
I make three versions of this gentle, deeply cleansing soap:
- Pretty Pine Tar (unscented). I figure that this soap is meant to be gentle and healing to the skin, so I don’t want any possible irritants, even tea tree, which has similar properties to pine tar.
- Pretty Pine Tar (tea tree scented). Interestingly, the tea tree oil in this soap seems to neutralize the pine tar smell… and the pine tar tones down the medicinal smell of the tea tree. I like this scent for this soap very much.
- Manly Tea Tree (orange essential oil blend). It also has exfoliating additives like pumice and oats, and deeper cleansing additives, like sea salt and activated charcoal.
All in all, pine tar soap is a great addition to our lineup. I’m very happy that I tried making it! Now, you need to try it! Order Pretty Pine tar soaps here. Order Manly Pine Tar bars here.