Curious - Why the general negative impressions for ED?

[Cindy2428]

I've never had anything but excellent shopping experiences at ED, but there seems to be an underlying level of discontent about them.

I don't want to start a bashing discussion, but I am interested to hear what people's concerns have been. Maybe this is feedback ED needs to hear?

 

[LBussy]

I was wondering that myself. Their prices for some things seem reasonable and I've had good service from them. If someone would rather PM me about it that's cool too.

 

[Seawolfe]

You know, that is a really good question. I just bought some PG and VG at a very good price from ED and kinda cringed without thinking about it. All I can think of is these two reasons:
1) I seem to remember some crazy good sale on lye, but the shipping cost was more than the lye - and didnt get better when I added to the cart. I live in So Cal and don't mind waiting, but that seemed a bit cheesy.
2) that lady with the grating voice (and "essential" in her business name) in the youtube videos who advocates using and selling HP soap without a cure ("ready for use in 4 days!!") and makes magical claims for her soaps and what they cure. For some reason she has become THE spokesperson for ED in my head, which isnt entirely fair, but there you go.

 

[Cindy2428]

I agree with you about the lady who does the HP videos. But on the other hand, Cathy McGinnis also reps for ED.

 

[new12soap]

There was a problem some time back with their lye. Many, many soapers were having issues, the soap just stayed soft and oily, same recipes and same oils. The only variable was the lye. These were experienced soapmakers. Some of the soapers said they had the lye tested and it was only 48-52% pure.

As more and more people had problems, and more and more people contacted ED, the customer service and eventually the public relations got worse and worse. First the company said there was nothing wrong with the lye, the soapmaker must have made a mistake. Then when so many complained, they said send us the batch numbers we will look into it. When some people demanded that ED replace the lye, they refused. They have never admitted any fault as far as I know.

That is the BIG reason I have heard that a lot of people refuse to do business with them. There have always been issues with sometimes the customer service is good, sometimes it isn't. Some of their prices are excellent, but beware of ordering essential oils from them, they have started selling dilutions so make sure you know what you are ordering. If they get your order right, great. If there is a problem, they are not the easiest company to deal with getting it resolved.

Beware of the shipping charges, you can look at the website and see "FREE SHIPPING!" but the exact same item costs 3 times what the not-free shipping product on their own site costs.

 

[Seawolfe]

I agree with you about the lady who does the HP videos. But on the other hand, Cathy McGinnis also reps for ED.

Is that the soaping 101 lady? I love her! And you're right - that should balance things out.

I guess I've just always thought of ED as a "buyer beware" kind of place, unlike other sites where I really dont check prices as carefully, or search for reviews of their products for every purchase.

 

[Cindy2428]

Yes, Cathy McGinnis is Soaping 101.

new12soap - thanks for the info. Still a new soaper - July will be my 1 year anniversary:clap: and I've only used ED lye. Sounds like they had a bad batch. A shame though that they wouldn't take responsibility for it.

 

[LBussy]

I had exactly one issue with them in maybe 10 orders. I bought one of those silicone molds and it was red. The color leached into the soap (I posted here about it then too). I told them and they send a return shipping label and a "natural" (translucent white) silicone mold replacement overnight shipping.

 

[reinbeau]

The lye was sent out to be tested by one of the experienced soapers (this is documented on The Dish Forum) who had issues with it and didn't like being told it was their fault, it tested at 60% - that's right, 60%. And they still, to this day, refuse to admit it. They have also sold essential oils of questionable quality. As far as those two video soapers mentioned, I have no respect for the hot process one and lost all respect for CM after she turned into a shill for ED. I don't mind experienced recommendations, however, when the bad lye sold by ED was brought up in S101 people were banned and threads removed that discussed it. I will not buy anything from ED ever again, and have sold what I did buy from them. That's right, I'm that loyal - and I expect the same loyalty.

 

[LittleCrazyWolf]

Like Seawolfe, I was completely turned off while listening to that woman prattle on in her youtube videos. Honestly, I've never ordered from ED and probably never will. Maybe it's a bit unfair but anytime I think of ED I associate them with that woman.

However, I really enjoy the Soaping 101 videos.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Thank goodness - I thought it was just my English sense and sensibility that shuddered every time she drawls essential depot out in a way that makes me want to cry! Poor dear, I know it's not her fault, but she manages to shoe-horn it in every 5 seconds.

ETA - a company needs to remember that the internet has a long memory. There are companies that have used dodgy practices, in which I would include bad customer service, and there are people who will not 'just get over it' because why should we spend our hard earned money with company A when company B is not that much more expensive (if at all!) but still has our respect?

 

[LBussy]

Yeah those HP vids are horrible. That said their KOH costs me (shipped) about 50% of what it costs from the others. One dos have to pay attention the the shipping thing.

 

[not_ally]

My only experience w/ED is their natural/clear silicone molds and baskets, I have a couple of them. I really like them, they are good, thick silicone (no bowing), unmold easily, the baskets make them easy to stack if you are doing more than one batch - important for me b/c I don't have much working space - and are nice and tall so that you can make different sized soaps depending on how much batter you want to use.

I will say that lye is a HUGE issue on which to have a problem since it is so essential (no pun intended), and I think we all kind of take for granted that we don't have to worry about that part, at least. If I had been ED I would have fessed up, taken my licks, apologized and refunded/exchanged as requested. I remember reading posts about ED lye and it has stuck in my brain ever since, the internet does have a long memory.

 

[IrishLass]

I myself have no personal beef with them, but I remember well the huge lye fiasco from reading that thread over at the Dish forum, and I would venture to guess that that is most likely the biggest source of all the bad blood. I kept tabs on that thread like a hawk waiting for the lot #'s to be reported and for the lab test results to come in because I had just bought a bunch of lye from ED during a sale right before the Dish thread appeared (my regular supplier, AAA Chemicals, had just stopped selling lye at the time, and ED's price was too good to pass up). Thankfully, the lot #'s on my lye did not match the lot #'s of the bad lye, and all is good with my soap (no problems to report).

I have 2 of their natural silicone molds, and while I like them well-enough for their ease of use and also for the cool inserts that I bought for them that let me execute variety of different swirling techniques, they don't exactly take to CPOP very well. They leave unsightly pock marks all over the surface of my CPOPed soap that need to be planed off. My other silicone molds do not do that to me when CPOPed- only the ED molds.


IrishLass

 

[not_ally]

That is really interesting, IL. I usually CPOP but don't w/the ED ones, just b/c they don't fit well into my little convection oven, the one I use for CPOPing. I have read that silicone is a problem w/CPOP (BB tells you not to CPOP with them) and did have a little bubbling but have since more or less corrected it by removing the molds more quickly after gel. Thanks to the advice from all you board mavens.

 

[LBussy]

I wonder why the bubbles? The silicone ones are I think originally intended to be bakeware so I know they can take the heat. I've not tried it yet.

 

[OliveOil2]

I have to start off by saying I had many orders of perfectly fine lye from ED. I did receive some of the lye that was affected, they told me it must be something I did wrong.
Since my family owns a testing laboratory, it was very simple to have the lye tested, and it was at 66% instead of 99%.
But that wasn't my biggest complaint with them, it was the box of lye that was sent Priority Mail in a shirt box, of course it split in half from the weight, and the plastic bags were not sealed. I pulled everything out with gloves on, and said this is my last order.
I just went ahead and purchased a 50 lb. sack locally. It worked for me, since I was at the point where I could use 50 lbs., but I hope they have things settled out for those ordering smaller amounts.

 

[IrishLass]

I wonder why the bubbles? The silicone ones are I think originally intended to be bakeware so I know they can take the heat. I've not tried it yet.

I suspect it is the type of silicone. My Woodfields silicone liners (which are made of a completely different silicone- pink and quite floppy) CPOP just fine for me.

I don't CPOP very hot either- just enough to encourage full gel. Once my batter is poured, I set my soap in a 120F preheated oven, then I turn if off as soon as I close my oven door after putting the soap inside. And then I leave it alone to do its thing overnight (I'm a midnight soaper).


IrishLass

 

[not_ally]

I CPOP at 150 (would prefer to do it at 120, but neither the convection over nor the regular one go low enough.) I am intrigued by the fact that the Woodfields molds are better for CPOPing, because they are floppy. I thought that thicker walls (whether wood or silicone) would be better because theoretically more insulating, or at least able to handle the balance between heating and overheating, that seems as if is not the case.

 

[IrishLass]

I CPOP at 150 (would prefer to do it at 120, but neither the convection over nor the regular one go low enough.) I am intrigued by the fact that the Woodfields molds are better for CPOPing, because they are floppy. I thought that thicker walls (whether wood or silicone) would be better because theoretically more insulating, or at least able to handle the balance between heating and overheating, that seems as if is not the case.

My Woodfield silicone liner is sold with a custom-fit wood mold, which gives excellent insulation. It also comes with a wood cover, which is not shown in my pic. Although it looks fine and up-standing in the wood mold, when on it's own, the liner is quite floppy:

IrishLass