Pine resin soap?

[Rahmi]

I'm intrigued by pine soap. I have a pine/fir tree that's oozing sap. Some has hardened, some still soft to the touch. It's an old tree, and the gash/slash is huge, and it's oozing good amount or sap. So I've been thinking of incorporating it to a batch of soap.

I've read a bit online about harvesting and making pine tar/pitch, but:
1. Can I make soap just using the resin, not tar? I'm assuming both hard resin and soft resin will melt to a same thing over double boiler? What I've understood is that pine tar is pine resin+ pine charcoal.
2. any big difference in 'health' benefits between using tar vs resin?
3. My resin only has a slight aroma. Would this still be a good one?

Thanks!

 

[DeeAnna]

Problem is that resin from a tree is a mixture of rosin (colophony) and turpentine.

Soap was traditionally made with rosin only. A rosin soap needs to be made with a hot process method -- rosin saponifies fast and hot. Turpentine is highly flammable, although sometimes it's used in household soap meant for degreasing hands, laundry, etc.

Pine tar and pine rosin are two different things. Tar is from the wood and is traditionally used for skin conditions and rosin is from the sap and is normally used for its detergency (cleaning power). If you want the soap for its skin benefits, pine tar is the one to use.

Aroma doesn't matter, IMO.

 

[Rahmi]

Thanks Deanna. I'm gonna think about this some more then

 

[Jayne's PP]

I'm intrigued by pine soap. I have a pine/fir tree that's oozing sap. Some has hardened, some still soft to the touch. It's an old tree, and the gash/slash is huge, and it's oozing good amount or sap. So I've been thinking of incorporating it to a batch of soap.

I've read a bit online about harvesting and making pine tar/pitch, but:
1. Can I make soap just using the resin, not tar? I'm assuming both hard resin and soft resin will melt to a same thing over double boiler? What I've understood is that pine tar is pine resin+ pine charcoal.
2. any big difference in 'health' benefits between using tar vs resin?
3. My resin only has a slight aroma. Would this still be a good one?

Thanks!

Pine resin is used in making bees wraps that are soft and stick well, along with Jojoba oil if that process interests you

 

[Jayne's PP]

Pine resin is used in making bees wraps that are soft and stick well, along with Jojoba oil if that process interests you

That's actually supposed to be rosin too. The terms are frequently used interchangeably erroneously. The same issues apply. You don't want turpenes in your bees wraps. They are naturally occuring hydrocarbons and very volatile/flammable. Pine tar is the soot you gather by burning pine wood. Pine resin is the raw "sap" that oozes out of wounds on pine trees.