Lebermuth

[Cindy2428]

In doing part of my research, I read every post here as well as other sites about this company. I was excited, because they are in my home neck of the woods, South Bend, IN - Local when possible! Overall, they are very well regarded from vendors and other forums. I e-mailed them about sample sizes and a 1/2 oz is available for fragrances for $2.00. Steep free shipping at $300 but no minimum for Guild members I believe.

 

[Sagebrush]

I just discovered them recently, but haven't ordered anything from them yet. I grew up about 45 minutes from South Bend and will definitely pay them a visit next time I'm home.

 

[Cindy2428]

During my e-mails with Toni Anthony, from marketing today she told me they are having an open house to celebrate their new location on July 23. "We sent out an email to our customers they could contact us for details and schedules. We would like to know if they are coming so we know how many to expect and so we can order enough food, lunch will be provided and there is a ribbon cutting ceremony in the evening. Once I have the final details I can send it to you." Free food, a tour, maybe some goodies?!!. It will be worth the 2 hour drive. (I received her permission to post info here).

 

[Cindy2428]

Finally! I had not heard anything further from them for the open house next Wednesday, so I sent another e-mail. The tour begins at 10:45 and lunch is from 11:00-1:00. They are asking for RSVP's to plan for lunch. I have placed my initial supply orders but had waited to order EO/FO's. Hopefully they will let me pick up my stash at the open house.

 

[Sagebrush]

Thanks for the info! Unfortunately, I probably won't be taking a vacation that direction any time soon. I definitely want to check them out next time I'm back home visiting, though.

 

[kylie_au]

Oh, that would be fun. I have often drooled over some of their fo's on the website, and I am currently using their Bay Rum.
And yes, the $300 minimum is a bit steap, certainly for lil old me all the way over here is Aussie land.

 

[Cindy2428]

Kylie - Bay Rum was 1st on my list. During my e-mails with Lebermuth they stated they offered sample sizes for $2.00 for a 1/2 oz. I need to call them because my wish list has become very greedy - I think I requested everything . My husband and I own an avionics shop here in Fort Wayne and we have always tried to support local when we can. I'm hoping they will become my go-to EO/FO vendor. If things work out, maybe we can work out some kind of co-op thing to offset your shipping. At an average of $20.00 lb, $300.00 goes pretty quick. Their website is not the best for soaper's though. They don't list vanilla content and only warn that a few of their products are not for CP soap w/out saying why. I guess I get to try lots of experiments - Can't wait! My new brownie molds are going to get a good workout.

 

[Cindy2428]

Well today was the day and I thoroughly enjoyed it. There were 15 people in our tour group - one company even flew in from AZ!. Lebermuth also sells flavor oils so there were multiple food company customers there as well. One woman owns a pickle company!. The labs were amazing. I am familiar with steam distillation, but the chemist demonstrated fractionated distillation which uses a vacuum to allow heating of different oils at basically room temp. They only distill oils as part of their quality process to ensure consistency and quality of their products. The quality compliance lab looked like CSI – very noisy though. The formulations lab was spotless. (The whole place was spotless for that matter). They have an area near the sales rep station that they call a retention room which had bottles of everything they carry. I want it all!! Next to the retention room was a sample room – I behaved; only made 2 scent sticks which I put in my Jeep vents for the drive home. Finally with lab coats, goggles and hairnets on we entered the factory area. Totally blown away. One sad note though. Lebermuth started as a home fragrance company and they manufactured potpourri as well as selling EO. They are discontinuing their potpourri, so as they use up their botanicals, they are phasing them out. OMG! There were huge sacks of every botanical you can imagine. The pallets of rose hip from Chile alone had to be a small fortune. They even have a “stink” room where they house garlic oil, onion oil etc. Their cooler at 40 degrees houses their citrus oils for longevity and they made an excellent point for storage. They suggest keeping all bottles as full as possible to prevent degradation. They use nitrogen, but I guess I will sterilize my old smaller bottles and reclaim the bar fridge from DH. (He’s going to get a beautiful glass beverage cooler for his man-cave when we re-model), so it’s only a temporary sacrifice. Lunch was served outside and Rob Brown, Lebermuth President joined us. He was very down to earth and friendly. He spoke of his family and the Company’s origins and it was pretty apparent he loves what he does. When I was speaking with my sales rep I asked if there was a sample limit – no so I am finalizing my FO list. I think I ordered everything!! I really want some rose otto eo for some of my therapy blends, but it will have to wait. They have one dedicated employee Stephanie? who fills the sample orders – I wrote her name down as I was walking and it is totally illegible…. Not that my handwriting is decent in the first place With over 200 on my list, I may have to send her a DeBrands chocolate sampler as a thank-you. Well, overall I was very impressed and if you are into this kind of thing, it’s worth a trip there. Price wise – I think their fo’s are pretty comparable to the other larger companies. EO’s – more expensive but you truly get what you pay for here. In researching and wrestling with justifying the cost for an ingredient that will be significantly impacted by saponification, I just came to the conclusion that I would rather have a small amount of a quality ingredient that I am fully confident with, vs. a cheaper/unknown product that could result in ruining my soap. Now back to finalizing my list….

 

[KristaY]

OMG Cindy! It sounds like a day at Soaping Disneyland and I'm jealous, lol! My grandparents lived in Fort Wayne for many years and I may still have family there but I'm not sure. My family's really big and extended so we aren't able to keep up with all of them. I wish I had been on that plane from AZ too! I'm going to keep an eye on the web site plus take note of your experiences with their products. What a terrific time you must have had and thanks for updating us!

 

[Cindy2428]

Krista, I definitely will. I plan to work with CP and MP and enjoy experimenting. I promise I will post my findings as I've not had much luck finding up to date reviews of Lebermuth's products. I don't have an e-mail that is acceptable to the Scent Board and frankly I love being here. It's almost 2:00 am my time and I am still on cloud 9 about my day. I even drove an extra 3 hours and saw patients in 2 buildings. I LOVE SOAP!! I haven't had this amount of energy, curiosity in a long time. I hope it will help keep me motivated when I back to sanding this weekend.

 

[Aline]

Thanks for your very illuminating post, Cindy. You got me all excited about this company! (they should probably put you on their payroll A company that actually let buyers check out the inner workings has my vote.....

 

[pamielynn]

Was it mentioned that guild members don't have to pay the $20 minimum order fee? You just add a note that you're a member, with your member number when checking out - and they waive it after they get your order.

 

[Sagebrush]

Sounds like an exciting visit! Thanks for the update and info!