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Learn how to make pine tar soap with this simple tutorial and step-by-step photo instructions! Pine tar soap is a lovely, old-fashioned soap bar with a smoky, woodsy scent. It’s a fun cold process soap bar to make, and you’ll absolutely love using it!
This pine tar soap is such a fun and unique bar of soap! It has a chocolate-y brown color and a rugged, woodsy scent, making it a great bar of soap for men.
Many years ago, my husband used store-bought pine tar soap and loved it! When I started making my own cold process soap over 10 years ago, he switched over to that with the rest of the family.
When I realized I could make his favorite soap at home with all-natural ingredients, I was so excited to get started!
Pine tar soap can be a little fussy compared to some of the other soap bars I’ve made (like super simple DIY coconut oil soap), but with a bit of tweaking, research, and experimentation, I got the perfect bar of soap.
You won’t find me running out of pine tar soap any time soon; it’s become an essential in our house.
It takes a long time to cure, but the wait is so worth it! This soap feels so luxurious on the skin, and it truly smells wonderful.
My husband is back to using his beloved pine tar soap, but this time, it’s even better than before!
I have found myself preferring it too, it’s just that good!
Why You’ll Love It
- There are few DIYs as rewarding as homemade soap, in my opinion! Going from a few simple ingredients to my very own bars of soap is amazing. That’s why I make so much soap; in fact, I have made homemade soap for every room in the house!
- Pine tar soap is extra special. The texture, smell, and skin feel of this soap are unmatched. While we already have a nourishing base of lard, olive oil, and castor oil, the pine tar takes the soap a step further for a one-of-a-kind bar.
- With a beautiful, deep brown color and a rugged, campfire-like scent, pine tar soap is great for men. I added a woodsy, citrussy blend of essential oils for an even nicer aroma. This is a great homemade Christmas gift idea or stocking stuffer for the men in your life!
Ingredients
- Water: You’ll notice this soap bar recipe has a bit more water than is typical. This is because pine tar soap comes to trace very quickly, so the additional water gives you more time to work with the soap before it hardens.
- Lye: This is a caustic substance that should be handled with care, but it is necessary for cold process soapmaking. Read the safety notes before beginning.
- Oils: A combination of lard, olive oil, and castor oil gives this soap a nice texture and a frothy lather.
- Pine tar: The star of the show! Pine tar makes a hard soap bar that is a delight to use. It also gives the soap a lovely smell!
- Essential oils: A blend of cyprus, cedar, and orange pairs with the pine tar to give this soap a fresh, woodsy, masculine scent. Feel free to swap them out for your favorite blend.
Necessary Equipment
- Safety gear: This is essential for cold process soapmaking! Always wear gloves, safety goggles, and long sleeves when handling lye.
- Digital scale: Precise measurements are important for soapmaking, so a digital scale is required.
- Heat-proof glass container: The chemical reaction between water and lye causes a rapid temperature increase, so make sure your container can handle it. I like to use a glass mason jar.
- A whisk or spoon: My other cold process recipes use an immersion blender, but you should not use one with this recipe! It will come to trace and then solidify too quickly with an electric blender. Make sure you use utensils that are dedicated to soapmaking and never used for food.
- Soap molds: You can use a large loaf mold and cut the bars with a crinkle cutter, or opt for individual soap bar molds.
How to Make Pine Tar Soap
Before you begin, make sure to work in a well-ventilated area, away from children and pets. Wear safety goggles, gloves, and long sleeves.
Step 1. Start by adding the water to a heat-resistant container. Slowly sprinkle in the lye, stirring gently as you go. Remember, lye always goes into water, never the other way around. Set it aside somewhere safe to cool while you prep the oils.
Step 2. For the oils, melt down the lard just until liquid. Once melted, take it off the heat and stir in olive oil and castor oil.
Step 3. Now it’s time for the pine tar. Add it straight into the oils, giving everything a good stir until it’s fully combined. The pine tar is sticky and thick, so it will be more of a scooping it in, rather than a pour. Make sure you mix it well!
Step 4. Once the lye water and oils are cooled to somewhere around 85-90°F, slowly add the lye water to the melted oils.
Step 5. Stir by hand constantly until the ingredients are completely combined. Continue stirring until it reaches a light trace. Add your fragrance oils now, if using.
Step 6. Continue stirring until it reaches a medium trace (see image for reference). Pour the melted soap into your soap molds, smooth the top, and let it sit for 1-2 weeks.
Step 7. Remove the soap from the molds, and if you used a loaf mold, cut it into bars.
Step 8. Set the soap bars on their ends and place them in a dry area for 8-10 weeks to cure.
Safety Precautions
- Proper precautions should always be observed when working with lye, as improper handling can lead to burns or even blindness. Always wear safety goggles, gloves, and long sleeves when using lye.
- Work in a well-ventilated area — outside is even better, when possible.
- Keep children and pets out of the room, and be sure to store the ingredients out of their reach.
- Always pour the lye into the water, never the water into the lye. Adding the water to the lye can cause a dangerous reaction.
- With cold process soapmaking, it’s important to follow the measurements and instructions closely. If you want to change the recipe, all of the ingredients should be recalculated with an online soap calculator.
Tips + Notes
- This soap has a 5% superfat.
- If you’re new to cold process soapmaking, it’s a good idea to read through the instructions a few times before beginning to make sure you understand the process. You might also like my beginner’s cold process soap recipe.
- It took me about 10 minutes of stirring to come to light/medium trace.
- Whatever you do, don’t use an immersion blender for this recipe! It’s tempting to save some time, but pine tar soap comes to trace very quickly, so you will likely end up with a big block of solidified soap in your bowl if you don’t mix by hand.
- This soap has an extraordinarily long cure time. Don’t try to shorten it; it’s necessary because of the high water content in the soap.
- When you cut the loaf of soap, make sure you save the ends to use later in homemade rebatch soap!
Recipe FAQs
You can find it easily online, like this pine tar on Amazon. You should also be able to find it locally in farm supply stores. Make sure you purchase 100% pine tar that is free of creosote and other additives.
Once it’s been 8-10 weeks and the bars feel firm, you can start using your soap.
Lye is a necessary part of cold process soapmaking. The chemical reaction between the lye and the oils, called saponification, is what makes soap. If you want to avoid using lye, melt and pour soap bars, like my homemade melt and pour coconut oil soap, are a great alternative! They are made by melting down a soap base, in which the lye has already undergone its chemical reaction. It’s a great way to make soap without handling any lye!
I’m usually all for adding skin-safe colorant to soap bars (like my homemade layered candy cane soap!), but in this case, I wouldn’t. The pine tar gives the soap a very dominant brown hue, so adding other colors wouldn’t make much of a difference in the final result.
Related Recipes
- Cold Process Dish Soap
- Homemade Laundry Soap
- Tallow Soap Recipe
- How to Make Beeswax Soap
- Cold Process Facial Soap Recipe
If you made this DIY Pine Tar Soap or any other tutorial on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the 📝 comments below. Thanks for visiting!
Pine Tar Soap
Equipment
- safety gear (safety goggles, gloves, long sleeves)
- Heat-proof glass container (a mason jar works well)
- Whisk or spoon (dedicated to soapmaking – don't use for food)
Ingredients
- 12.16 oz water
- 3.93 oz lye
- 19.20 oz lard, (60%) 544.34 g
- 8 oz olive oil, (25%) 225.8 g
- 3.2 oz pine tar, (25%) 90.72 g
- 1.5 oz castor oil, (5%) 45.36 g
- 40 drops cyprus essential oil
- 15 drops cedar essential oil
- 10 drops orange essential oil
Instructions
- Before you begin, make sure to work in a well-ventilated area, away from children and pets. Wear safety goggles, gloves and long sleeves.
- Start by adding the water to a heat-resistant container. Slowly sprinkle in the lye, stirring gently as you go. Remember, lye always goes into water, never the other way around. Set it aside somewhere safe to cool while you prep the oils.
- For the oils, melt down the lard just until liquid. Once melted, take it off the heat and stir in olive oil and castor oil.
- Now it’s time for the pine tar. Add it straight into the oils, giving everything a good stir until it’s fully combined. The pine tar is sticky and thick, so it will be more of a scooping it in, rather than a pour. Make sure you mix it well!
- Once the lye water and oils are cooled to somewhere around 85-90°F, slowly add the lye water to the melted oils.
- Stir by hand constantly until the ingredients are completely combined. Continue stirring until it reaches a light trace.
- Add your fragrance oils in now if using.
- Continue stirring until it reaches a medium trace. (see image in post above)
- Pour the melted soap into your soap molds, smooth the top and let it sit for 1-2 weeks.
- Remove the soap from the molds, and if you used a loaf mold, cut it into bars, then set the soap bars on their ends and place them in a dry area for 8-10 weeks to cure.
Notes
- If you’re new to cold process soapmaking, it’s a good idea to read through the instructions a few times before beginning to make sure you understand the process. You might also like my beginner’s cold process soap recipe.
- Whatever you do, don’t use an immersion blender for this recipe! It’s tempting to save some time, but pine tar soap comes to trace very quickly, so you will likely end up with a big block of solidified soap in your bowl if you don’t mix by hand.
- This soap has an extraordinarily long cure time. Don’t try to shorten it; it’s necessary because of the high water content in this soap.
- When you cut the loaf of soap, make sure you save the ends to use later in homemade rebatch soap!
Hi Laura! I always love your articles! Can you explain why this soap recipe takes longer to cure than the normal 4 to 5 weeks?
Thank you, Dell. Pine tar soap often takes longer to cure because the added pine tar slows down the evaporation of water in the bars. The extra curing time helps the soap harden properly and improves its overall quality.
Can tallow be substituted for the lard?
Yes, just run the ingredients back through the soap calculator so that you get the revised lye and water measurements!
love it! Great idea!
Thank you, Kelly. I am glad you liked the idea. Pine tar soap is a great project to try.
This looks amazing! My husband will be glad for a non floral scented soap bar
Thank you, Veronica. I am glad this will be helpful. Pine tar creates a nice, earthy scent that works well for anyone who prefers a non floral bar.