Uuuuugly!

[Dennis]

There are still about 15 bars of the original pine tar soap with frankincense & myrrh FO from long ago. I love it. It is still a favorite. So why would I get this wild hair to make a batch of pine tar soap when there is plenty in the Soap Security Area (KEEP OUT!) For those hobbyists not yet overwhelmed by the number of bars of soap you've made and where to put them, the SSA is under our bed. Mankatt is not happy. He just lost a favorite hidey hole under there.
Determined to go forward with this poorly thought out plan and in possession of a brand new shipment of lye I was unstoppable.
I found the half can of pine tar in the garage and decided to weigh it up last. This was my first and last smart move of the day. let's see, shortening, lard, coconut. Yep, ready to go.
Note to self: Leave the shortening out of the fridge.
Ok, oils weighed up, now for the pine tar.

Have you ever messed with pine tar?
Do you remember the I Love Lucy episode when she worked on a candy production line?
Well, this was worse. I did get the pine tar weighed up but found a bit on a thumb when the phone rang. No, I didn't answer it but then I dropped the spoon. Catch it! GAAAHHH! Knocked the can over. Grab it! Rats! Pine tar all over my hands. Pine tar on the scale, counter, dishwasher and floor. And me.
Many of you have or are rearing children. Looking back, remember that diaper that leaked and little Bobby or Mary got it on his/her hand and on everything everywhere but it wasn't really much and you wondered how that could have happened so quickly and you cleaned for what seemed forever? And still found a bit here and there? PINE TAR!

Whew! Ok. Ready to mix in the lye. Slowly. With my trusty Braun SB at the ready, I poured up the lye and just stirred a bit. All was well until I hit the switch on the SB. It was getting thicker than I wanted quickly! Now just stirring with no SB, it didn't slow down. Ok, hurry and get it in the mold. HA! That was a chore. It's sticky and gummy and getting STIFFER. Finally got it in the mold, in the oven, then insulated and left on the counter. I was not impatient about EVER looking at it. But I did. And it is uuuuuugly! Unmolded easily and cut with no problem. Not too hard. How about that. Another successful soaping experience. Click on the thumbnails if you really want to suffer and explore the soap of 1000 caves.

Now, if you're still here I know you all love beautiful pictures of artisan soaps produced by artistic souls with more talent than seems fair. These ain't those kinds of pictures. WARNING: Viewing of pictures could cause adults and/or children to experience mental trauma. View at your own risk.

 

[amd]

Sorry for your luck, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading that. Makes me feel a bit better about my misadventures - because they happen to everyone, sometime. It should still be good soap, right?

 

[Dennis]

Sorry for your luck, but I thoroughly enjoyed reading that. Makes me feel a bit better about my misadventures - because they happen to everyone, sometime. It should still be good soap, right?

It should be good soap. Just really ugly and kinda scary through all the mess. Now I can laugh when I think about it.

 

[earlene]

Well done, Dennis! Yes, great descriptive narrative. I love your writing style. And although I do see what you mean by ugly, the final product looks awful darn good once cut into bars, the majority of which are pretty solid looking.

I hope your poor little Mankatt finds a new secure hidey hole soon.

 

[Dennis]

Most of the bars are quite good. They'll be fine. Mankatt is checking new areas. He's used to interior loss of habitat and adjusts quite well.

 

[Saponomancer]

That sounds like an adventure, oof. I might hot process if I try this myself, or maybe try hand stirring on for size. The final bars look great though!

 

[Obsidian]

Yep, besides the ends, it looks pretty good. I learned a long time ago that you never, ever use a SB with pine tar. It will trace just fine with hand stirring.
Personally, I hate working with PT and was thrilled when I finally used up the last of it on a custom order. I told the lady she had to buy the whole batch and I wouldn't even make it again lol.

 

[dibbles]

I love reading your stories. And you did get soap in the end.

 

[SoapAddict415]

Mankatt is gorgeous! I've never made pine tar soap so that sounded like quite the adventure lol! Thanks for sharing!

 

[Dean]

There are still about 15 bars of the original pine tar soap with frankincense & myrrh FO from long ago. I love it. It is still a favorite. So why would I get this wild hair to make a batch of pine tar soap when there is plenty in the Soap Security Area (KEEP OUT!) For those hobbyists not yet overwhelmed by the number of bars of soap you've made and where to put them, the SSA is under our bed. Mankatt is not happy. He just lost a favorite hidey hole under there.
Determined to go forward with this poorly thought out plan and in possession of a brand new shipment of lye I was unstoppable.
I found the half can of pine tar in the garage and decided to weigh it up last. This was my first and last smart move of the day. let's see, shortening, lard, coconut. Yep, ready to go.
Note to self: Leave the shortening out of the fridge.
Ok, oils weighed up, now for the pine tar.

Have you ever messed with pine tar?
Do you remember the I Love Lucy episode when she worked on a candy production line?
Well, this was worse. I did get the pine tar weighed up but found a bit on a thumb when the phone rang. No, I didn't answer it but then I dropped the spoon. Catch it! GAAAHHH! Knocked the can over. Grab it! Rats! Pine tar all over my hands. Pine tar on the scale, counter, dishwasher and floor. And me.
Many of you have or are rearing children. Looking back, remember that diaper that leaked and little Bobby or Mary got it on his/her hand and on everything everywhere but it wasn't really much and you wondered how that could have happened so quickly and you cleaned for what seemed forever? And still found a bit here and there? PINE TAR!

Whew! Ok. Ready to mix in the lye. Slowly. With my trusty Braun SB at the ready, I poured up the lye and just stirred a bit. All was well until I hit the switch on the SB. It was getting thicker than I wanted quickly! Now just stirring with no SB, it didn't slow down. Ok, hurry and get it in the mold. HA! That was a chore. It's sticky and gummy and getting STIFFER. Finally got it in the mold, in the oven, then insulated and left on the counter. I was not impatient about EVER looking at it. But I did. And it is uuuuuugly! Unmolded easily and cut with no problem. Not too hard. How about that. Another successful soaping experience. Click on the thumbnails if you really want to suffer and explore the soap of 1000 caves.

Now, if you're still here I know you all love beautiful pictures of artisan soaps produced by artistic souls with more talent than seems fair. These ain't those kinds of pictures. WARNING: Viewing of pictures could cause adults and/or children to experience mental trauma. View at your own risk.
View attachment 31806 View attachment 31807 View attachment 31808 View attachment 31809 View attachment 31810

Oh dear...

 

[MKLonestar]

I enjoyed reading about your adventure with the PT. I have never used PT, but my husband has asked that I make him a loaf of it for him (apparently this was a soap his mother made frequently when he was young). I will try my hand at it eventually...definitely no time in the near future. Through your great descriptive story, I learned not to SB it and only stir, so hopefully (fingers crossed) I won't end up with a disaster.

Mankaat is very cute and I am sure he will find himself a new hidey hole...somehow cats always do.

 

[earlene]

If I ever make pine tar soap, and I'm not sure I will or not, I may consider individual molds, just like I do with Salt Soap. Although maybe the PT soaps don't get as hard as fast. I don't know. But it sounds like it heats up a lot.

How soon after putting in the mold, was it ready to cut? And how firm was it when you cut? Was it fairly easy to cut?

 

[cmzaha]

Like Dibbles, I always enjoy reading your stories. Although I am sure it was not funny at the time I is funny to read. Except for the ends your soap doesn't look to bad and it will certainly still work.
Mancat is gorgeous.

 

[Dennis]

If I ever make pine tar soap, and I'm not sure I will or not, I may consider individual molds, just like I do with Salt Soap. Although maybe the PT soaps don't get as hard as fast. I don't know. But it sounds like it heats up a lot.

How soon after putting in the mold, was it ready to cut? And how firm was it when you cut? Was it fairly easy to cut?

I'll make more because I've got a little less than half a can of PT left and I refuse to let it beat me. This would have been easier if I had not used the SB. Also the recipe was lard, CO and GV shortening at 30% each and 10% PT. Lye conc was 35%. After the fudge was scooped, pressed and smeared it was placed in the oven at 170F because that's as low as it will go. Turned it off when I put the mold in. Took it out after two hours, oven temp was still 160F. Insulated with the same ragged towels I always use and left it overnight. When I removed what I at first thought would be an abomination it was merely UUUUUGLY! Cutting it was a surprise. There was resistance at first but then the cutter just slid through with a bit of pressure. Towards the middle of the log I pressed a bar with my fingers and thumb. It was very firm but still compressed. It was a surprise as I expected it to be rock hard. No sugar or salt was added because I forgot until the moment I poured the lye into the water. Oh well, next time. I won't use it for six weeks but expect it to be fine.

 

[ItsForrest]

Don't fear the pine tar!

I've been super busy so I haven't posted here for a while. I just came looking for a thread from a while back about sources of pine tar. Saw this thread and had to post. Not to hijack Dennis' thread, hope it helps with others' pine tar adventures.

I can totally relate to the oil spills issue. I have not spilled any pine tar yet (fingers crossed) but I sure do go through a lot of paper towels cleaning up oil that gets somehow splashed around the kitchen counter while weighing oils.

Pine tar soap has been a surprise hit for me selling at the local farmer's market. It has to be a regional thing to some degree, I suppose. I'm in North Carolina, the Tar Heel state, and hear lots of stories about the soap Grandma used to make. I even heard a story last week about a grandma who died in a soap-making fire. I guess she must have been heating oils over an open flame, I don't know. I don't make much money at this market but I certainly do enjoy the people. The vendors totally remind me of working in the carnival when I was young. The old hippies and young crafters mixing with the local farmers and food vendors is a lot of fun.

Anyway, my first two batches of pine tar soap sold out in a couple weeks and people are asking for more. I have had great feedback from people saying how nicely the soap worked for them and that it soothed poison oak rash and bug bites.

I have made a few more batches recently and will keep a few batches in the cure cycle from here on out so I don't run out.
At this point I have to say I find making pine tar soap easier than some of the other soaps I make, like milk soap and some that require swirls and multiple colors and additives.

Out of curiosity, I ran a timer while I mixed the last couple batches. From pouring in the lye solution to pouring the mix into the mold, I had about two minutes to work.
The keys for me are: work cool, don't discount water, mix in everything before adding lye solution, DO NOT Stick Blend! and be totally prepared before adding the lye solution.
Mix all oils and pine tar together and heat until all oils are clear. Mix all the oils together thoroughly while they are warm.
If you want to add a fragrance, add it to the oils now, not after mixing in the lye solution.
I wait for oils and lye solution to cool to under 90 deg.
I don't bother with the oven with this one. It saponifies and cures just fine without any help.

Using only a spatula, start stirring then start pouring in the lye. scrape the bottom and all sides of the mixing pot constantly while stirring to avoid pockets of un-mixed oils or lye. My mix starting thickening in less than 30 seconds but it was still workable for about two minutes. At that point it was thick, smooth, even chocolate pudding.

This batch was poured pretty thick. You can see lines in the sides from where the soap that I squeegeed out of the pot layered in the mold. I like the little bit of ash on top as it gives it a rustic look. This batch was made about 5 weeks ago. Pine tar soap does benefit from a long cure so, while I have used a thin end slice and this is nice to use at this point, it will definitely get harder and longer-lasting with a few more weeks of cure. These should be about 5.3 ounces per bar when fully cured.

 

[ItsForrest]

... Cutting it was a surprise. There was resistance at first but then the cutter just slid through with a bit of pressure. Towards the middle of the log I pressed a bar with my fingers and thumb. It was very firm but still compressed. It was a surprise as I expected it to be rock hard. No sugar or salt was added because I forgot until the moment I poured the lye into the water. Oh well, next time. I won't use it for six weeks but expect it to be fine.

Pine tar soap is a weird animal. It sets up quickly but I find it has to stay in the mold longer to harden enough to handle the loaf and cut it. As hard as it is to wait, I give pine tar soap two days in the mold before messing with it.
While I do 33 or 35% lye:water in other recipes, I stay at 29 here. Anything to give a bit more time with the mix.
I would not try to add sugar to this one. I use a lot of honey and sugar in other stuff but this one I think would be asking for trouble. I haven't used salt with pine tar either but I do use sodium lactate to hopefully make a harder final product.

 

[DeeAnna]

@earlene -- you won't have time to use individual molds. Slab or loaf mold is best. I usually use a loaf mold.

Pine tar soap tends to be a little softer than the same recipe without PT, so I normally use a recipe rich in stearic and palmitic acids for best results.

I like to use the same higher lye concentration that I use for most all of my soap recipes -- about 33% nowadays. I haven't found a lower lye concentration does much to change the working time and it does make the soap softer when you want to unmold it. IMO, you'll get better results by leaving the stick blender in the cabinet and hand stirring only than by using more water.

 

[earlene]

Thank you! I appreciate the experienced input. When I get around to giving this one a try, I will be sure to make a small test batch with a small loaf mold to be able to work quickly.

 

[TeresaGG]

I'm considering making this. I think making it in the mold might work well.

 

[Dennis]

Thank you!
Next batch - NO SB!, no cpop (all I've ever done) and full water. There may be a batch soon. Kinda like getting back on that horse.