Best place to get bases & essential oils

[wbocrafter]

I hope I have this in the correct area. I was wondering where most of the experienced soapmakers purchase their supplies to make soap. Also, do you have a good place to buy molds or silicone molds? Thanks for any info you can provide.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

It wasn't [emoji5] I moved it to Shopping Recommendations, as you are looking for recommendations of where to shop

 

[shunt2011]

It all depends on how much soap you are looking to make. If you are just starting to get back into it I would highly recommend just checking out your local grocery or Walmart. You can make a soap with Olive, Lard, Coconut and Castor.

For molds, I highly recommend Nurture Soap Supplies. She has silicone molds and they are well made. Or you can use a box lined with freezer paper.

For larger amounts of supplies you can check Soaper's Choice.

 

[dixiedragon]

When you say "bases" do you mean MP bases? Or lotion? or something else?

 

[PuddinAndPeanuts]

When I want small quantities I order from Wholesale Supplies Plus. For larger quantities I don't think Soapers Choice can be beat.

 

[wbocrafter]

Thanks to everyone for responses

Many thanks for the info. Do the places listed above also include essential oils? Do many soap makers use essential oils or just fragrance? When I mentioned bases I was talking about the coconut oil, olive oil, things like that. I've made soap before but it's been awhile. I would like to focus on smaller batches. Is there a good place to get recipes that are made for smaller batches? One last question. What do you use or where do you get the coloring for the soap? Thanks so much everyone. I just love the input you get from people who are experienced soap makers.

 

[Susie]

I order EOs from WSP mostly.

Any recipe can be resized to fit whatever mold you intend to use. Most of the recipes on here are written in percentages rather than ounces or grams, which makes it really easy to enter that info, and just enter the total number of ounces or grams that you want to use.

 

[Seawolfe]

I like soap making resource for EO's, clays and some oils. Other times I just follow sales at WSP, Soapers Choice etc.

I buy my NaOH, Olive oil, coconut oil and lard locally.

 

[dixiedragon]

Many thanks for the info. Do the places listed above also include essential oils? Do many soap makers use essential oils or just fragrance?

Soaper's Choice only has fixed oils (fats). They also have an MP base.
https://www.soaperschoice.com/

Wholesale Supplies Plus (WSP) has all kinds of stuff - lye, molds, oils, colors, fragrances (so many fragrances *drool*), essential oils. Another source I like a lot is Brambleberry. If you just want one essential oil, order from those places. But if you are going to want several, I like to use Camden Grey. Good prices on fixed oils (not quite as good as Soaper's Choice but better than most places), and good prices on essential oils. Essential oils tend to be expensive to I and many other soapers tend to save them for things like lotion. Some oils I do use in soap - lemongrass, mint and lavender -b/c they are price-wise comparable to a fragrance oil.

When I mentioned bases I was talking about the coconut oil, olive oil, things like that. I've made soap before but it's been awhile. I would like to focus on smaller batches. Is there a good place to get recipes that are made for smaller batches?

You can use lye calculators, such as Soap Calc and Soapee. Put in a recipe of any size, then you can size it up or down.

One last question. What do you use or where do you get the coloring for the soap? Thanks so much everyone. I just love the input you get from people who are experienced soap makers.

Get your colorants from soap making places. I really like Brambleberry for this because they have pictures of the color's performance in CP soap. Nurture Soap Supplies also gets good reviews around here. Mad Oils is great for fragrances and colors.

 

[wbocrafter]

Questions

Many thanks for all of the info you provided. It helped a lot.

 

[redhead1226]

I have done a price comparison on almost all soap making ingredients. I order certain things from certain places. But I have prepared spreadsheets for over 30 companies and over 100 ingredients. Tiresome work but as you knw not all suppliers have the best price on every item they carry. Essential oils and many other products coming from New Directions have the best prices on alot of items. If anyone is interested in knowing where the best prices are on anything soap related I can tell you. I dont mind sharing my hard work. Happy soaping!