Cosmetic grade vs regular oils from Soapers Choice

[kumudini]

I'm looking to buy from SC. I didn't know about them until about 3 days ago when someone mentioned their low prices. So I went checking and for some oils they have seperate listings of cosmetic grade and regular refined. The cosmetic grade oils are much cheaper so I would think they are of a lower quality. I wonder what is the actual difference in terms of processing and the final result.

Also the combination of oils and butters in my cart cost 30% less than what they would cost me from bulk apothecary. I thought BA prices were lowest, I also thought they were good quality, no off smells or colors. I'm yet to see DOS on my soaps. And the tubs they send for hard oils and butters are very easy to work with. Since SC prices are much lower I have questions about their quality.
Did any one have any issues with their oils or butters? The non cosmetic grade ones, are they cooking grade? I guess my question is how satisfied is everyone with soapers choice quality.
Please help me. I like to save money but not at the expense of quality.
ETA : oops, I didn't realize the auto correction was working when I put the thread title. I don't think I can change it now. Mods, please change it to soapers choice. Oh boy, have i earned my place on the Gent's thread

 

[cmzaha]

SC is an excellent supplier. Stay away from the cosmetic grade for soaping, they are not pure, but mixed with oils of similar fatty acids. I do not purchase many oils from them, since I am fortunate enough to have a large soap oil supplier within 50 miles of me, Cibaria Soap Supply, but I cannot find anyone that carries Neem oil for a better price. Also I purchase their beeswax pastilles, but do stay away from their Mango butter, it has always arrived super grainy.

 

[mattiesmom]

Soapers Choice oils/butters are, in my opinion, the best you can buy and their prices are fantastic. I have used them exclusively for cold process soap for over 10 years and have never ever had a problem--I highly recommend. FYI, Soapers Choice is a division of Columbus Foods--a huge supplier, their rep told me SC was started just to serve the handcrafted soap makers. I think their large size makes their reasonable prices possible. I also like that it's pretty much a one-stop shop and I don't have to go here and there to get various oils and butters. I have used both food and cosmetic grade, have no problems with either. I currently have on hand their 76 coconut oil, palm kernal oil, unrefined shea butter, mango butter, wheat germ, jojoba, castor, avacado oils and probably others I can't think of right now. Give them a try, I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

 

[DeeAnna]

I also vouch for soapers choice. Good service, fresh product, reasonable prices, and decent shipping for me here in northeastern Iowa (they're in the Chicago metro area). I've used their coconut oil, rice bran oil, high oleic safflower, meadowfoam, castor, glycerin. I can get lard at my local Walmart for a decent price, or I'd use SC for lard as well.

The one downside if you buy solid fats in their 7 lb size ... is getting solid fat in a jug meant for pourable liquids. But it's not so horrible if you realize up front what you're getting and and can plan for it.

If the price difference isn't huge, I always opt for the food grade product. If I were making large quantities and wanting to be as cost effective as possible, I would probably re-think this policy. As it stands, I'm a hobbyist so I don't need to watch the bottom line as closely.

 

[kumudini]

That's enough votes for me to ahead and order. Thank you for answering so quickly too.
I understand the issue with jugs and I think I'm going to order some gallon capacity plastic jars when I find them so I can melt and transfer the hard oils and butters. Any suggestions where to look for those? I think I'm being very needy here, I will go search myself, thank you.

 

[kchaystack]

That's enough votes for me to ahead and order. Thank you for answering so quickly too.
I understand the issue with jugs and I think I'm going to order some gallon capacity plastic jars when I find them so I can melt and transfer the hard oils and butters. Any suggestions where to look for those? I think I'm being very needy here, I will go search myself, thank you.

Home depot has 1 qt and 1 gal paint pails that you can get lids for. That is what I put my SC CO in after I melted it.

 

[kumudini]

Home depot has 1 qt and 1 gal paint pails that you can get lids for. That is what I put my SC CO in after I melted it.

Thank you for the info.

 

[DeeAnna]

I reuse well-washed ice cream buckets and lard buckets. Glad or Ziplock food containers with the snap tops would be nice too. Example: http://www.drugstore.com/products/prod.asp?pid=531656 Lesson learned, though -- I won't ever use zipper lock plastic bags again!

 

[MorpheusPA]

Another vote for SC, I've moved over to using them almost exclusively (I can slightly beat their price on olive oil locally, although actually not by all that much).

The 1 gallon buckets with lids from HD are great as well, but do wash them out before first use. I've never seen a clean Home Depot...

 

[KristaY]

I use the heat resistant pouches from BB. When I get the gallon jugs of palm and coconut, I melt the whole thing then transfer into these. Since I've built up a store of them, I now do a master batch of sorts. I measure out all my oils for one batch of soap, pour into the pouch and label them. I do enough to measure out the full container of palm. I end up with about 14 pre-measured batches of oils which is very convenient!

http://www.brambleberry.com/Large-Heat-Resistant-Plastic-Pouch-P5507.aspx

 

[Cindy2428]

Another strong thumbs up for SC. I like the restaurant containers. - The kind Chinese restaurants use for soup. I can masterbatch my oils and butters; warm up in the container and ready to go.

 

[shunt2011]

I too reuse lard container and I have buckets from when I was buying in smaller amounts. I too recommend Soapers Choice. I get my butters and palm there. Fortunately I can get CO and Castor locally from a restaurant oils supply company who carries soaping stuff too.

 

[dixiedragon]

SC is an excellent supplier. Stay away from the cosmetic grade for soaping, they are not pure, but mixed with oils of similar fatty acids. I do not purchase many oils from them, since I am fortunate enough to have a large soap oil supplier within 50 miles of me, Cibaria Soap Supply, but I cannot find anyone that carries Neem oil for a better price. Also I purchase their beeswax pastilles, but do stay away from their Mango butter, it has always arrived super grainy.

I've heard this, but I am curious - is there any evidence of this? Anybody get a statement from SC or some other source?

 

[cmzaha]

I've heard this, but I am curious - is there any evidence of this? Anybody get a statement from SC or some other source?

I was told this from SC when I called them about it and talked to Mike a few years ago. They can be used and the sap value is listed on their sap value page, which is the same as SAO. I have read other thoughts on the difference of cosmetic grade but that is hat I was told when inquiring about it. I have used the cosmetic grade SAO and it works just fine. Sap is the same number as SAO

 

[shunt2011]

I've heard this, but I am curious - is there any evidence of this? Anybody get a statement from SC or some other source?

I think there was a thread on SMF regarding the cosmetic grade at some point. I think Carolyn was contacting them back then and was told it was a blend. I've stayed away from the cosmetic oils since. Rather be safe than sorry.

 

[kumudini]

Thank you lovely folks, for all the nice tips and tricks. I am definitely placing my next order of oils with them. Checked their shipping, very reasonable.

 

[JBot]

So when you get 7 pounds of, say, palm oil in a jug, how do you melt it down for re-portioning? Microwave, in a pot on the stove, in the sink in hot water?

I'm looking at ordering 10 pounds of cocoa butter from them. It says "bag in a box." Does anybody know if it comes in chunks or pellets or what?

Those of you who use cocoa butter: do you prefer the regular/"golden" stuff, or the deodorized stuff? So far I've only used the standard kind (not deodorized) from Bramble Berry, and I don't find it to have a strong smell, but can that change from one supplier to another?

Now I'm trying to figure out the difference between "pure prime pressed/food grade" and "USP grade." Anybody know anything about that?

 

[Cindy2428]

It depends on the oil/butter on how to re-heat - You need to consider the melting point and oil/butter characteristics; i.e., potential to burn. I generally re-heat on low or warm setting in water in my crockpot.

The cocoa butter from SC comes in a box in one solid block. I use the non-deodorized, but love the scent. I use butters usually at 10% and do not notice scent carry over.

Can't help with the last

 

[shunt2011]

I order the Cocoa and Shea in 25 lbs both unrefined They both come inside a heavy duty bag inside a box. The cocoa butter is a solid block. I use a sturdy sharp narrow metal scraper tool and rubber coated mallet to break it up into pieces. Be very careful if using a knife to break it off as you can accidentally cut yourself and require stitches (ask me how I know this).

 

[newbie]

And if you decide to stab that blasted cocoa butter with a sharp knife to try to break it into chunks, don't have the box near your legs and then stab in toward your body even though it feels like you'll get the best swing out of it. The cocoa is ninja and will deflect the blow so you stab your own leg instead. It also resists hammer blows.

Team ninja cocoa butter- 126 Team soaper- 4