Supplies in or near Barcelona?

[green soap]

Finally moved here. I have located a supplier for KOH, but it is quite far from me. I googled soaping supplies and cannot find much locally, other than a slew of chemical companies (one of them will sell me a kilo of KOH). I still have not located the best supplier for NaOH either. One kilo would be fine for now.

Some of the asian stores have Coconut oil, but it is meant for food so it is expensive, and I would like it in larger quantities. No luck so far with shea butter (mantega de carite) of cocoa butter (mantega de cacao). Olive oil is all over the place, so no need for advice on that.

I will eventually find suppliers, but if anyone has first hand knowledge it would shorten the search.

Thanks in advance for any information.

 

[shunt2011]

How exciting. No suggestions though! Hope someone can help out.

 

[The Efficacious Gentleman]

Manske-shop. They are based in DE but will shop to Spain (oddly enough, but for the same cost as to me just over the border. Shea, avocado, FOs and EOs - I get a lot of things from them. CO is not the best price, but might be better than you find there.

 

[Dahila]

Check the local markets for oils, there are some suppliers cause people make soap in Spain, they are shower obsessed. I had lived in Spain for over two years before I came to Canada, You will get everything there, I would go to craft shop and ask, Spanish people are very warm, open and kind people. They always help if they can good luck

 

[toxikon]

Sounds like a lot of castille soap in your future LOL!

If you're not a fan of the snotty lather and super long cure time, there is a thread floating around about a magical -40% SF Castille that is quite interesting.

 

[green soap]

Manske-shop. They are based in DE but will shop to Spain (oddly enough, but for the same cost as to me just over the border. Shea, avocado, FOs and EOs - I get a lot of things from them. CO is not the best price, but might be better than you find there.

Thanks gent! I will check them out. Interesting about the shipping cost. No FOs for me, and I can find EOs. Avocado is probably prohibitive in Europe but almond should be readily available and at a good price.

Check the local markets for oils, there are some suppliers cause people make soap in Spain, they are shower obsessed. I had lived in Spain for over two years before I came to Canada, You will get everything there, I would go to craft shop and ask, Spanish people are very warm, open and kind people. They always help if they can good luck

Thank you for the nice words about my people!

Sounds like a lot of castille soap in your future LOL!

If you're not a fan of the snotty lather and super long cure time, there is a thread floating around about a magical -40% SF Castille that is quite interesting.

I have had an opportunity to try the -40% castile. Not for me. I am down to 2 bars of soap (my soap) and my skin hates industrial soap, so the long curing time would not work out. I used to make goat milk castile for my husband but I will go to my regular recipe. Maybe modify it a bit for less bubbles? we have soft water here and my regular soap bubbles like crazy!

Darn, I might have to stop showering for a month or so....LOL

 

[Dahila]

Green soap I still keep in touch with my Spanish friends, after 26 years in Canada, yeah cool country and cool people

 

[green soap]

aleppo aleppo!

Not much luck on either the coconut oil (v. expensive!), shea butter (karite) or cocoa butter. No luck on a space for soaping either! so while we are hoarding my last bar of essential oil scented soap....I found aleppo soap at our big flea market! in case you are ever here, check it out. It is called Els Encants and it is near the Glories metro station. Soap is a very small part of it, it has a plethora of goods, from furniture to underwear. The kitchen wares are fantastic.

We split it in half with a big knife and hubbs said, oh....I did not realize this is a geode soap! tan on the outside and very green on the inside. 20% laurel was 5 euros, 30% was 6 euros. We tried the 20% and it is gentle and adequate. It also has very low solubility, so it is lasting quite a while. Gentle on the skin, good enough for hair. It does not lather as well as "my soap" but it is good enough to get us clean.

It is so strange to me to use 'someone else's soap' but not a bad option while I get things figured out.

 

[Dahila]

oh the markets in Spain are incredible, Food; 20 kinds of olives, a lot of veggies, fresh one. I went to market every day I had worked in close city , lived in village, it was Guadalajara ten one I worked and on my way to bus station, I had market Shopping was beautiful in Spain, Here I hate grocery shopping........I really do, I prefer to make soap