To scent or not to scent Pine Tar Soap?

[tkine]

Do those that have made Pine Tar soap scent yours, or just go with the strong scent of the tar?

TIA
Theresa

 

[paillo]

The tar scent will mellow out considerably with cure, but I like to add some complementary EOs. So far my favorite blend is Cedarwood with a smidge of Anise. I bet Cedarwood and Patchouli would be nice too.

 

[DeeAnna]

I agree with Paillo that the pine tar scent fades .... no .... it mellows .... over time. It never really goes away and remains quite distinct. If you basically like the scent of the particular pine tar you are using, there's nothing wrong with just using it "au natural".

If you don't like it so much, you need to realize it won't ever really go away and there's no "masking" the scent. But you can modify the scent if you're willing to experiment a bit.

I have used a lavender, cedarwood, and rosemary EO mixture in one batch made with Bickmore pine tar. At first the EOs were completely overwhelmed by the pine tar, so I thought the added EOs were a waste of time and money. The soap is 5 months old now, and I can finally smell a gentle spicy, woodsy overlay from the EOs. It's a pleasant addition to the overall fragrance.

I made another batch with Auson brand pine tar and did not add any extra scent. The Auson product is more "smoky fire" smell like you get when camping or having a bonfire. The Bickmore has more of a "burned rubber" smell to me -- not so nice. In any case, I am actually liking the "unscented" Auson batch and I'd make it again without scent. The Bickmore ... well, I think added scent will be a good idea for that pine tar.

 

[Forsenuf]

I vote for no added scent- the people who are looking to buy Pine Tar soap seem to be looking for the skin benefits, not so much a pretty-smelling bar of soap.

 

[DeeAnna]

"...the people who are looking to buy Pine Tar soap seem to be looking for the skin benefits, not so much a pretty-smelling bar of soap...."

One can use EOs for their therapeutic benefits as well as for a pleasant scent. The EOs I chose are ones that I believe are complimentary to the benefits of pine tar as well as complimentary to its odor -- rosemary, lavender, and cedarwood. If I was going just for scent alone, I would not have bothered with EOs -- I would have used fragrance oils instead. But, as I explained above in my previous post, it's certainly a personal choice to use extra fragrance or not.

 

[judymoody]

To the best of my understanding, people who suffer from psoriasis or eczema tend to do better without scent. If they are looking to pine tar soap to help alleviate symptoms, I don't add any fragrance at all. If it's for the general population, some complimentary EOs can certainly cut the pungent odor of the pine tar. I rather like it myself, reminds me a bit of good quality turpentine. Weird, I know.

 

[Dennis]

I'll leave all the scientific facts to others and just say that I've made it with and without. The two batches I made with Frankincense and Myrrh FO from Candlescience have people begging for more. I love it, MFFESSALWMOMC loves it, Hellion #! loves it, fam from the east coast to Oklahoma love it. It's a hit. People I have given soap and never asked for more are asking if there is any more of that dark brown stuff. Soap Junkies!
I bought a bar of Grandpa's Pine Tar soap long ago from Rivendell. Yeah, it's a different kind of bike shop. Loved it. That made me curious about how soap was made and here I am.

 

[tkine]

Thank you all for your input.

I will go the non-scented route, & let the pine tar speak for itself

 

[dixiedragon]

I like to use lavender EO. I think it also slows down trace a tad, which is a HUGE advantage when making pine tar soap! I have also used Tea Tree and Patchouli eos and I like those as well.

 

[savonierre]

I leave it unscented as people who buy it don't generally want a scented soap.

 

[sagehill]

I'd leave half the batch unscented and see which sells better.

 

[cmzaha]

I leave it unscented and happen to like the fragrance of the pine tar itself after curing. Also most customers buy pine tar for a purpose, not smell. The average customer at my booth never even look at the pine tar or if they do they ask what it is. Mine is sold to the customers that want a pine tar soap and they could care less what it smells like

 

[DeeAnna]

Since I last posted in this thread, I've made several more batches of PT soap. All these batches are made with the Auson "kiln burn" pine tar with no added fragrance. I like how the scent from this particular PT mellows and changes with time. Even though there is and always will be a smoky aroma to this soap, there are definite sweet, woody, and spicy notes coming out now that soften the smoky scent. Very nice. This PT is pretty expensive compared to the Bickmore, but it's worth it to give my husband this little pleasure every morning.

 

[reinbeau]

Necroposting, I know, but thank you, DeeAnna, for convincing me to keep my Auson brand pine tar soap unscented. I'm out of rosemary eo anyways

 

[DeeAnna]

Glad to hear that, Ann! I'm still making one or two 1500 gram (3 lb) batches per year. That keeps DH's end of the shower well stocked with soap, and he has a few extras to share with his hunting buddies. I'm still using the Auson with no added scent. He's happy with it and that's what counts.

 

[reinbeau]

First time I made pine tar soap I did it CP with no issues - wondered what all the fuss was about. This time I found out The batter riced and then seized as soon as the lye solution hit it. I tried to stickblend it but it was not going to have any of it. I ended up tossing it into a crockpot and cooking it into submission. It actually came out quite pretty, for pine tar!

 

[TeresaT]

Reinbeau, those are pretty soaps. What percentage pine tar did you use in your recipe? They're very dark. I just made a 5.5 pound batch using 10% pine tar, aloe vera liquid and Tea Tree EO. I added the tea tree oil and aloe vera to the oils before I added the lye solution, then brought that to a light trace with my stick blender before hand mixing the pine tar into it. I had barely enough time to thoroughly mix the pine tar with the batter before it was chocolate pudding. I filled the Brambleberry 5# log mold and one small 2.5 oz mold. They're cooking in the bathroom with the door closed. It gets hot in there. I'll unmold and cut tomorrow. I'm hoping the pine tar smell will mellow out (as DeeAnna has stated) and the tea tree scent comes out a bit. I thought the aloe liquid might add some bubbles since I didn't want to add sugar to the batch. I'll let this cure until summer.

 

[reinbeau]

Pine tar was 10%. It's the Auson brand, don't know if that makes a difference. Next time I'll try to do as you suggested, I think that's how I did it the last time, just didn't remember the sequence properly.

 

[DeeAnna]

I've had pretty good results by making my PT soap this way: Roughly divide the oils in half and put one half in a suitable size container and the other in your soap pot. The pine tar goes in the first container of oils along with any fragrance or other additives like that. Stick blend and stir by hand until well mixed. The lye solution goes into the soap pot with the other half of the fats. Bring the lye-fat mixture to a light but definite trace. Pour the PT-fat mixture into the lye-fat mixture. Gently stir by hand to mix the two. STOP when the batter just begins to lose its shiny surface -- don't stir even one more time. Pour immediately into the mold.

 

[RDak]

I generally don't scent.