suuplier question

[oceanstar]

does anyone know of soapers choice......i believe they are in illinois, i just bought a large amount of shea butter ,cocoa butter and coconut oil from a lady in my area who closed shop.... and all her oils were from there,,,in my searches I had never came across that place before.maybe cause i was looking for canadian suppliers.....wondering if anyone knows if my oils are decent quality..or if i should look elsewhere in the future..any input would be great thanks guys!!

 

[judymoody]

They are great and their prices are very competitive. They are an internal division of Columbus Foods.

 

[rubyslippers]

Soaper's Choice is an excellent supplier of quality products.

 

[c.a.p.]

They are great! Good quality and good prices. Great customer service. I live about 2 1/2 hours away so sometimes I'll pick up myself if it's a large order. Quick shipping, too (just ordered PO and they shipped same day). Shea is quite grainy, though. If you're soaping with it, it's fine, but for creams, body butters or whipped shea, I'd go somewhere else.

 

[Healinya]

I buy from them.. I haven't bought super-large quantities yet. I usually buy six (7-10lb) boxes at a time. Shipping breaks down to $3.60ish each.

 

[paillo]

i order almost all my oils from them. excellent products, prices and service. i'm a little bumfuzzled about the solid oils (like babassu) in plastic bottles for liquids (impossible to scoop from), so they're sitting on the back of my shelf until i get around to melting and putting them in something useable. that's a time sink i'd rather not have to deal with, but can't complain otherwise about anything.

 

[Stacey]

i order almost all my oils from them. excellent products, prices and service. i'm a little bumfuzzled about the solid oils (like babassu) in plastic bottles for liquids (impossible to scoop from), so they're sitting on the back of my shelf until i get around to melting and putting them in something useable. that's a time sink i'd rather not have to deal with, but can't complain otherwise about anything.

Glad to hear that I'm not the only one with this problem! I just got my Soaper's Choice oils yesterday and was trying to figure out how the heck I was gonna get that stuff out of those bottles!!?!!?

How do you melt them down? There is no way those bottles will fit in my microwave to zap them (on a low temp of course).

I was thinking I'd try sticking them in a sink full of hot water to see if that would melt them enough to put them in batch sized containers.

Any other suggestions?

The only thing that I thought was weird about Soaper's Choice is that I didn't get a confirmation e-mail about my order nor was there a packing slip in the box. Odd. Not a huge problem, mind you...just odd.

 

[DMCC]

I was doing exactly that this morning. I started melting down my coconut and palm oils and poured them into user friendly containers. I put a big stock pot on the stove, heat the water and then add that big ol' bulky jug from Soaper's Choice. Make sure you moniter the heat as not to melt the jug. Shake the jug periodically and then add it back into the hot water. I reuse my old Louanna coconut oil, Sprectum Palm shortening and BB palm containers. With the coconut oil I just melt it and pour into the smaller containers. The palm takes me a lot longer because I stir it with a slotted spoon as its hardening to keep it mixed well and keep it from separating.

 

[LisaNY]

I was doing exactly that this morning. I started melting down my coconut and palm oils and poured them into user friendly containers. I put a big stock pot on the stove, heat the water and then add that big ol' bulky jug from Soaper's Choice. Make sure you moniter the heat as not to melt the jug. Shake the jug periodically and then add it back into the hot water. I reuse my old Louanna coconut oil, Sprectum Palm shortening and BB palm containers. With the coconut oil I just melt it and pour into the smaller containers. The palm takes me a lot longer because I stir it with a slotted spoon as its hardening to keep it mixed well and keep it from separating.

This is exactly what I do. I love Columbus Foods/Soaper's Choice. Excellent company and they stand behind their products. No problems with the oils whatsoever so far.

(BTW, DMCC - is that slotted spoon you're using stainless steel, or plastic? Lately, I've gotten very careful about my soapmaking utensils. Just a little bit of a bad metal can wreak havoc with your soap, I've been told...)

 

[DMCC]

Hi Lisa,

My spoon is stainless steel, but maybe I should be using plastic. Tell me about the bad metals wreaking havoc. I haven't heard of this.

 

[oceanstar]

thanks guys!!! I feel good about my purchase now!!! it was so cheap....I was beginning to think ..well...not so good. I see alot of u love soapers choice,maybe ill just continue there instead of canwax!! way better pricing! even with the shipping.

 

[paillo]

I was doing exactly that this morning. I started melting down my coconut and palm oils and poured them into user friendly containers. I put a big stock pot on the stove, heat the water and then add that big ol' bulky jug from Soaper's Choice. Make sure you moniter the heat as not to melt the jug. Shake the jug periodically and then add it back into the hot water. I reuse my old Louanna coconut oil, Sprectum Palm shortening and BB palm containers. With the coconut oil I just melt it and pour into the smaller containers. The palm takes me a lot longer because I stir it with a slotted spoon as its hardening to keep it mixed well and keep it from separating.

that's exactly what i'm going to do when i get around to it. using a plastic slotted spoon bahh humbug to all the time spent, but i'll still keep ordering from soapers choice...

 

[randomacresfarm]

I buy all my oils from them as well. For the solid oils in the bottles - I just cut the tops of the plastic bottle off and use a plastic ice cream scoop to scoop out what I need.

 

[c.a.p.]

Hi Lisa,

My spoon is stainless steel, but maybe I should be using plastic. Tell me about the bad metals wreaking havoc. I haven't heard of this.

Stainless is fine.

 

[Stacey]

umm...Kind of a dumb question here...

So I used a double boiler to melt down my oils last night. All went well for melting down the palm oil and putting it in smaller containers, I let it sit on the counter over night. All hardened back up again.

Not so good with the coconut oil. Uh-oh. *face/palm* I've only bought the LouAnna Coconut oil from the grocery store. Never had to melt it down before. The Soaper's Choice, I melted down and pour it into a recycled ice cream pail. It's still all liquidy this morning. Never hardened up at all.

Please tell me that I didn't screw this up royally. That it will eventually get hard. Or at least still be usable. *hopeful smile*

 

[GardenGirl]

I buy all my oils from them as well. For the solid oils in the bottles - I just cut the tops of the plastic bottle off and use a plastic ice cream scoop to scoop out what I need.

me too.

 

[HenleyNatural]

umm...Kind of a dumb question here...

So I used a double boiler to melt down my oils last night. All went well for melting down the palm oil and putting it in smaller containers, I let it sit on the counter over night. All hardened back up again.

Not so good with the coconut oil. Uh-oh. *face/palm* I've only bought the LouAnna Coconut oil from the grocery store. Never had to melt it down before. The Soaper's Choice, I melted down and pour it into a recycled ice cream pail. It's still all liquidy this morning. Never hardened up at all.

Please tell me that I didn't screw this up royally. That it will eventually get hard. Or at least still be usable. *hopeful smile*

The coconut oil you have is fine for soap making either in solid or liquid form. It appears that you have coconut oil 76 degree. For this oil 76 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degree Celsius) is the temperature point at which the coconut oil changes from a solid to a liquid. If it is 76 degrees or cooler in your house the coconut oil will eventually turn into a solid. If the weather is cool outside where you are you can set the container outside to change it into a solid.

Soaper's Choice also sells coconut oil 92 degree. The temperature point at which it changes from a liquid into a solid is 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius). I haven't used this particular oil yet.

 

[Stacey]

umm...Kind of a dumb question here...

So I used a double boiler to melt down my oils last night. All went well for melting down the palm oil and putting it in smaller containers, I let it sit on the counter over night. All hardened back up again.

Not so good with the coconut oil. Uh-oh. *face/palm* I've only bought the LouAnna Coconut oil from the grocery store. Never had to melt it down before. The Soaper's Choice, I melted down and pour it into a recycled ice cream pail. It's still all liquidy this morning. Never hardened up at all.

Please tell me that I didn't screw this up royally. That it will eventually get hard. Or at least still be usable. *hopeful smile*

The coconut oil you have is fine for soap making either in solid or liquid form. It appears that you have coconut oil 76 degree. For this oil 76 degrees Fahrenheit (24 degree Celsius) is the temperature point at which the coconut oil changes from a solid to a liquid. If it is 76 degrees or cooler in your house the coconut oil will eventually turn into a solid. If the weather is cool outside where you are you can set the container outside to change it into a solid.

Soaper's Choice also sells coconut oil 92 degree. The temperature point at which it changes from a liquid into a solid is 92 degrees Fahrenheit (33 degrees Celsius). I haven't used this particular oil yet.

Thanks for the reassurances! I guess I thought it would be solid already this morning...so when it was still liquidy I got a little nervous. And yup, it was the 76 degree oil.

Speaking of degrees:
I live in Minnesota. Right now the temp outside is 18 degrees F. I'd be afraid if I set the coconut oil outside, we'd have a coconut oil popsicle!

Thanks for answering my question!

 

[carebear]

Hi Lisa,

My spoon is stainless steel, but maybe I should be using plastic. Tell me about the bad metals wreaking havoc. I haven't heard of this.

Stainless is fine.

Good quality stainless is fine. Cheap stuff, that might pit or show specks of rust after sitting in water is not. They can promote oxidation and thus rancidity.