Tall oil

Tall oil (from the Swedish: tall = pine) is an oily mixture of substances which is a by-product of the production of pulp from pine wood.

Tall oil contains mainly fatty acids (about 50%) and resin acids (about 30-50%) as well as sterols and others.

The untreated tall oil can be distilled to tall resin with a rosin content of 10 to 35%. From this, fractions with tall oil fatty acids (TOFA) and a rosin content of 1 to 10% can be obtained.

Tall oil is widely used in technical areas. For example as impregnation for wood floors; furthermore wood glazes.

Tall oil as well as extracts of tall oil, e.g. tall oil fatty acids, their esters and their amide compounds are used in cosmetic formulations with different effects.

Other tall oil products used in cosmetics are:

• tallamide DEA
• Tall oil acid
• Tall oil benzyl hydroxyethyl imidazolinum chloride
• Tall oil hydroxyethyl imidazolinum
• Tall oil glycerides
• Tall oil sterol