Pine Tar Soap Texturing

[mlagunowich]

Hi, I have been having trouble with my pine tar soap recipe. Sometimes it turns out perfect (see right) and sometimes it gets these bubbles? Chucks of oil? (see left) I don't know what they are. I made these batches side by side so they are close to being done at the same temperatures but there is some variation. I do not use a stick blender with this soap. The texturing is worse around the edges and towards the ends of the bar. I'm combining when oils are between 90-100 and the lye water is 115-100. I also have some funny ingredients added in like black tea, maple syrup, black walnut powder and EO mix too long to put here (the amounts are on the recipe though). I attached the recipe as well. Thoughts?

 

[AliOop]

I get those on many of my pine-tar bars, as well. I don't know what causes that. Thankfully, the soap is just fine to use, with no apparent side effects from all those bumps.

Still, if someone can chime in with some advice about how to prevent this, I'd love to hear it. The folks who ask me for pine tar soaps definitely would prefer the smooth chocolate fudge look to the chocolate-rice-krispy bar appearance.

 

[mlagunowich]

I get those on many of my pine-tar bars, as well. I don't know what causes that. Thankfully, the soap is just fine to use, with no apparent side effects from all those bumps.

Still, if someone can chime in with some advice about how to prevent this, I'd love to hear it. The folks who ask me for pine tar soaps definitely would prefer the smooth chocolate fudge look to the chocolate-rice-krispy bar appearance.

What temperature do you combine at? My only thought is it's a temperature thing

 

[AliOop]

I masterbatch my lye solution, so it's always at room temperature.

My oils have ranged from 100-130F depending on how impatient I was that day.

I usually stir by hand and don't SB at all. Pine tar moves fast enough on its own!

I don't use any of the additives you mentioned except an EO mix, which I add to the oils before the lye, so the EOs are at the same temp as the oils. That is supposed to help with acceleration issues.

 

[ScentimentallyYours]

After seeing the problems in this thread and the other one, I’ve decided I’m never making pine tar soap!

 

[artemis]

After seeing the problems in this thread and the other one, I’ve decided I’m never making pine tar soap!

I know! I've been curious, but never curious enough to invest time and money to try it out. I may buy a bar of someone else's pine tar soap just to see what it's like first.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Since they were made the same way, same recipe, same time, I'm guessing that the first batch on the right (?) came together easily, but the second batch that was sitting for a while longer wasn't stirred quite enough so all the additives didn't get well mixed in. TIP: Add all additives to the warmed oils before adding the lye solution. Give it a good stir (or SB) for one full minute if the batch has been sitting for a long while.

https://www.soapmakingforum.com/threads/pine-tar-soap-tips-and-technique.86067/#post-920072

 

[DeeAnna]

I make 1-2 batches (14 bars per batch) of PT soap yearly.

A batch can sometimes have a mottled look. That doesn't just randomly happen for me -- it generally happens when I don't get the ingredients mixed together well enough, as Zany and Ali have also mentioned.

One reason for this mottled look is if the fat along sides of the bowl doesn't get mixed into the center portion of the soap batter. So I think it's important to carefully scrape the sides of the soap pot while mixing the soap batter right before pouring into the mold. Sometimes the temperamental nature of pine tar doesn't allow that to happen, so it's a goal to shoot for.

Also if I'm going to use fragrance or other additives, they go into the fats or lye solution before I start the soap making process.

Although I've tried a number of ways to make PT soap and they all work more or less, the method I like best is to divide the fats roughly in half. One half goes into the soap pot.

The other half and the pine tar go into a second bowl. Mix the PT really thoroughly into those fats. Then set that half aside.

Add all the lye solution to the fats in the soap pot (no pine tar in this half). Bring that batter to emulsion or very light trace as usual. Set the stick blender aside.

Pour the PT-and-fat blend into the soap batter. Gently, slowly hand stir the two together with a large silicone spatula, making sure to scrape the sides of the bowl as I stir.

Just as the glossy shine on top of the batter turns a little bit grainy or hazy, pour immediately into the mold.

This method usually gives me really good results.