# Who do you buy oils from? *And lye?*



## Faithful Crown Nubians

I know there is a list of suppliers but I would like to know which supplier you prefer and why you prefer them? Who is the best, price wise? 

Also, where would I get lye from? We checked a few places in town and none of those places have it....(Walmart, Rural King, etc)

Thanks in advance!


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## Kalne

Soaper's Choice and Restaurant Depot. Best prices even with shipping or with Rest. D. traveling to the store. Funny thing is the CO we get from RD comes from Soaper's Choice yet it's cheaper. LOL

We get our lye from a chemical place in KC. They are significantly cheaper than what we can get here or in Omaha. We just make the trip to KC a couple times a year and load up with lye and oils. The savings more than pays for the gas. Even better is when we are traveling through for another reason....we pick up whatever we can fit in the van at the time.


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## Faithful Crown Nubians

It looks like Soaper's Choice only has large quantities of the product for sale? I don't need or want a lot of each product I want to buy. Right now I just want to make small batches of soap for home use....see if I like making soap...if not I don't want a whole bunch of stuff on hand.


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## Kalne

For my first few batches I just purchased oils from WalMart. Whatever local inexpensive store you have around is going to be your best bet for regular consumer sized bottles. At that time I was also able to purchase lye at a few hardware stores in 1 lb containers.


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## swgoats

You can get lye at Tractor Supply and Lowes. At Lowes it is with the plumbing supplies, not the cleaning supplies (forget asking for help, they don't have a clue).


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## Faithful Crown Nubians

Walmart doesn't have a variety of oils....What oils did you buy there, for your first few batches?


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## BlackRiverBubbles

You can get lard, olive oil, coconut oil, and lots of others at Walmart in the cooking oils section and castor oil is located in with the laxatives. Good luck and I'm sure you will love the soap!!


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## 2Sticks

I buy all my oils from www.soaperschoice.com They have the best prices and their shipping has proved to be very reasonable. I use www.lyedepot.com for my lye. They shipped me a 36lb package last week and UPS lost it. I called them today to tell them and ask them to contact UPS and open an investigation. They called me back in about 15mins and said there was a package shipping out to me immediately and they had opened an investigation with UPS. They said if UPS did find it and deliver it to me instead of returning it to them, that I should just keep it. I've never had anything but good service from them.


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## NubianSoaps.com

Even though I have moved to Columbus Foods division I still buy my sunflower oil at my local Kroger, with my Kroger card and buying cases it is cheaper than anywhere I have found.

Unless you are anti lard if you really want a good recipe use the walmart recipe in the recipe section...just put it through the lye calculator at thesage.com and change the coconut oil from 31.5 ounces to the 30 ounces in the jar now. Use Olive since it is what they carry now.

Lye is just sodium hydroxide, either purchase it online or find it at a hardware store. No need at all to use Soapers Choice unless you want to sell.

No idea what area you are in or I could google easily and find you a local AAA place, they are in most states.


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## MF-Alpines

Amy, check Menards for lye. Some of them carry it, some don't. I know there is one in Goshen that does.


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## Faithful Crown Nubians

Thanks Cindy! I am going to see if the one in Kokomo carries it. Goshen is too far north.


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## Faithful Crown Nubians

NubianSoaps.com said:


> Even though I have moved to Columbus Foods division I still buy my sunflower oil at my local Kroger, with my Kroger card and buying cases it is cheaper than anywhere I have found.
> 
> Unless you are anti lard if you really want a good recipe use the walmart recipe in the recipe section...just put it through the lye calculator at thesage.com and change the coconut oil from 31.5 ounces to the 30 ounces in the jar now. Use Olive since it is what they carry now.
> 
> Lye is just sodium hydroxide, either purchase it online or find it at a hardware store. No need at all to use Soapers Choice unless you want to sell.
> 
> No idea what area you are in or I could google easily and find you a local AAA place, they are in most states.


Logansport, Indiana. Sorry thought the profile said my location. I haven't caught up to the new forum changes. lol


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## tlcnubians

Essential Depot (www.essentialdepot.com) sells oils and lye in smaller quantities and they have excellent service. I usually have my order within a day or two of placing it. They often have free shipping on lye and discounts on some of the oils (if you buy one kind, you can get a second kind at a deep discount or even free). Caroline


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## MF-Alpines

Oops. Didn't realize you lived that far south, Amy.


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## H Diamond Farms

Be careful buying lye from hardware type stores. I was sooooo excited to find lye at my local hardware store here in the middle of nowhere even. However, every batch of soap I made with it overheated on me and the logs all cracked. Was placing a Brambleberry order, so just ordered a jar from there... soap stopped overheating. Obvisouly there was something in the hardware store lye that wasn't quite right. As a side note, if you're just wanting to do small batches for home, why not just go with Brambleberry or Wholesale Supplies Plus? WSP is free shipping on orders over like... $35 or something. Yes, each product costs a little more than say BB, but after you add shipping on BB, WSP is still cheaper. If you don't want special oils, walmart is your friend. If you do want special oils, try a natural food store if you have any in your area.


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## a4patch

Vicki, Which AAA are you referring to?


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## 2Sticks

Peggy Sue,
I believe she's talking about AAA Chemical.


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## informative

Anyone ever made their own soap lye from wood ashes?

How did that work out for you?


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## informative

H Diamond Farms said:


> every batch of soap I made with it overheated on me and the logs all cracked


Sounds like it was more concentrated which should allow you to use less. That could be a good thing. No?


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