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nachoqtpie

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This may have been covered before, but I did a search and didn't find anything.

Where is a good place to find supplies? I would really like to get my husband into soaping (as well as myself obviously... LOL) and I would like to find places to get good supplies.
 
There's a lot of suppliers out there.
I use bramble berry, Oregon trails, daystar, and rustic escentuals predominantly for fos.
Camden grey for eos.
Soapers choice for oils and fats.
I pick up butters and lotion supplies in small quantities at the fo supplier i choose to use.
Bottles for lotion at Midwest bottle supplies i think it's called.
Stick blender, cups, etc at Walmart.
Lye at lye guy.
 
Wholesale Supplies Plus (WSP), Nature's Garden (NG), Majestic Mountain Sage (MMS), Elements Bath and Body, Rustic Escenturals for FO's, jars, bottles, lip balm supplies

Micas, Molds - Nurture Soap Supplies

Lye - Essential Depot or locally

Soaper's Choice - Butters and bulk oils

Costco - Olive & Avocado Oil
 
Wholesale Supplies Plus is good. They're going to have an inventory reduction sale at the end of this month. I really like them because they have a HUGE variety and good prices. The downside is the variety is SO huge (on things like fragrance oils) that it's hard to narrow it down! They have molds, FOs, EOs, lotion supplies, etc etc.

If you look on the Fragrance subforum, there is a sticky with a link to the Fragrance Review Chart. Members of SMF post their reviews of fragrance oils. It's organized by supplier.

I also really like Brambleberry. They do a lot of testing on their FOs. they post pics of CP (cold process) soaps made with their FOs and report honestly on acceleration, discoloration, etc. They don't have quite the variety of WSP (and also not free shipping), but I really like them.

For natural supplies (EOs, herbs, floral wax) I like Camden Grey. They are in Florida so their shipping to the Southeastern states is pretty fast and cheap. They are my "middle" source for fixed oils (sweet almond, etc). Better than BB and WSP, but not as good as Columbus Foods.

Columbus Foods - aka Soaper's Choice. Fixed oils. Coconut, lard, tallow, avocado, sweet almond. The smallest quantity is a gallon for most oils.

TKB Trading. My favorite source for colors. Most suppliers also sell colors, but TKB has some of the best prices.

Mad Oils - fragrances and colors. I've only used 1 FO I ordered from them so far, but I really like it. I have heard good things about their colors too.

Nurture Soap Supplies - molds, colors and fragrances. I like their colors. I have a few of their FOs but they haven't really blown me away. Their molds have gotten good reviews here.

American Soap Supplies. Home of the original Tall Skinny mold. I love my Tall Skinny molds. Got one FO from them that I'm not thrilled with.

Nature's Garden Soap and Candle. Love their FOs, there colors are pretty good too. They also have wicks, some containers, etc.

SKS Bottle. This is where I get my lipbalm tubes. Best price I've found, if you order 1500. Which is a ludicrous amount, but I give away several hundred tubes of lip balm over the Christmas season as presents. (PS, if you decide you want to make lip balm, get a lip balm filling tray. CHANGED MY LIFE.)

Lye - I googled chemical supply company and bought locally. But you may find lye in your hardware store. It will be with the drain cleaner. Read the ingredients and make sure it is LYE and not something else. The Lye Guy gets good reviews here. Essential Depot gets very mixed reviews here. You can also get lye from Brambleberry and WSP. They sell soap making kits which include everything you need if you just want to try it without investing a lot of stuff.

Equipment - Food scale. (not a postal scale). I've gotten mine for a good price at Bargain Hunt. Silicone spatulas - Big Lots. Bowls and pitchers - look for ones with a 5 or a 2 on the bottom. Soap making pot - stainless steel, take a magnet to check. I've seen them at Fred's Discount Pharmacy. You don't need a good pot - the ones I use have a bottom so thin that anything else I cook in them burns. They are only good for boiling water for pasta or something, or making soap.
 
I am strictly a hobby soaper. So I need to control shipping costs.

I buy olive oil and coconut oil from Sam's Club.

Castor Oil and Lard from Walmart.

I bought silicone spatulas from Dollar Tree. I also bought a couple of the blue drawer dividers there to use as molds. They work fine without lining if you don't mind the shape. I now have a silicone soap mold.

Stainless steel bain marie containers for mixing lye and water, then adding to oils from a local restaurant supply place. Although you can order them from Amazon. You don't have to have stainless steel to mix in. Anything plastic that is large enough and deep enough with a 2 or a 5 in the triangle on the bottom is good. I like the tall, narrow shape to keep the stickblender head submerged, though. The four lb. container my lard comes in works well, and I have used that more than once.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B001VZ5CYM/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

I ordered my scale from Amazon- do not buy the converter cord that is shown with it. It does NOT fit.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000EVFC8K/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

Lye I buy from Essential Depot. I know there are mixed reviews, but I have never had a problem, and The Lye Guy just sells too large amounts for me to use them.
 
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When buying fragrances, MAKE SURE they are for soap. Some soap suppliers have some fragrances that are for candles only.

If you want to buy stuff locally without ordering, you can get castor oil in the pharmacy section of Wal Mart and most grocery stores. (Bottom shelf, blue bottle, with the laxatives.) The best not-online price I have found is at Vitamin Shoppe. Coconut oil - Wal-Mart or Costco. Palm - Whole Foods (read the ingredients on the shortening), and also Indian grocery stores.
 
My usual suppliers:

Nurture: micas & loaf mold. Great quality & excellent website/customer service! You really cannot go wrong here. I've only tried a couple of her FOs, but I was happy with them.
Mad Oils: micas & FOs. I've tried a ton of their FOs and only been disappointed in one (I'm glaring at you, Grow a Pear Tree. Shucks, I cannot stay mad at you, you still smell heavenly in B&B.)
Brambleberry: FOs, non-powder additives, butters & Slab mold. I despise their packaging for anything powdery since the bags always rip on me. Everything else is good though.
The Lye Guy: Lye
Costco: Olive Oil, Avocado Oil & Sea Salt
Grocery Store: Lard
Wholesale Supplies Plus: powdery additives, B&B containers, and a ton of stuff when it's on sale (otherwise their built-in "free" shipping makes me feel like I'm paying too much and selling FOs by volume really irks me)
American Soap Supplies: T&S mold (love it!)
Natures Garden: FOs and other stuff. Shipping is good, but I think they need to cull their FOs. There are some really good ones and some blah ones. Check reviews before buying!

I've used the following, but...

Bescented: not impressed with time to ship, shipping charges, or overall quality of FOs. I've only gotten a few and haven't gotten around to soaping with them yet since oob is not great
Daystar: good FOs, but I prefer getting them in glass and I find the website unappealing
 
Welcome nachoqtpie! :wave:

A good way to find excellent threads on soap-making suppliers (or anything else on the forum) is to use the advanced search option (it gives much better results than the regular search function). Here's how to do it:

To search for threads on soap-making suppliers, go into the Lye-Based section of the forum and click on the "Search This Forum" icon on the top right side of the page, and then click on 'Advanced Search' in the drop down box. When you do that, a page will pop up where you can further refine your search. Type the word 'Suppliers' in the 'Search by Keyword' box, and then click the little box below to say "'Search for Titles Only', and then scroll down and click on the icon that says 'Search Now'. Here's what you end up with (a treasure-trove of supplier info threads): http://www.soapmakingforum.com/search.php?searchid=1177648


HTH!
IrishLass :)
 
You guys are so lucky, you really have no idea.
I always have to get everything from either the UK or America, with crazy shipping costs. It seriously is a need for some soapmaking supplies over here. I am not paying $50 for shipping 5 grams of Mica... (BrambleBerry is the WORST in this regard, seriously:evil:. To bad as I really wanted to try their folded orange oil but I simply can`t)
TBK trading I never got a reply from when asking for a shipping quote to Norway.

I can get essential oils here, if I am willing to pay around 35 -$50 for 5ml of some essential oil. Fragrance oils themselves only come in 5-10 ml. here and is only intended for that "make some M&P with your kids" kits.
Castor oil I can get in the pharmacy here, but only in a 30ml bottle. It costs me $11.:cry:
 
Thanks guys! I really appreciate it!

My husband is a wounded warrior and he's been deemed "unemployable" because of his brain injuries and severe PTSD, so, he's been in some SERIOUS funk here lately. Before he was in the military he went to school for Biology and Studio Art and is VERY creative, even though he's color blind! :lol:

I thought maybe getting us into soap making would be a good thing for him. It would give him "something to do" and give him a creative outlet. We've talked about it several times, and it's something that I'm really interested in, and, he really likes all natural things, so, I thought maybe he would enjoy this as well. He does seem receptive to it, and has asked what all we would need to get started, so, it's a step in the right direction!

I did make bath fizzies for the kids teachers for Christmas, and he seemed interested in that as well. I've been looking into some simpler recipes that we could start out with. I want it to be fun and something that he likes doing!

Thank you all for you help! I can't wait to get started. :)
 
I think there is something very therapeutic in a creative outlet... For me, the rest of the world fades away and my brain quiets down when I'm focused on making something. It's great to be in the moment.

Best wishes for you and your husband! It's a national shame that we do not take care of the people we put in harm's way... firefighters, police, and military.
 
Nachoqtpie, please thank your husband on my behalf for his service. If you ever happen to be in the Birmingham area, let me know and I'd be glad to give you some supplies.
 
Nachoqtpie, please thank your husband on my behalf for his service. If you ever happen to be in the Birmingham area, let me know and I'd be glad to give you some supplies.

That's so sweet! Thank you so much DixieDragon!!

I found a place called Rustic Escentuals. Anybody ever use them before? They seem okay on their prices, but, I haven't really priced many other places either. Since we're going to start as "hobby" soapers and revamp our candle company (after 2 or 3 years of being defunct) using primarily clam shells and tarts I think. I really want to take my time and get the soap right, and hopefully be able to do gift baskets and the like... obviously not right away since we've never made soap before!
 
That's so sweet! Thank you so much DixieDragon!!

I found a place called Rustic Escentuals. Anybody ever use them before? They seem okay on their prices, but, I haven't really priced many other places either. Since we're going to start as "hobby" soapers and revamp our candle company (after 2 or 3 years of being defunct) using primarily clam shells and tarts I think. I really want to take my time and get the soap right, and hopefully be able to do gift baskets and the like... obviously not right away since we've never made soap before!

Many of us have used them. They're a reputable source of fos. Here we have a fragrance forum. One of the stickies has a spreadsheet of fos members can post opinions about different fos from fragrance companies. Check it out.
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=7530
Click the link and click which company you are curious about.
 

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