Pine Tar Soap Benefits
Alright, so now that we know what it is and where to find it. Lets talk about the great benefits of Pine Tar. As mentioned above, pine tar is a great natural antibacterial and anti-fungal. Pine Tar properties are passed down to the soaps that you add it to. Pine tar soap has been used to help treat skin conditions for years. So, it is great to help soothe eczema and psoriasis as well as treat dry, itchy skin. It can help ease skin irritations from bug bites, and Pine Tar soap is great to use as a treatment for poison ivy.
Between summer bug bites and dry, itchy winter skin. We keep Pine Tar Soap on hand year-round at our house. Want to learn how to make it yourself? Check out the video below.
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Traditional Use In Soap
Pine tar has been a commonly seen ingredient in soaps, spanning hundreds of years. It is still used today, especially in natural soaps.
- Pine tar and pine oil has long been used in soap. It can be irritating to some people: mixing it with the fats and other oils found in soap dilutes the pine tar and pine oil so it does not cause irritation.
- Black soap is a very different product. It is made from coal tar and used to treat dandruff, kill lice, and treat similar skin conditions to pine tar.
- Black soap made with coal tar is said to have analgesic properties, soothing the itching and burning sensation associated with common skin conditions. Pine tar soap and black soap are not the same product, but offer similar uses. Coal tar is said to have an unpleasant and strong odor that can be covered up with essential oils.
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Pine Tar To Relieve Eczema And Dermatitis
Try Pine Tar
Pine Tar comes from heating pine to a high temperature. Pitch drips from the wood and is collected. . Although different tars have been used to relieve eczema and other skin disorders including coal tar pine tar is considered the safest.
It isnt fully understand how pine tar works because few studies have been done. This review states that the long experience with pine tar therapy and its worldwide usage, the evidence presented suggests that the safety risk from topical pine tar products is very small, while it is useful for treating a wide range of skin conditions.
Pine Tar is thought to promote normal keratinisation by ex reducing over production of skin cells.Skin is made of cells called keratinocytes. They begin deep within the skin layer and grow. When the next generation begins behind them, they are pushed towards the surface of your skin. The process of these cells becoming the top layer of your skin is called keratinization. The healthy life cycle of keratinocytes ends with them naturally being shed from the newer keratinocytes.
Pine Tar has been used for thousands of years to sooth skin conditions. According to an article by Barnes and Greive the properties of pine tar make it suitable for the topical treatment of eczema, psoriasis, seborrhoeic dermatitis and other dry, itchy, flaky or inflamed skin conditions.
It is said to
My Pine Tar Products
To be extra safe, children and pets should not use pine tar products
Is Pine Tar Soap Good For Body Odor
Yes, pine tar soap is good for getting rid of body odor. Not everyone enjoys the intense aroma of pine tar, even in a pine tar soap recipe like this one, where its offset with essential oils to create a pleasing, masculine scent that isnt overwhelming. But even those who dont appreciate the scent will agree that its better than body odor!
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What Is Pine Tar
Pine tar is an old remedy that has been used to help alleviate the symptoms of eczema, psoriasis, dandruff, and other forms of dermatitis. It is also used to relieve itching caused by bug bites and poison ivy, and its antiseptic properties make it safe to use during flareups and on open wounds. The pine tar that I use in my 20% Pine Tar Soap is kiln burned pine tar from Sweden that is used especially for these purposes.
All of my soaps are handmade in small batches, hand cut, and cured. Depending on the soap, I use either the cold process or hot process method. Most of my soaps are made using cold process, but I find that while making the Pine Tar soap the hot process gives me a more consistent product.
It takes time to figure out what works best for each of us, and whats right for one person may not be right for another. It took us years to get to this point and it wasnt easy, but I feel so fortunate that I am able to use my experiences to help others. I hope youll find our Grass Fed Tallow products as healing as we have found.
Bio: New Hampshire based tallow master, soap maker and owner of The Healthy Porcupine.
Tip : Give Your Pine Tar Soap A Refined Finish
Yes, it can be nice to have a rugged, rustic look to your soap and, because of the naturally dark color and rough texture of pine tar soap, this is the norm. However, if youre going to gift or sell this soap, its nice to give the product a more professional finish. Pouring the soap into a single loaf mold then cutting when its set enough is a good option, as you get a nice roughish top and smooth, clean sides. Plus, you can get a lovely 100% natural or handmade soap stamps that give a nice, professional finishing touch.
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All The Wonderfulness Of Our Goats Milk Soap Plus Pine Tar
Pine Tar is an old-timer remedy for psoriasis. It has been used for over 100 years as a therapy for psoriasis and eczema. What easier way is there to use than to make a Pine Tar Soap.
Pine tar is a dark vegetable liquid from pine trees that can be combined with goats milk to make a gentle, healing soap bar. Pine tar soap is known for its therapeutic benefits for rashes such as psoriasis and eczema. It is also said to heal inflammations caused by poison ivy, poison sumac, sunburn and insect bites. It does have a very unique smell to it, but if you are one who suffers from skin conditions, its uniqueness would be appreciated!
Pine Tar Soap Benefits: Not Just For Baseball
Pine tar is a substance that has been used for centuries. It has a variety of uses but is primarily used as an ingredient in soap. You may have seen it and wondered what pine tar soap is, and why its used.
Pine soap is used in soothing treatment for skin conditions such as eczema and psoriasis it is said to relieve itching caused by bug bites. This property alone makes it a great addition to your medicine cabinet during the warm months when mosquitoes are found virtually everywhere.
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Pine Tar Soap Recipe Notes:
Heres my pine tar soap recipe from where I ran it through a lye calculator. This recipe doesnt have any palm oil so you really need to add the sodium lactate to firm it up. Its rather soft without it. Also I do recommend discounting the water a little further which is why my pine tar soap recipe differs slightly from the screenshot of what I initially came up with. If you dont discount your water further or your soap doesnt gel, it may need an extra day or two in the mold so it comes out clean.
If youd like to start with a harder bar right off the bat, you can use around 30% sustainable palm oil in your pine tar recipe though keep in mind palm oil does speed up trace a bit or you can use lard. Of course there are many many other variations of oils and butters you can experiment with, but for the sake of creating a beginner recipe, I left it simple.
I have also been considering, however, making this again and including neem oil in the recipe since it also helps with many of the same skin issues. Id likely reduce the amount of pine tar to 10% and use 5% neem oil, although 15% pine tar and 5% neem oil could work as well.
The Different Pine Tar Soaps Explained
Traditional Medical Grade Pine Tar Soaps
Believe it or not, pine tar soap has many healing properties to it. It has been used for more than 2,000 years. It has been used to treat various skin conditions like eczema, psoriasis, seborrhoeic dermatitis, dry skin, itchy skin, inflamed skin conditions, and flakiness.
The medical-grade pine tar soaps although having healing benefits do have a negative quality and that negative quality to me are how they smell. As in they dont smell very good and actually kinda stink. This scent can linger on you after using it possible for a few hours. It is not pleasing to my nose in the least and I dont have any skin conditions , so there is no need to use the traditional pine tar soap.
I cant speak on its effectiveness in healing skin conditions as I dont have any problems with my skin but it is widely used to treat these conditions.
Regular Everyday Pine Tar Bar Soaps
This is your standard soap but with some pine tar mixed into the batch. Less than the traditionally made pine tar soaps. The amount of pine tar varies but it is also mixed with pleasing scents to add a more appealing scent and approval. A properly blended soap can be very invigorating and stimulating. They also do not have as much effect on healing skin conditions as traditional pine tar soaps do. This is the trade-off.
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How To Make Pine Tar Soap: Easy Pine Tar Soap Recipe
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links..
This pine tar soap recipe is easy to make following a traditional cold-process lye soap method. Its is a natural deep pore cleaner thats been used for centuries to help skin issues like psoriasis, eczema, dandruff, insect bites, and other minor irritations.
The pine tar helps to remove the top layer of skin, which is where the majority of dirt and oil reside. This is a very effective way to get your skin nice and clean, while also moisturizing it with all-natural ingredients like olive or coconut oils.
Which Skin Concerns Does Pine Tar Treat
Skin issues such as acne, eczema, and psoriasis can be quite complex and aggressive which is why the Pine Tar Skinfood soap is usually recommended. The Pine Tar bar is aimed at those with normal/combination skin type, even if no major skin issues are present, they can still benefit from the properties of the bar. It is best to try out this soap in small amounts in small areas of the body to see how your skin reacts and go from there. May you be one of the many Tribe members that use this soap to enhance and nourish your GLOW!
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Other Uses Of Pine Tar Soap
When combined with other ingredients, pine tar can be used for many applications for the skin and hair. No feminine scent here! Pine tar and pine oil can be used with ingredients such as oatmeal, another natural substance that soothes the skin, and adds mild exfoliating properties. It is effective in soothing the inflammation, skin, scalp and itching due to dandruff.
You can find pine tar in natural soaps with other natural ingredients. Pine tar is a natural substance that does no harm to the environment. So when you use Dr. Squatchs Pine Tar it will make you feel good all over.
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Prepare Your Materials Ahead Of Time
- Mix at low temperatures. You can try your batch with lye at room temperature and the oils at about 85 degrees.
- Use a lot of water in your recipe. A 2:1 ratio of water to lye is recommended but for this recipe, your water may calculate at about 2.7 times the amount of lye.
- Adjust your recipe to be slower to trace. Include slow-to-trace oils like lard and olive and remove quick-to-trace oils like castor and palm.
- Be careful with fragrance or essential oils that may speed up trace. Lavender tends to slow down trace.
- Dont use a stick blender. Whisk it to mix it.
- While you measure out oils, put the can of pine tar in a large bowl of very hot water. This will help make the pine tar a bit more pourable when it comes time to add it to the soap pot.
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History Of Pine Tar And Its Soap
Pine tar soap has a long history. Its main ingredient, pine tar is used in a variety of applications.
- Pine tar is a sticky substance that results from burning the wood of pine trees.
- The use of pine tar originates in Scandinavia. It is used a preservative to protect wood from the harsh winter conditions as well as on the bottoms of Nordic skis.
- Pine tar became an important export from the American colonies as many areas were covered in pine forests back in the day. Ropes and rigging on ships were sealed with pine tar to prevent rotting from the harsh conditions and exposure to sea water. British sailors were nicknamed tar for this reason. Pine tar is used on the handles of baseball bats because the stickiness of the substance lends batter griping.
- Pine tar is used in veterinary medicine to treat a variety of conditions for cattle and chickens. It is used in medicinal applications as a treatment for various skin conditions as well. Pine tar has a wide variety of applications from maritime uses, medicinal uses, to the production of soapsand was quite the money-maker in the post-independence periods of the United States.
Is Pine Tar Safe To Use
Yes, providing you use a veterinary-grade product, like Auson, pine tar is safe to use in soap recipes. Yes, you can make pine tar from pine trees, but the result isnt the pure, skin-safe product that you need it will contain carcinogens like creosote, so I strongly recommend you purchase a commercially available, purified pine tar. Its still made from pine wood, but the purification process removes all impurities and harmful compounds. Just make sure the one you choose is graded for veterinary use and/or cosmetic use.
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Melt Hard Oils And Add Liquid Oils
- While the pine tar is warming up in hot water, measure and begin melting hard oils.
- Once the hard oils have been melted, take the pot off of the heat.
- Add the liquid oils.
- Now you add the pine tar. It’s sticky, so you can measure it right from the can into the soap pot. Note that this only works if you can put a hot soap pot on top of your scale. If you can’t, measure the pine tar into a separate disposable container.
- Put your soap pot on the scale and carefully measure out the correct amount of pine tar in the heated oils.
- Stir the oils and pine tar very well.
Tip : Warm The Pine Tar Before You Use It
Pine tar is very thick and sticky, so it can be a bit challenging to work with at room temperature. So, while youre getting started with the other ingredients, I strongly recommend standing the can of pine tar in a bowl of extremely hot water. As the pine tar gets warm, it loses a little of its viscosity and becomes easy to pour, measure, and work with.
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Pine Tar Salve For Eczema And Psoriasis
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Pine Tar Salve. Its old fashioned. Its Black. Pine tar has been used in medicine for more than 2000 years to treat a range of skin conditions because of its soothing and antiseptic properties. It is considered a drawing salve for splinters because it softens skin and helps get the splinter out. It would be a perfect salve but did I mention its black?
Historical Use Of Tar Soap
Coal tar has been used to treat skin conditions since ancient times. For over 100 years, it has been used to treat psoriasis.
In the past, over-the-counter coal tar soap contained coal tar byproducts, like polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons . Today, true coal tar soap is hard to get without a prescription.
You can still buy pine tar soap that contains pine tar and pine tar oils without a prescription. Some brands for sale today have been in production since the 1800s and use the same formula.
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Why Is Tallow Beneficial For The Skin
Tallow has many fat-soluble vitamins that are not found in plant based products, and these properties help alleviate redness, inflammation, irritation, cracked and scaly skin. The tallow that I use in The Healthy Porcupines Tallow Balm and Tallow Soap comes from grass-fed cows which gives it a higher nutrient profile. I pick the suet up from local farms, trim, render and filter it before making into balm and soap. The balm and soap are very gentle for sensitive skin as it helps restore and moisturize your skin.