Tar soap

[MarinaB]

Dear soapmakers, that was my dream - to make tar bars. Eventually I bought tar in Turkey this month. It is a juniper tar.
Does anyone have done such soap? Which oils are the best for going along with tar? If you could share a recipe
Thank you very much!

 

[DeeAnna]

Look for recipes for pine tar soap. You'd use juniper tar in the same way as pine tar.

I have some info on my website about pine tar and how I make this type of soap, but there are a lot of other ideas and recipes available here on SMF and elsewhere by many fine soap makers. Again, search on pine tar for more info.

 

[MarinaB]

Look for recipes for pine tar soap. You'd use juniper tar in the same way as pine tar.

I have some info on my website about pine tar and how I make this type of soap, but there are a lot of other ideas and recipes available here on SMF and elsewhere by many fine soap makers. Again, search on pine tar for more info.

DeeAnna, I enjoyed reading info about tar on your vebsite. I learned a lot. Thank you very much!
I have beef tallow, but I do not have lard. Can I substitute lard with tallow?

 

[DeeAnna]

Tallow is not a close replacement for lard, so I'd not just sub one for the other.

Typically I also reduce the coconut oil when I use tallow in place of lard. Tallow contains some of the same fatty acids that coconut oil has, and lard does not. If you don't also reduce the coconut, the soap might be more drying to the skin. Not saying it will be more drying, just that it could be.

To change a lard-based recipe into a tallow-based version, here's what I would do --

Enter the lard recipe into a soap recipe calculator.​

Look at the fatty acid profile of this version -- write the numbers down.​

Replace the lard with tallow to create a new recipe.​

Compare the new fatty acid profile of the tallow recipe with the fatty acid profile of the lard recipe.​

Reduce the amount of coconut oil in the tallow recipe until the fatty acid profile is similar to the lard based recipe.​

You won't get it exact, and that's okay -- just shoot for close enough.​

I encourage you to try this. Now's a good time to learn how to alter or create recipes if you don't have this skill already. We will be happy to double check your changes if you want our feedback.

Just a reminder to all --
Whenever you change the weights or kinds of fats in a recipe, always run the changed recipe through a soap recipe calculator to ensure the amount of lye (NaOH or KOH) is correct for that recipe.

 

[MarinaB]

Thank you very much! I fallowed your advise and got next:
%
Tallow beef 32
Olive oil 18
Coconut 17
Cocoa b 8
Castor oil 5
Sunflower 5
Tar 15
What do you think about it? DeeAnna, THANK YOU VERY MUCH for your huge help!
Also looking forward to read more your website!

 

[DeeAnna]

@MarinaB -- I'd make that soap! It looks good; in fact your recipe has given me a few ideas for improving mine.

You didn't say anything about your superfat or lye concentration, so I can't comment on those except to say don't set your superfat real high -- I'd suggest no more than 5%.

Also be aware that most people use pine tar at 10%. I think 15% might be fine too, but if you make a test batch and see it is having problems with softness or a too-short lifespan, the first thing I'd do is drop the juniper tar to 10% and see how that goes.

 

[MarinaB]

DeeAnna,
Superfar is 5%
Lye concentration is 33%
For just a case, I will make tar 10%. Because I brought back only 2 small bottles of it. It might be only the batch I make.
I am glad that I give some ideas to you!

 

[MarinaB]

I also brought back with me a bar that is 100% olive oil and juniper tar. I am interested to try it. It was made in the area that close to Syria and Iraq, but on the Turkish side.
Just walking in a soap store there, I got so many interesting ideas. They use different ingredients, like donkey milk, pistachio oil, St Wort oil or laurel oil. Mesopotamian are can give a lot of ideas to a soapmaker.

 

[MarinaB]

DeeAnna thank you very much for your help!

 

[Boostergold]

I use king Coconut oil /golden King coconut oil in my pine tar recipe. Works great, with a bit of cocoa butter and caster oil. But, I was thinking of ditching the butters and just going with pine tar and king coconut oil in the next batch. Hopefully it'll turn out to be a hardier soap.

 

[DeeAnna]

A soap recipe that is high in coconut oil will be physically hard like a rock. The soap will be highly water soluble, so it won't last very long. Soap high in coconut oil will also be harsh and drying to the skin.

Tallow, lard, and cocoa butter are rich sources of palmitic and stearic acids. These fatty acids add to the soap's hardness AND make the soap last longer.

But there's no harm in making a small test batch and seeing what you think. Let us know how it works for you.

 

[MarinaB]

My juniper tar soap was ready for cutting in 15 hours. It was not soft.