I daresay that most of us have plenty of soaps appropriate for preparing ourselves for a visit to a house of ill repute. Rose, lavender, and violet scents abound. But what if your day’s agenda includes capping a burning oil well, or capturing a dangerous criminal? Will your present soaps really prepare you for a day of such “macho” pursuits? Would John Wayne use your soap?

Grandpa’s Wonder Pine Tar Soap may be just what you need.

I saw this in a catalog and just had to buy a few bars. It claimed to be good for shaving. This stuff has been made in Kentucky since 1878. The boxes I got proudly proclaim “125th anniversary.” The box is a fun read, so I’ll quote from it.

Grandpa’s Wonder Pine Tar Soap since 1878 …is one of the world’s great soaps!

Excellent for bathing, showering, shaving, and shampooing.

Many loyal users have been telling us for generations how “wonder”ful it cleans, moisturizes and deodorizes. They have described it as being helpful in removing the scales of Psoriasis, Dandruf, Eczema, and other skin irritations.

There are no added colors or fragrances to mask the rich brown color and distinctive scent of natural Pine Tar Oil.

“Soap from a simpler time.”

The bar of soap itself is black as sin. It says on the front of the box “Lathers White” and I guess the lather does look white if you look at it against the jet black soap. However, if you look at the lather on the razor it is a dirty brown.

The aroma is, shall I say, unique. It reminds me of a road crew laying hot asphalt. I guess that’s the natural scent of pine tar. The box says “no fragrance added” and I can believe it.

The soap comes in bath soap size bars so I lathered up right on the bar. It created a decent lather on the bar, so on to my face. The smell was a bit of a shock, but I steeled myself and did it. I lathered up, and after stropping my straight razor came back to the mirror to see that many of the bubbles had popped in the lather and it was considerably thinner in many places. So another swipe with the brush to build the lather, and off to the shave.

It did give a good shave. After shaving and my customary splashes with cold water and witch hazel, my face felt a little tighter than usual. I thought it was going to be drying on my face from that feeling, but as the hours passed the dryness failed to materialize. My face stayed soft, similar to shaving with a soap with shea butter.

The soap shaves well, if you don’t mind having to relather once in a while.

I thought about giving it a zero for scent. The aroma is so very different that it may transcend bad, go around the corner past infinity to good, and attain the realm of something really, really different. So I gave it a 10.


It may be worth a try, just so you can say you did it. I’ve placed one of my bars in a glass Anchor-Hocking tub as part of my regular rotation.

The other bars … well I have a teenaged daughter and I think I’ll put one of the jet black, smelly bars in the bathtub soap dish for her enjoyment!

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Howard

Even though it is strong, I really like the smell of the soap. It smells like a serious soap for serious work. Usually use it after I have been working outside. It gives me the feeling I am really clean.

about a year ago or so i bought a case of this stuff because i liked it so much. now i don't use it as much, but it'll definately get used. great for poison ivy or several other skin problems.

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Josh

A great soap! The scent in my opinion is fantastic. Also It's usefull for me as I've got psoriasis and it really helps. Great for shaving too.

I like the scent - much. My wife, um, she doesn't.



Never used this one for shaving, so cannot rate lather, etc. But now that I see this - I will definitely try it next time I get it (from a health store only here, afair) and it better be good as if it is I will add it pretty high up in the rotation.



Cheers

Ivo

Now that's what I call a "different" soap

I really, really like the smell of it and it works really well for shaving. It softens those whiskers, allows for a smooth shave without any irritation and leaves a great-feeling face behind. Oh, and boy, this stuff is slick!

Only downside is the lather, IMO. I couldn't get any good lather when whipping it up in a scuttle/bowl. When lathering directly on the face, it works quite well. You don't get the really creamy, thick stuff, but hey, it works and that's all what counts.

Yes It's a great product. I've got +- 8 soaps and It's great as a shampoo also as I've got psoriasis and it helps

It ain't been around as long as it has without being good and it definitely is from my personal experiences. I can't recall when I have tried an old product that was at worst good because advertising can only fool the consumers in the short run. Glad you like it; confirms what thought about it also.



Richard



Ya doan get old by being lucky.

I like this stuff as a soap, even as a shampoo. But not for shaving. I've tried it with all my brushes and more/less water. Too thin a lather and it dries too quickly to suit me.



Your Humble and Obedient,



Dennis

This stuff is not for the faint of heart. I have to store it in a ziploc bag under the sink, if not the scent will take over the bathroom.

I love using this soap when taking a shower after mowing the yard. I can wash my hair, body and then shave with it. While the smell might not be for everyone, I like it. As a shaving soap, the lather is not thick, but it works well. For $3.99 at Whole Foods, this is a great soap.

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Jp

Are you fellas kidding? This is the ONLY bar of soap I have ever bought then thrown away after two uses! It works fine but I CANNOT get past the scent. Made my bathroom smell like there was a house fire. Seriously. Avoid this soap.

I love this soap!!!

4 years ago, my apartment burned down. This soap brought it all back.



In fact, they must have harvested the old place and made soap from it.



That said, it does lather great - not for shaving though. I use it as a dandruff shampoo and when my skin is particulaly dry. interesting stuff for sure!

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Does it get any better the Fenway?

I purchased at Whole Foods after reading about it here. Very unique scent. I like it, however it does linger in the air a bit. Actually better smell than I anticipated after reading some other reviews. It didn't smell like a burnt house to me. Seems to lather fairly well and is ver SLICK.

ingredients:

Coconut oil, palm oil, purified water, pine tar oil, vegetable glycerin.

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Shavinator

What a great initial review! Hillarious. I don't use this soap in my regular rotation, but if I have any coal mining, bronco breaking or oil drilling to do, the author is right, this is just the soap for the job.



The scent is very unique. Smells more like tar than pine but it's still spicy enough to be enjoyable to me. It lathers pretty average, dries a little quick in my opinion but applying twice per pass is pretty average.



Not bad, worth a try for its originality if nothing else.

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"The scissors cut the long-grown hair; the razor scrapes the remnant fuzz. Small-jawed, weak-chinned, bug-eyed, I stare at the forgotten boy I was." - John Updike