Newbie Canadian Soaper could use a hand please!!

[islandgirl88]

Hi everyone,

i am new the these boards and a pretty new soaper. I have 6 batches under my belt. I have been buying my ingredients locally. There is a specialty shop in my city that sells soap making supplies, however, like any specialty shop they are pricy!

I am having a hard time finding oils. Olive, canola, grapeseed oils are all plentiful at the supermarket... but i have no idea where to find things like coconut oil (short of the soap store).

In addition to that it is very expensive to ship to canada from most of the online suppliers i have come across.

Does anyone know which Canadian stores may sell the things i need? thank so much for your help!

 

[Hestey]

Howdy! Check out "Voyageur Soap and Candle" and "Creations From Eden" I just moved to the US from PEI. Those were the suppliers I used, FANTASTIC folks to deal with, and great prices! If you're in a pinch for things like coconut oil and sweet almond oil swing by bulk barn, its a bit expensive (compared to the above suppliers) but a great place to pick up supplies if you want them asap.

I still use these two vendors even now that I am in the US too, just can't beat the customer service!

 

[islandgirl88]

Thank you!

I will definitely check them out! As far as i am aware there is only one Bulk Barn location in my city and it is pretty small. I have never noticed oils in there, but i will take another look.

 

[chrisofcups]

Hi Islandgirl.

I'm Canadian and live on Cape Breton Island, so I can relate! I buy my coconut oil in bulk from Sears.ca (I know, they wouldn't be the first to come to mind). I get stuff like shea butter and essential oils at www.canwax.com in Ontario. The prices are reasonable. The only place I've been able to find lye locally is at Home Hardware. When I first started I found stuff for my first few batches at the Bulk Barn and herbal stores, but it is far more expensive to buy these items locally for me. I'm still fairly new to it, only soaping for a little over a year, and am still trying to get my costs down, but this info might get you a little closer to reasonable prices.

I hope this helps!

 

[islandgirl88]

thank you thank you thank you! I will check all of these sites out!

 

[walkinwounded]

Try http://www.Saffireblue.ca. I like www.Canwax.ca as well, and http://www.theorganicwitch.com for some EO's, but now that saffireblue lowered all their prices on EO's, I buy most of them there now.

 

[Hestey]

I stopped using Canwax as most of their FOs (even those listed as skin safe) are, and I quote "for candles only". The male owner is a real piece of work! The lady is nice, but wow that guy is not. I had to phone all of my testers and get them to bin all of the bath bombs and remain soap I'd sent them because the scent I'd used was moved from body safe to candles only. It gave some friends some REALLY nasty burns.

Saffire is alright, but they messed up every order I placed! They replaced the stuff, but that meant it took me almost a month to get what I had ordered.

So just beware if you buy from Camwax! I'd stay away from their FOs for sure! I threw out all of the rest that I had in stock, just in case.

 

[Hestey]

Oh yes, the oils in Bulk Barn! Sweet almond should be in the natural cleaners and soap rack (usually at the back of the store), and the coconut oil is in both the supplement section and with the cooking fats (usually over the fridge with the nut butters).

I worked at Bulk Barn before I moved to NJ hehe, so if you have questions, shoot em my way. I miss my store =(

 

[cp chick]

Hey islandgirl, I'm in New Brunswick. I hear ya on stuff not being available. I've made about a half dozen orders from Saffire over the last 16 months, and have never had a problem with my order. The shipping is fairly reasonable, given that I wait to order lots of stuff at the same time. I haven't had any issues with their FO, but will buy my EO's locally. Their EOs haven't smelled quite like the ones I buy locally.

 

[walkinwounded]

Wow, I've been checking out Voyageur Soap and Candle" and "Creations From Eden". They are really great too, I'm happy they were mentioned, I've never came across them, thanx Hesty! My resource pool has grown.......
I have been burned by a FO from Canwax as well, but it was not under the body safe list, I just really liked it and wanted to try it. But there FO's are great for candles!

 

[Hestey]

I used a few canwax FOs in soy candles, they worked pretty well!

Voyageur has one of the best selections of packaging I have ever seen! I get my jars for glitter and colourants from them, as well as shampoo bottles, and spritzer bottles. I also got slip tins from them for solid perfume, at about 1/5 of the cost of any other site I checked out!

CfE has NICE molds. I have the 4 lb wooden log mold and the cutter that goes with it. Best buy I ever made! The mold is fantastic and the loaf fits perfectly in the cutter. The owner is WONDERFUL to deal with, and is also a soaper. This site also has some recipes on it, and the rants section is pretty great too.

Voyageur and CfE are what I consider Bramble Berry equivalents. Great staff, great service, and great prices.

Here is where I get my lye from. This link takes you to the Canadian info section. The lye is in small beads and seems a LOT less staticy than the one from home hardware. I really prefer this stuff! Things on the linked page, plus FOs and EOs can be shipped to Canada. I use the food grade lye as it has less impurities than the technical grade.

 

[chrisofcups]

Thanks for the links Hesty. That lye source is a new one to me and I think I'll try them out. Their oils are pretty reasonable too.

Voyageur makes great wooden moulds as well. That's what I use. I don't use FO but I find the EOs at Canwax are reasonable and never had a problem with them, even though I have tracked issues other people have had with them on this forum for some time.

 

[islandgirl88]

Thank you all so much for all these new sites~! I think i will be busy today checking them all out.

As far as i know there isn't a refrigerated section at my Bulk Barn, but i plan to pay them a visit this afternoon and see what i can find!

 

[islandgirl88]

Hestey,

How much did Essential Depot usually charge you to ship the lye? I couldn't get a total without putting in my credit card and completing the transaction. I dont want to buy it without having an idea first. thanks!

 

[Hestey]

I always sign in and put the stuff in the shopping cart, then email them and ask they what the total with shipping should be. Same with Voyageur, they will give you a shipping estimate.

 

[Forsenuf]

Hello fellow Canadians-

Nobody hs mentioned New Directions Aromatics in Ontario yet- I've had nothing but positive experiences with them.

 

[Hestey]

I never ordered from them, never managed a large enough order to make the shipping and handling worth it.