Who's your favorite M&P vendor? Newbie needs to know!

[dragonqueenie]

Hello! Been reading and learning and am happy to have found this wonderful forum.

Have been making M&P for a short time. Bought a variety of 2 lb Stephenson's bases from New Directions (Very nice service - great prices )

First experience using Goats Milk base. I find this to be a lovely, creamy, thickly-lathering soap. For me--Soap Heaven! Then I tried the Clear Glyclerin. More slippery then creamy, but having bathed with handmade soap contained both bases before making M&P, I expected this. Next, I tried the White base--no experience with this at all. Was extremely surprised to find that the finished soap was MUCH HARDER, and more rock-like. Ick! Is this typical for a white glycerine base?

Also, I am placing another order and am open to input on other vendors in the US. I'm having 2 M&P parties for friends and need to get orders placed quick!

Thank you!

 

[soapbuddy]

I prefer SFIC base. I get mine from BrambleBerry since I'm in the next state over.

 

[Kel Lowndes]

I agree with soapbuddy! LOVE BB bases!

 

[llineb]

I agree with soapbuddy! LOVE BB bases!

Absolutely! I recently tried their bulk goats milk base and just love it! it's so creamy!

 

[paillo]

i've been buying peak candles clear base because it contains no chemicals. love the stuff.

 

[semplice]

Bramble Berry M&P bases all day!!

 

[bombus]

so I have been using WSP's bases, but wanted to try Bramble Berry's premium ones- I had heard that they carried SFIC, and I assumed that their better bases were SFIC.
The goatsmilk is fine, but the clear is a dark color. almost a yellow/green. Sure won't be good to use as a clear- it looks like it will have to be colored. I really wanted a clear that I can use for embedding that didn't have all the chemical additives. I've had customers object to propylene glycol as the first ingredient in my wsp base. (it makes them think of ethylene glycol, the stuff in anti-freeze). The less expensive bulk bases at Bramble Berry have glycerin as one of the first ingredients, which seems to cause sweating. I tried the more expensive ones because glycerin was further down on the list.
Has anyone tried the less expensive ones?

 

[Genny]

I'm a fan of BB & Natures Garden Candles.

 

[Apothefairy]

I've used Wholesale Supplies Plus "detergent free" (Was for a bulk order and the customer had very specific color requirements and I was under a very strict time schedule. Wholesale Supplies Plus is closer to me so I was able to get the soap in a couple of day.)

But my preference is Bramble Berry all the way. I love the SFIC premium bases. I've used them all with great success. They're my go-to for everything melt and pour. Yes, there is a natural yellow cast to the clear, but it's really not too terribly bad and when I need a 'clearer' color, I tend to blue my base, as in bluing laundry water to get whiter whites. You add a very small amount of diluted liquid blue to slightly shift the hue of your base back to clear.

I have tried the Bramble Berry bulk clear as well. My personal preference will always be the SFIC premium bases. Always. With just about every glycerine soap, especially in a humid environment (Like.. oh.. say Texas!), you will have to deal with glycerine dew at some point. As long as you wrap your soaps appropriately as soon as they've cooled completely (read: with the wrap touching the soap and minimal air able to penetrate) you shouldn't have too much of an issue.

Even where I live I'm able to leave my bars out overnight to fully set up. My house is generally fairly cool and I find that helps retard the dewing process.