Stockholm tar, a high-quality pine tar, is used for outdoor furniture and ropes. It’s made by burning pine in kilns, and was originally used for shipbuilding. Stockholm tar is recommended for waterproofing and is also used in baseball and veterinary medicine.
Stockholm tar is a particularly high quality pine tar which is used among mariners and also for treating patio furniture and ropes designed for outdoor uses. Hardware stores and marine suppliers are a good source of Stockholm tar, which can also be labeled as archangel tar. Typically, Stockholm tar is mixed with other substances such as linseed oil to create a spreadable solution that can be applied with heavy brushes or rags.
Tar production in Scandinavia dates back to at least the 1400s, and is probably even older. The tar is produced by burning pine in specially designed kilns which maintain a constant low temperature. As the pine burns, the dense pitch is depleted and collected in a chamber located under the furnace. This process is known as “destructive distillation” because it requires the complete destruction of the wood to extract the precious sap inside.
Originally, pine tar was mined for use in ship building. A layer of pine tar could be applied to both the interior and exterior of a vessel to protect it from the elements, ensuring the wood would resist rot. Pine tar was also used to treat ropes and fixtures on ships so they could withstand long voyages, and furniture makers had the bright idea of applying pine tar to outdoor furniture as well.
Not surprisingly, pine tar production has taken off in Scandinavia, given the region’s dense pine forests. Within Scandinavia, tar from various regions was considered better than tar from other regions, and eventually a monopoly arose in Stockholm of Swedish tar producers, who bought the best tar and sold it at a high price. As a result, the high-quality pine tar became known as “Stockholm tar,” referring to the city that dominated tar production from the late 1600s to the late 1800s.
Tar can be made from a variety of trees and also from oil, but some people find Stockholm tar to be especially good, recommending it specifically for certain tasks. People use Stockholm tar for waterproofing on a variety of exterior fixtures, from decks to chairs, and it’s also famously used in baseball to coat the handles of bats, creating a better catching surface.
In the veterinary field, Stockholm tar is sometimes used to heal cracked hooves and to seal wounds. It can also be made into a strong and useful soap that can be used on both people and animals.
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