I am finally going to try my hand at making my first batch of soap. First, I need to acquire the supplies. I am wondering who you recommend as a supplier? I need to purchase wooden molds, ingredients, scale, thermometers etc. Is there a one stop shop with great service and prices? Thanks!
Where to purchase supplies?
- Thread starter grambow
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There are many suppliers available online, but I do know that you can buy everything needed to get started, short one stick blender and thermometer, from Brambleberry.com. They have a "soap making kit" or you can purchase items separately. Some have noted their shipping can be a bit slow, but I haven't had any problems with them. The stick blender and thermometer can be purchased locally at a big box or kitchen supply store. As your needs increase, you may want to buy different items from different suppliers. Good luckgrambow said:
FloridaSoaper
Well-Known Member
I have to share how I bought my stuff...yes there are one stop shops, but I found some of these and none of them had just what I wanted for every piece of equipment. So this is what I did...
I wanted to start making soap in 1-3lb batches...nothing too big in case I botched a few batches...plus I'm never going to use all that soap, lol...so I bought containers that were suitable for this size...just a note...
Anyways, I got my gloves, protective goggles (they look more like goggles than glasses to me, ha!), soap spoons, and soap buckets, as well as ph strips from www.thesage.com. The gloves are the best I've used and the soap spoons they carry are indispensible!! I can't say enough about the soap spoons...I bought 2 and use them to mix lye, and oils and then the final soap, they're WONDERFUL and cheap and stand temps up to 450 or something close to that. The soap buckets are great if you need something to make soap in and don't want to spend a fortune on stainless steel pans...which I didn't. I bought the 87oz and the 1 gal. and I haven't made batches that are too big for these buckets yet. The 87oz is perfect for 1lb batches - plenty of stirring room left over. I don't put my buckets through the dishwasher but I'm thinking you could.
Ok, stickblenders...I checked everywhere for stick blenders...I really wanted a kitchen aid but didn't want to pay the high price, so I settled for a cuisinart which has the same 200W motor as the kitchen aid, the bottom half stainless steel shaft is detachable and can be dishwashed - loving it!
Scales...oh scales...I bought a Myweigh from wholesalesuppliesplus and thought it was going to work, but it didn't work with both of my first batches and I sent it back. Plus the really annoying thing is that I couldn't get the auto shut off function to turn off, even though there was a function to do this...it just wouldn't work and the accuracy was off as well. I ended up buying an escali alimento which was a little more $, but it works much better and with the adapter the auto off function is overrided...so no more scale shutting off on me. The accuracy has only been a concern to me when I weigh my eo's...it's supposed to weigh down to 1gram, but it's still off with very small amounts of eo's...not good. My dream scale is the acculab (the most expensive version) from www.thesage.com. Someday...
Thermometers...I wanted something very specific and couldn't find the right combination of features just anywhere...it was frustrating...but after looking long enough I found something that works...and I'm really glad I shopped around on this one...as I've been able to use this awesome thermometer for other things besides soapmaking too. It's great and I only spent 20 bucks on it. It's waterproof, dishwasher safe, about a 5" stainless steel stem, instant read, and digital...yah, pretty awesome! I really do love it and it works great for me. There is no clip and you wouldn't want to drop the top part in hot oils or lye, but as long as I keep a good grip on it, it works great. I bought it off of ebay and the brand name is Polder.
I did buy some revereware stainless steel pots off ebay and I do get a lot of use out of them as well. I use the smallest 1 and 1/2 quart to mix my lye in, and the 2 bigger sizes, 2 and 3 quarts, to melt oils/butters in. These sizes work great for 3 and 1/2 lb batches...but you would probably want something bigger after this. I still love my soap buckets though!
Ok...molds I'm not so great at yet, still shopping around for what I like...I've gotten some individuals from brambleberry.com and I love them, though the shipping wasn't so great from where I am, but I've also gotten a loaf mold crafter's choice from wholesalesuppliesplus and also the mitre box and both cutters which are GREAT! I also buy oils from them, the shipping is priced next to the oils so I love that.
Well I hope this helps! I did a lot of research and would love for it to benefit someone else besides me, lol! This is just all the stuff I wanted though...have fun looking around! Unfortunately to get good prices on everything you want, you will probably have to put in orders at several different places...but it was worth it for me to get exactly what I wanted instead of settling for supplies or ingredients just because I could get it all in one place. Oh, and also for ingredients, I've ordered from camdengrey.com and they're really good prices and eo's as well. Ok, I'm really done now, ha! Happy soaping!!
I wanted to start making soap in 1-3lb batches...nothing too big in case I botched a few batches...plus I'm never going to use all that soap, lol...so I bought containers that were suitable for this size...just a note...
Anyways, I got my gloves, protective goggles (they look more like goggles than glasses to me, ha!), soap spoons, and soap buckets, as well as ph strips from www.thesage.com. The gloves are the best I've used and the soap spoons they carry are indispensible!! I can't say enough about the soap spoons...I bought 2 and use them to mix lye, and oils and then the final soap, they're WONDERFUL and cheap and stand temps up to 450 or something close to that. The soap buckets are great if you need something to make soap in and don't want to spend a fortune on stainless steel pans...which I didn't. I bought the 87oz and the 1 gal. and I haven't made batches that are too big for these buckets yet. The 87oz is perfect for 1lb batches - plenty of stirring room left over. I don't put my buckets through the dishwasher but I'm thinking you could.
Ok, stickblenders...I checked everywhere for stick blenders...I really wanted a kitchen aid but didn't want to pay the high price, so I settled for a cuisinart which has the same 200W motor as the kitchen aid, the bottom half stainless steel shaft is detachable and can be dishwashed - loving it!
Scales...oh scales...I bought a Myweigh from wholesalesuppliesplus and thought it was going to work, but it didn't work with both of my first batches and I sent it back. Plus the really annoying thing is that I couldn't get the auto shut off function to turn off, even though there was a function to do this...it just wouldn't work and the accuracy was off as well. I ended up buying an escali alimento which was a little more $, but it works much better and with the adapter the auto off function is overrided...so no more scale shutting off on me. The accuracy has only been a concern to me when I weigh my eo's...it's supposed to weigh down to 1gram, but it's still off with very small amounts of eo's...not good. My dream scale is the acculab (the most expensive version) from www.thesage.com. Someday...
Thermometers...I wanted something very specific and couldn't find the right combination of features just anywhere...it was frustrating...but after looking long enough I found something that works...and I'm really glad I shopped around on this one...as I've been able to use this awesome thermometer for other things besides soapmaking too. It's great and I only spent 20 bucks on it. It's waterproof, dishwasher safe, about a 5" stainless steel stem, instant read, and digital...yah, pretty awesome! I really do love it and it works great for me. There is no clip and you wouldn't want to drop the top part in hot oils or lye, but as long as I keep a good grip on it, it works great. I bought it off of ebay and the brand name is Polder.
I did buy some revereware stainless steel pots off ebay and I do get a lot of use out of them as well. I use the smallest 1 and 1/2 quart to mix my lye in, and the 2 bigger sizes, 2 and 3 quarts, to melt oils/butters in. These sizes work great for 3 and 1/2 lb batches...but you would probably want something bigger after this. I still love my soap buckets though!
Ok...molds I'm not so great at yet, still shopping around for what I like...I've gotten some individuals from brambleberry.com and I love them, though the shipping wasn't so great from where I am, but I've also gotten a loaf mold crafter's choice from wholesalesuppliesplus and also the mitre box and both cutters which are GREAT! I also buy oils from them, the shipping is priced next to the oils so I love that.
Well I hope this helps!
I did a lot of research and would love for it to benefit someone else besides me, lol! This is just all the stuff I wanted though...have fun looking around! Unfortunately to get good prices on everything you want, you will probably have to put in orders at several different places...but it was worth it for me to get exactly what I wanted instead of settling for supplies or ingredients just because I could get it all in one place. Oh, and also for ingredients, I've ordered from camdengrey.com and they're really good prices and eo's as well. Ok, I'm really done now, ha! Happy soaping!!Wal-mart, Target, Ocean State Job Lot (or some type of Big Lots/BJ's) for the non oil/lye/FO/EO supplies...
That's where I bought my scale, thermometers, spatulas, bowls, measuring cups, stick blenders, etc. I think I spent a total of $50 on all of those. I stole a pot from my cooking cabinet as we just bought new set so I had two of all my pots and pans!
The rest of my oils and FO's were purchased at Wholesalesuppliesplus.com and I paid about $100 for your basic oils - so far the only thing I'm about to run out of is olive oil and I've already made 5 4lb batches of soap!
I bought my molds from a few different places, but that's because I bought tray bar molds as well as a loaf mold. If you look around you can find decent prices.
I think if you do a one-stop shopping trip it will definitely be easier on you, but might not be as cost effective. It all just depends on what matters more to you. I also bought a little here and a little there. Makes it easier on the wallet if you aren't forking over the money all at once!
Good luck!
That's where I bought my scale, thermometers, spatulas, bowls, measuring cups, stick blenders, etc. I think I spent a total of $50 on all of those. I stole a pot from my cooking cabinet as we just bought new set so I had two of all my pots and pans!
The rest of my oils and FO's were purchased at Wholesalesuppliesplus.com and I paid about $100 for your basic oils - so far the only thing I'm about to run out of is olive oil and I've already made 5 4lb batches of soap!
I bought my molds from a few different places, but that's because I bought tray bar molds as well as a loaf mold. If you look around you can find decent prices.
I think if you do a one-stop shopping trip it will definitely be easier on you, but might not be as cost effective. It all just depends on what matters more to you. I also bought a little here and a little there. Makes it easier on the wallet if you aren't forking over the money all at once!
Good luck!
I love the molds from Brambleberry. My SIL's boyfriend made us quite a few molds (I think 20) and they are great. I bought a few stainless steel pots to melt oils in, a large glass pyrex measuring cup for the lye/water mix and spatulas all from stores I have in town. The scale goes up to 50 lbs. and I bought that on eBay. I don't like it and want some with more accuracy. I bought lye from the Boyer Corporation in bulk, super cheap (IMHO). All my oils/EO/FO come from brambleberry.com, Camden Grey and Nutiva. The most expensive part has been all of the oils/EO/FO. I maybe spent $100 (including the molds) on the rest.
