Columbus Vegetable Oils – Soapers Choice
When I first started making soap I used to drive down to the west side of Chicago to Columbus Vegetable Oils’ warehouse and pick up my oils. One of the most expensive parts of getting vegetable oils is the cost of shipping. I was able to save on the cost of shipping by doing a pick up. This can be a consistent cost savings for all soap makers if you can find a supplier who is local where you can pick up your base oils. This is especially true of coconut oil which generally comes in A 50 pound container. As you can imagine these 50 pound containers can add up very quickly as far as shipping costs go.
Though many soap makers will pick up their oils at the local superstore to save money on shipping I was lucky enough to have this supplier only 4 miles from my home. Columbus Vegetable Oils have a very complete list of base oils at their website soaperschoice.com. They have some oils that are hard to find at reasonable prices elsewhere. Be sure to check them out and keep them on your shortlist of reliable soap making suppliers.
Natures Garden Candles
This fragrance supplier has been one of my favorites since the day we started making soap. They have a lot of options as far as the size of the container you can purchase. The fragrances we purchased at first were simply the 1lb bottles. That quickly grew into 25 pound increments and I rarely by under 25 pounds at a time now. The savings for the bulk containers is substantial so keep that in mind.
They also have great documentation as far as MSDS’s. This is handy since it lets you supply your customers with information that they need when they are trying to sell their products. The site is also packed full of recipes and tips for their more popular items. This is a great resource for those of you just getting your feet wet. Natures Garden also has a fantastic review function on their site. It’s easy to see what other customers like or don’t like about a specific fragrance. All these reviews are from soap makers and hobbyists themselves, meaning the feedback is almost always directly related to YOUR application.
Every fragrance on the site has a list of ingredients as well. This let’s you determine whether or not you want to avoid certain fragrances based on an ingredient that your customers might not like, like an allergen or vanillin (for cold processed soap discoloration). Part of the ingredient list is also a scent profile. Here they will give you a list of scents that make up that specific fragrance. From this list you can see which scents are acting as base notes, top notes, undertones, etc. It’s also super handy to have in case a customer has a question on what’s exactly in a fragrance. Then you can refer them to this list and it makes you look like a fragrance guru!