Birch Tar CP soap . Any do's and don'ts?

[gemsupthepoley]

Well at the weekend I managed to find out how to make birch bark tar (well I saw it being done and as it was so easy I'm having a go).

Anything I should watch out for in a recipe? Any specific oils to add or leave out.

Thinking 2 tablespoon in a kg of oils.

thanks in advance.

 

[snappyllama]

I haven't made birch tar soap, but I've made pine tar soap and assume it's similar. I'm going out on a limb (see what I did there?)... Pine tar doesn't saponify, but it does consume some lye so you'll want to add it to your recipe (or assume that your superfat will be higher). My recipe uses 10% pine tar.

Pine tar also speeds up trace, so I like to heat it up just a bit and add it right before I mold.

 

[gemsupthepoley]

Thanks.

I may do a small batch and see what happens. :razz:

 

[reinbeau]

What would the benefits be? FWIW I have heard that birch tar speeds up trace worse than pine tar, which, oddly enough, I didn't find to be as much of a racehorse as reputed.

 

[Earthen_Step]

I've made soap with birch tar essential oil, like this stuff:
http://www.bulkapothecary.com/product/essential-oils/pure-therapeutic-grade/birch-tar-essential-oil/

It smells kinda like a smokey bbq sauce to me, and I like it in small quantities. Don't know if that's what your talking about though.

 

[gemsupthepoley]

I think it's just the smell. A kind of Bushcraft scene type thing.

 

[LBussy]

Why would one want to make a birch tar soap? I've been interested in the smell for a while, since trying a "historically significant" scent not too long ago. I found it strangely enticing.

 

[snappyllama]

The best I could find was a bunch of guys with seriously fabulous beards talking about how wonderfully soft and dandruff-free it made their facial fluff. So it sounds like like pine tar claims... which I subscribe to after seeing results in my own family. I know that the plural of anecdote isn't data, but man, that stuff actually works for us. DH's occasional bald-head flakey skin: gone. My dermatitis: gone. Daughter's hyper-sensitive rash prone skin: rash gone.

Those conditions all returned when I thought we had run out and we went back to using regular CP for a few days.

I think I'll give birch tar a try to see how DH likes it on his facial fluff.

 

[LBussy]

Interesting. It seems like Birch Tar was an ingredient in Kolnisch Juchten (Russian Leather), a rather old "leather" fragrance. There is one named just that which is available now from Parfums Regence. It's not for the faint of heart. One person described it thusly:

Thick and rich dark, animalic, sticky leather, tar, patchouli and incense notes. This stuff is so butch it makes Robin William's chest hair look like Patrick Stewart's head.