Pine tar - pre or post-cook. HP

[Bladesmith]

So I’ve been wanting to make some pine tar soap for a while and finally ordered a can of the stuff.

97% of what I do is hot process. It seems like most people add the pine tar in initially with the oils but most people also CP. Is there anything in pine tar that reacts with the lye monster? Any reason *not* to add it (preheated) post-cook with super fat? I’ve read thru quite a few threads and haven’t seen anyone mention adding it post-cook.

 

[DeeAnna]

Yes, pine tar reacts with lye, although it doesn't saponify. That reaction is what speeds trace. I'd always include pine tar as a "fat" for the purposes of calculating the NaOH weight.

I suppose you could add it after the cook the way people sometimes add superfat to hot process soap. But I can't see a great advantage to that compared to adding it up front. I mean ... isn't the point of HP is to get saponification over with in a hurry? Pine tar would certainly help that goal.

 

[Bladesmith]

Yeah, that’s fair. I HP for a few reasons. One is speed. But also because I don’t have to worry about acceleration, overheating, gelling, ricing, stearic spots, soda ash, etc. I just want some nice usable soap I do a swirl every now and then.

I guess the thought would be if there was anything that could be beneficial that gets eaten by the lye, then I’d want to do it post-cook.

Mostly just trying to figure out if there was a good reason not to. Sounds plausible.

 

[Obsidian]

I'd add it up front. I can't imagine what a pain it would be to get that sticky stuff mixed in after the cook.

 

[Bladesmith]

Yeah, I haven’t messed with the stuff. So maybe a pain to mix in. I figured I’d need to microwave it or something ahead of time.

 

[DeeAnna]

I agree with Obsidian -- it will be a PITA to mix into cooked soap.

Fair warning -- the pine tar will probably cause the soap to seize if my experience is any indication. I've never gotten the feeling it would cause the soap to heat enough to volcano, however. Once it gets into the mold (when doing CP) it stays there and behaves itself. No expansion or cracking.

 

[Bladesmith]

Just an update for anyone searching this topic in the future. I did make a batch of pine tar soap and decided to try adding it in post-cook. I usually soap around 200F and had pre-heated the pine tar to around 190F. Mixed in easily and well. So for any HP'ers out there wondering about adding pine tar post-cook, have no fear.