Thread: Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap

I saw this in a local store this weekend and was tempted to try it out. It's advertised as a shaving soap. Anyone have any experience with this product?

Can't say that I have used it but from looking it up it is build as a do everything soap which would normally make me think to stay away from it but from looking at the ingredients (Sodium tallowate, sodium cocoate, water, pine tar oil, glycerin, pentasodium pentetate, tetrasodium etidronate.) I would say it may be worth a shot if its not to expensive.

I have used pine tar soap as a bar soap.... Liked the results and the bar lasted ages, but I could not get the thing to lather so I would be worried about using something similiar for shaving.

Give it a try.
Grandpa's Pine Tar Soap Ingredients | LIVESTRONG.COM
it is not marketed as a "shave soap" but if it lathers for you
and you like it, it could prove to to be a good soap. Sodium cocoate
does help the soap lather well. Also check out Kirk's Original Coco Castile Soap.

There are a number of common bar soaps that work well as
shave soaps. If you use a grater it is possible to blend
your own, adding fragrance, kaolin, glycerin, etc to make
your own budget soap. After tossing the grated soaps
together like a salad, spritz with a little water and
press into a container.

Shave soaps all begin with a normal soap base and then
add small amounts of this and that to the base to get it
just right. It does not take too much searching
on the web for saponification to find info like this:
Saponification Table and Characteristics of Oils in Soap
Look at the stable lather column which is part of what
we value. Then look at skin care... etc. and once you understand
what to look for in a soap's ingredient list you can blend your
own without doing soap chemistry because you will find all
manner of soaps in the boutique shops and normal markets
to build from.

The old brands of shave soaps have done this already
and the ones that got it right are still in business. This
makes it hard to make a 'better' shave soap except
for the part where it is your face and your face alone
that you need to please.

And you can always use a bar of soap in the bath or shower
that does not add to the shave game for you.

Watch for the old brands on bar or shave soaps. They
have the chemistry well in hand and the result is a mild
fully reacted balanced soap. Some of the sponsors have
their own branded shave soaps, many are excellent because
of the quality soap bases they use.

PS: also look at glycerin (clear, easy to melt) soaps.

Wow, Tom. I learned a ton from your post! The two links were very helpful. Thanks.

Originally Posted by diyguy

Wow, Tom. I learned a ton from your post! The two links were very helpful. Thanks.

What he said!

Originally Posted by diyguy

Wow, Tom. I learned a ton from your post! The two links were very helpful. Thanks.

You are welcome....
Do remember that the "classics" are classic for
a reason.

I just got three new for me soaps in the mail
an hour ago. English, Italian, and French....
Life is good....

Still, Never hesitate to try something...