Birch-tar

Birch bark pitch made in a single pot: The birch bark is heated under airtight conditions, the final product consists of tar and the ashes of the bark.

Modern way of producing birch bark tar in a single pot: The birch bark is heated under airtight conditions, the final product consists of tar and the ashes of the bark.

Birch tar or birch pitch is a substance (liquid when heated) derived from the dry distillation of the bark of the birch tree.

Compounds

It is compounded of phenols such as guaiacol, cresol, xylenol and creosol.

Uses

Birch tar was used widely as an adhesive as early as the late Paleolithic or early Mesolithic era. It has also been used as a disinfectant, in leather dressing, and in medicine.^{[citation needed]}

Ends of fletching of arrows were fastened with birch-tar and birch-tar-and-rawhide lashings were used to fix the blade of axes in the Mesolithic period.

Russia leather is a water-resistant leather, oiled with birch oil after tanning. This leather was a major export good from 17th and 18th century Russia, as the availability of birch oil limited its geographical production.^[1] The oil impregnation also deterred insect attack and gave a distinctive and pleasant aroma that was seen as a mark of quality in leather.

Birch tar oil is an effective repellent of gastropods.^[2] The repellent effect lasts about two weeks.^[2] The repellent effect of birch tar oil mixed with petroleum jelly applied to a fence lasts up to several months.^[2]

Birch tar oil is also used in perfumery as a base note to impart leather, tar, smoky, and wintergreen notes.

References

External links

• Non-video demonstration

v t e Non-timber forest products Animals/ products Furs Honey Wild game Berries and tree fruit Berries huckleberry wild blueberry Cocoa bean Coconut Durian Gambooge Jackfruit Juniper berry Tamarind Edible plants and roots Betel Mushrooms chanterelles lingzhi matsutake morels Fiddlehead ferns Mahuwa flowers Sago palm queen Sassafras root beer Saw palmetto Wild ginseng Nuts and spices Allspice Areca nut Bay leaf Black pepper Brazil nut Cinnamon Clove Malva nut Nutmeg Pine nut Vanilla Oils and waxes Carnauba wax Cocoa butter Eucalyptol Eucalyptus oil Hydnocarpus wightiana seed oil Japan wax Kokum oil Kusum oil Mahuwa oil Nagkesar seed oil Palm oil palm kernel oil Pongamia oil Phulwara oil Pilu oil Sal seed oil Sandalwood oil Shea butter Tea seed oil Tea tree oil Vateria indica oil Resins Benzoin Birch-tar Camphor Creosote Frankincense Gamboge Lacquer Mastic Myrrh Pine tar Pitch Rosin Turpentine Varnish Sap, gum, latex, etc. Birch syrup Chicle chewing gum Gum arabic Gutta-percha Kino Maple syrup Palm sugar Palm wine akpeteshie ogogoro Rubber Other Birch bark beer Cork Ferns Forage Gambier Moss Natural dyes henna Peat Rattan Shellac Thatching Tendu leaves Willow bark About Dehesa (Spain) Forest farming gardening produce Honey hunting Mushroom hunting Naval stores Permaforestry Resin extraction Rubber tapping Wildcrafting Forestry portal Trees portal Category Commons WikiProject Forestry