Soaping Material Suppliers

[HappyHenrySoap]

Where do you buy your soap making supplies? I use www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com for all my base oils, FOs and colorants. I'm just looking to expand my horizons a little.

 

[toxikon]

I use WSP (same as you) for a lot of my shopping. I usually buy my exotic oils, butters, additives and fragrance oils from them. I love shopping their FO sales!

I'm not ready to make the leap to large amount of base oils, so I still buy them in small quantities of a few pounds. I grab my castor oil and coconut oil on Amazon because they're often on sale in small bottles. I get my lard, avocado oil and olive oil from Walmart. And I get my lye from Home Hardware (plumbing section).

I get my micas from Nurture (they're great - beautiful molds too). And sometimes I'll grab things here and there from Brambleberry. I've been buying little cute silicone molds from AliExpress lately to press soap dough into for decoration.

 

[Viore]

I use WSP for colorants and FOs. All my oils come from the grocery stores around me. Lye comes from Amazon.

On a side note: Welcome to the forum! Why not introduce yourself in the Introduction forum?

 

[dixiedragon]

If WSP is having a sale I usually go a bit crazy.

Camden Grey for oils and essential oils
Soaper's Choice for bulk oils
Brambleberry and Nurture for scents and colors

 

[sweetbean]

I recently bought from Natures Garden, and so far I've been very pleased. Their pricing is cheaper than a lot of other places for oils (Avocado and Castor are a steal there). Cheaper shipping than Bramble Berry too.

I really enjoyed all the FOs I got from there too. I'll definitely be reordering!

 

[shunt2011]

I buy most my oils from Soaper's Choice. Olive Oil and Avocado from Costco.

FO's from many different companies. NG, Peak, Fragrance Lab, Rustic Escentuals, Nurture etc. I don't put all my eggs in one basket so to speak as if a company closes I would be in a world of hurt. I do use WSP for some things but primarily if they have a sale. Then I'll stock up as their prices are quite a bit higher than others on a lot of products.

Colorants and molds from Nurture

Basically it comes down to shopping around.

 

[jewels621]

I use most of the above plus Bulk Apothecary for oils and butters, Essential Depot for lye, and I've been really really happy with the FO's I've been getting from BeScented.

 

[HappyHenrySoap]

I do use WSP for some things but primarily if they have a sale. Then I'll stock up as their prices are quite a bit higher than others on a lot of products.

I think the reason WSPs prices are higher is because they offer free shipping on orders over $40. And if you factor in free shipping compared with paying for shipping from Bulk Apothecary or Brambleberry (for example), I've found that WSPs prices are very hard to beat. Does anyone else factor in shipping costs?

 

[WeaversPort]

I think the reason WSPs prices are higher is because they offer free shipping on orders over $40. And if you factor in free shipping compared with paying for shipping from Bulk Apothecary or Brambleberry (for example), I've found that WSPs prices are very hard to beat. Does anyone else factor in shipping costs?

Some of the shipping costs depend on where you are in the country. I've also found that I can find coupons for Bulk Apothecary on the internet, that sometimes give me the best price including shipping.

Don't use Bulk Apothecary for fragrances and essential oils though, I've found one or two good ones, but few really light me up.

 

[navigator9]

Soaper's Choice, https://soaperschoice.com/ , has the best prices for me, on 50lb. pails of coconut and palm, even with shipping.

 

[SunRiseArts]

I get mostly from BB and natures garden. My oils at the grocery store, except for castor and some butters.

I am not a huge fan of WHS or apothecary, but I used them once or twice in the past. I really dislike the way apothecary goes after in advertisement and emails.

 

[randycoxclemson]

I like newdirectionsaromatics and bulkapothecary. I use naturesgardencandles some. And if I have to, I'll go with Brambleberry. I created a spreadsheet (now out of date) to compare total prices including shipping and now I pretty much refer to my per-ounce total cost (of items I've purchased) and decide whether a particular site's price is worth it.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I think the reason WSPs prices are higher is because they offer free shipping on orders over $40. And if you factor in free shipping compared with paying for shipping from Bulk Apothecary or Brambleberry (for example), I've found that WSPs prices are very hard to beat. Does anyone else factor in shipping costs?

^^^^^ Ditto! To answer your question, factoring in shipping costs is a must for me. When WSP first started "FREE shipping" I spent enormous amounts of time comparison shopping, always adding in shipping to determine the bottom line on the per oz., per gram, per pound, etc. + shipping from other suppliers. WSP almost always came out on top.

More importantly, it was a huge time saver because the shipping cost was already spread across each item which made it a lot easier to bottom line each item for cost analysis of the product I was making.

Now that they're adding a $5 "handling fee", I'm back to figuring the bottom line across several items. Grrrrr.

ETA: That being said, I use WSP only for certain items, mostly containers. I find most of their soapmaking products rather disappointing... especially their FOs/EOs. Shipping time is also a problem... I have to plan on 10 days-2 weeks before my order arrives from OH to CO.

Also, I feel I should mention that their customer service is not as great as it used to be. I've been ordering from them since 2008. During that time I had a few problems with damaged products or missing caps or wrong caps and they replaced or sent what was missing right away.

However, 2 weeks ago, I had a bit of a run-in with customer service... all I can say is that "It ain't what it used to be!" And yes, they have lost a long time customer over something that was their error, and easily corrected. Sad.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

Soaper's Choice, https://soaperschoice.com/ , has the best prices for me, on 50lb. pails of coconut and palm, even with shipping.

Ditto "Best prices"! I highly recommend them without reservation. Since I use pomace olive oil and few suppliers carry it, I recently started buying the 35/lb. Cubetainer with Faucet - $2.65/LB (including shipping IL to CO)

I am not a huge fan of WHS or apothecary, but I used them once or twice in the past. I really dislike the way apothecary goes after in advertisement and emails.

Ditto. I feel the same way. I think you mean WSP? I already posted what I think of them. As for BA, I purchased PKO, Palm, and NaOH from them back in 2013. Soapers Choice is better on pricing, shipping and most importantly, quality.

 

[SunRiseArts]

Yeah, the problem I have with soapers choice, is that I do not buy in bulk. I usually make 1 pound batches, that give me four good bars. One for me and my hubby, one for my sons that still live here, one for my other son that has his own house. And I have been saving one to use in a year, to see how the recipe fair!

 

[anjouwu]

I'm a big fan of Soaper's Choice, but I don't like the packaging for hard oils at the 7lb level. I have been using BA and am willing to pay a bit more for their quality and attention to detail.

I'm a little obsessed with Nurture for Mica and FO's, although I have a soft spot for BB and their exclusive fragrances. I love that they still use glass bottles, too.

 

[Zany_in_CO]

I'm a big fan of Soaper's Choice, but I don't like the packaging for hard oils at the 7lb level.

Ditto! Ditto! Ditto! Did I mention... Ditto?!

I have a soft spot for BB and their exclusive fragrances. I love that they still use glass bottles, too.

Ditto.

Have you checked out their Cybilla line? Back in the day, Cybilla's fragrances were top drawer ... "everyone" used them. When she went out of business, I was happy to see that BB picked them up so we could still get some of our faves.

 

[anjouwu]

Ditto! Ditto! Ditto! Did I mention... Ditto?!

.

Great minds, Zany

I feel like you're enabling my addiction with all these great suggestions! I'm browsing those fragrances right now. Thanks.

 

[HappyHenrySoap]

Hey y'all, I put together a Google Spreadsheet with prices from several online and local retailers. I did this for Olive Oil (Pomace and Extra Virgin), Palm Oil, Castor Oil, Coconut Oil and Lye.

All shipping is to Houston, TX 77389, so your shipping could be a lot different. Feel free to add to the list, update pricing or add additional tabs for different oils you use. Anyone can edit!

I did my best to convert volumes into weights (using each oil's density) since some sellers sell by the fluid ounce rather than the pound.

Let me know what you think!

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1xWhtpFgGoK_aPFXk54S3ehtjcd3xlGImLrvFW7y4f2c/edit?usp=sharing