For the love of Pine Tar

There’s nothing average about pine tar soap. One of my few concoctions with a higher slip, less lather, made without essential oils but carrying a very memorable scent. Lovingly referred to as creo-soap in our household, but don’t allow the nickname to scare you off! There is no creosote in the bar, but it does describe the scent incredibly well. Strong, smokey, woodsy. It’s one of my personal favourites, top three as a matter of fact, and a staple in my own shower.

This soap sets up rapidly and is the only soap I’ve ever made that isn’t blended with an immersion blender, as it only takes a minute tops to saponify, and turn from a liquid to a solid. Made with just a handful of ingredients, made with just water, olive oil, coconut oil, castor oil and a pinch of salt. And lye of course, you can’t make soap without lye - although it’s all absorbed in the soap making process.

There are said to be numerous benefits to using pine tar wether in the form of soap, salves or in shampoo. From different minor skin irritations such as eczema, chronically dry skin, itching related to bug bites, and psoriasis to scalp issues.

Pine tar is a naturally derived product that has been used for centuries as a wood preservative by mariners, and is still being used in many Nordic countries to preserve wooden structures and traditional house facades.

To make pine tar, kilns are loaded, heat is applied, pine tar drips to the bottom of the kiln for collecting. Heartwood, also known as fatwood, is the best part of the pine tree for making pine tar, particularly the heartwood of old stumps.