ordering supplies - freight costs

[shdixx]

I am in a quandry. I am new to soap making. The thing that drove me to it was the lack of availability of good, pure (without fragrances, detergent, and other chemicals) soaps. So, I have made three batches with good results (save for that one batch that smelled rancid shortly after curing). Now the problem is finding good ingredients (prefer expeller pressed oils where possible) and begin able to afford the ingredients plus the freight. I am finding that the freight is 35 - 40% of the total price of the oils and am amazed at how much it costs.

Are there any suppliers that offer freight discounts or free freight if a certain volume is ordered. If I could find other soapers locally and get others to order with me, we could save on freight that way. I started searching for suppliers within my state but haven't tackled that due to time constraints right now - google brought up lots of hits and they weren't all suppliers of soap making ingredients so I can see there will be some sifting required. I live in California (near about 45 minutes outside Sacramento). There is one supplier in Sacto and they don't have the selection of oils I am looking for.....

hmmmmm..

Shelly

 

[ChrissyB]

Shelly, I am too far away from you to be of any use, but I'm sure someone closer will chime in and offer help.
I know a lot of the US soapers get their oils from Walmart, do you have a walmart where you are?

 

[edree]

olive oil and coconut from cash and carry i know they are in ca

 

[donniej]

I doubt you'll find expeller pressed oils at a retail store. Unfortunately you either need to buy a lot to get a good discount or pay huge mark-ups.
I buy most of my stuff 100 pounds at a time to get decent prices, but even at that level mark ups are still high.

 

[honor435]

wsp has free shipping, but thats only on fos and molds. I know i hate shipping cost, i DO get my co from walmart and oo from rainbow, i usually wait til i have a few things to order, hey how much shipping is a 50lb bucket of oil?? just wondered.

 

[D'Lilly]

Discount freight charges

I'm new to soaping also, (about 6 months) I have been using Wholesale Supply Surplus, they have discounts on 10 cases or more at one time, I haven't used that service yet, but am putting together an order to take advantage of that. All of their fragrance oils, molds and some other things are all free shipping and they have hundreds of FO and EOs.

Regarding expeller pressed oils-- I'm wondering if you would actually see any extra benefit from these--such as extra vitamins, etc when the CP process does its thing-- I don't think the delicate vitamins would survive. I know in food you only use the expeller pressed oils in cold form, as heat destroys the vitamins.

 

[shdixx]

Thanks all for your input. To answer some of the questions....I am looking for expeller pressed in the event some of the oils are solvent extracted - just don't want the solvent chemicals in what I am putting on my skin. There is a soap supplier in Sacramento and I have gone there once to pick up stuff but there are some oils I was wanting to try out like PKO and they don't carry that. I only do a 2# batch at a time since I am just learning and don't want to have to throw out too much stuff in the event of an error so I'm not quite ready to buy in larger quantities.

I am curious though...many oils are referred to as having a shelf life of one year and that refrigeration will help it last a bit longer but it is all very vague. I made one batch of soap from freshly purchased oils from the Sacramento store and it smelled rancid after curing. I have no idea of what would have caused that but I definitely wouldn't share with friends due to the smell. Is there a good resource telling how long and under what conditions oils last. And, any idea why a batch made with fresh oils would smell rancid within 6 - 8 weeks?

Inquiring minds
Thanks again for all the responses....

Shelly

 

[Zenobiah]

Occasionally Snowdrift Farm has free shipping, but not often.

 

[carebear]

And, any idea why a batch made with fresh oils would smell rancid within 6 - 8 weeks?

Inquiring minds
Thanks again for all the responses....

Shelly

give your complete recipe, please.

 

[shdixx]

rancid smell -

Here is the soap recipe I formulated where it smelled rancid shortly after curing:

Sweet Almond Oil 5 oz
Palm Oil 8 oz
Shea butter 3.6 oz
Olive Oil 11.3 oz
Coconut oil 6 oz.
lye 4.6 oz ( 5% discount)
water 13 oz

The INS value calculated to 141. I thought my mixture of oils and amounts was fairly stable. This was cold process and the lye dissolved well but when cured, it appeared like there were whitish streaks (like marbling) through the soap. The pH tested fine after 6 weeks and I did try testing right on the whitish part to see if that was some undissolved lye but it tested fine too. Any idea as to what would cause the rancid smell. All oils were freshly purchased a couple weeks before and all had been stored in the refrigerator except the olive oil. The lye is the Red Devil stuff from the hardware store.

Shelly

 

[carebear]

That should be a stable formula, and if it had gone rancid it would have turned orange, so I don't think it's rancidity you are dealing with.

I don't know what could cause the odor - did you add milk or tea or anything else? What did you use as a mixing bowl? Implements? As a mold?

 

[shdixx]

Yeah, I am pretty clueless too. I added nothing other than what I listed. I used a stainless steel pot to mix in and can't remember what I used to mix up the lye - either stainless or thick plastic bowl. I used stainless steel spoon - it is old and somewhat pitted. My mold was a pvc pipe about 3" diameter. The pipe was new as my husband had just made up the mold for me. So, no worries if we don't get an answer to this dilemma. I have an acute sense of smell and notice smells that no one else in my house notices.

Thanks for your help.
Shelly

 

[rachelb5499]

I, too, live in California and have found it's "cheapest" and "easiest" to buy from Columbus Foods. They're in Ohio, but even with shipping, it was cheaper than so many other places (even IN CA or OR) that that's who I chose.

I had some shea butter go rancid. It didn't make my soaps change color, but did make them smell "off." So maybe it was that?

My only other thought would be, did you add a fragrance oil to it? Sometimes, using those in CP, the smell changes so much. I've had a couple I really didn't like because of how the chemical process with CP changed the scent.

 

[Cuckoo Bananas]

If you just want a cheap affordable good for your skin soap maybe just doa castille soap with 100% olive oil?

 

[rubyslippers]

I too hate shipping costs! I've spent considerable time making a spread sheet with costs comparison of products I purchase on a regular basis and I keep a running list of wish list items. When its necessary to make a purchase, I check my spread sheet for the items I will be purchasing and see which supplier has the better value and try to aim for that supplier. There is one supplier that offers shipping for $8.95 if your purchases are not over 4 lbs. Seems like a fair shipping amount but unfortunately, I always exceed the 4 lb limit

When I first started soaping, I only placed small orders and the shipping was killing me. Since I must order all of my supplies with the exception of coconut or olive oil I just bite the bullet and place larger orders so I don't have to order so frequently.

 

[dagmar88]

8) I hate them more... Especially since everything I order from the us gets extra tax and fees on top that I have to pay directly to the postman.
They always do their calculations wrong so I end up spending as much on shipping & fees as I did on products...

 

[RikRaks]

I have it pretty good now I think cause I live in a really small town..... My friend lives in Indiana and drives over to Columbus Foods to pick up our oils and she ships to me is such a signifigance saving on shipping.

 

[Sunny]

wsp has free shipping, but thats only on fos and molds. I know i hate shipping cost, i DO get my co from walmart and oo from rainbow, i usually wait til i have a few things to order, hey how much shipping is a 50lb bucket of oil?? just wondered.

Thanks for this suggestion, I am running out of a few things and was reluctant to order online again (yes, for the high shipping cost!) I have both Wal-Mart and Rainbow within a fair distance.

Was someone saying something about PO being shortening for some brands? I wonder where you could get that rather than buying online? I will have to check around.

 

[madpiano]

the solvent used to make oil is highly volatile. It will evaporate before the oil gets to you, but as you are also warming up the oils and then stir them with a stickblender, there will be nothing left of it. For soap making I really wouldn't worry about it and for eating, you could always stir the amount needed quite vigorously to make sure all solvent has evaporated.