I get asked all of the time by other soap makers what my favorite soap making this or that is. I do have my favorites. I hope that you’ll share your favorites in the comments so that other soap makers can check out new sources. It has been awhile since my last favorite things post, so here we go!
Soap Making Oils and Butters
My favorite place to get oils and butters is Soaper’s Choice. I think they have great prices and shipping isn’t so bad.
My favorite oils and butters to use in a recipe are coconut oil, regular olive oil, shea butter, rice bran oil, avocado oil and castor oil.
Soaper’s Choice ships super fast! I usually get a shipping notice the same day that I order and get my order two days later!
I do get coconut oil locally from Restaurant Depot. This saves me quite a bit of shipping. If you have a local Restaurant Depot and they don’t carry coconut oil, ask them about it. Sometimes they’ll bring it in if requested.
My backup sources for soap making oils are Bramble Berry and Wholesale Supplies Plus. If I’m ordering molds, colorants or fragrances and I need some oils, I’ll tack them on.
Production Equipment
Soapequipment.com is the place to go when you are ready to scale up your business. We used their equipment (molds, cutters) when Benjamin had his retail store, Prairie Soap Company. You can purchase what they have in stock or you can have them custom build equipment.
Their soap drying trays rock and save you room on your production floor.
Soap Making Molds
It is no secret…if you read my blog you know that I love silicone molds from Bramble Berry! I’ve use many over the years and they continue to be my #1 source for silicone soap making molds.
My absolute favorite mold is their 10″ Silicone Loaf Mold. For tall and skinny soap, I love their 12″ Tall Silicone Mold.
I have several of their blue silicone single cavity molds. I also love their Half Cylinder Silicone Mold; that is my go-to mold for salt bars.
Another mold I really like is the Wholesale Supplies Plus Crafters Choice™ Tray 12 Rectangles Silicone Mold. I have some tutorials coming up using this mold. It is just a great slab mold to have. The cut lines make it super simple to create great looking bars of soap.
Fragrance Oils
I personally don’t use fragrance oils anymore. But when I teach classes, I purchase a few for students that want to use them. I do have my favorites from over the years.
My favorite supplier of fragrance oils is Bramble Berry! Two of my favorite fragrances from them are Energy (I swear this fo reverses trace) and Champagne.
I know there are lots of companies that sell great fragrances and since I don’t purchase much these days, please post your favorite fragrance supplier in the comments!
Essential Oils
I love working with essential oils in my soap, blending and trying new combinations.
I order essential oils from my friend Theresa of Wandering Thistle Studios. I also use Lebermuth, Liberty Naturals, Rainbow Meadow, New Directions Aromatics, Camden Gray, Bramble Berry and Majestic Mountain Sage.
Understanding IFRA Guidelines for Essential Oil Use in Soap
If you don’t know where to start when using essential oils in soap, check out Benjamin’s eBook, Essential Oil Blends for Handcrafted Soap.
Soap Colorants
I use many suppliers for colorants. Here are few of my favorites from this past year.
Mad Oils has a great range of mica. My favorite mica from them is Flashdance Pink Mica! LOVE IT!
Check out Flashdance Pink in soap.
Bramble Berry added many new micas this year that I got to try. Check out this soap design, Mermaid Orchid Tiger Stripe Soap, using some of my favorites from them. I LOVE the orchid mica.
I love clay in soap and recently found a new supplier (new to me!) for clay. I love that they offer small quantities so that I can try several different clays. Check out Soaper’s Supplies!
If you need help in knowing how to use colorants, check out my eBook, How to Color Cold Process Soap!
Soap Cutter
If you are ready to step up your production and purchase a multi-bar cutter, I highly recommend purchasing a soap cutter from Buds Workshop. My favorite cutter is the Metal Soap Cutter.
Not only does Bud make wonderful cutters, but he has a great heart! Bud has donated a soap cutter to every single group that Lovin’ Soap Project has gone to teach. His soap cutters are in Haiti, Uganda, Tibet, India and Senegal.
Sodium Hydroxide (Lye)
I’m a creature of habit and have always gotten my lye from Essential Depot. I usually get the 32 lbs of food grade sodium hydroxide.
Soap Making Organizations/Insurance
I belong to two organizations.
Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetics Guild – The HSCG offers insurance + organization membership to soap and toiletry makers. Also, as a member you gain access to valuable resources including supply discounts, how-to’s, hotel discounts…and more. Check out the long list of benefits. I LOVE attending their annual conference and have presented at the conference for the last couple of years.
Indie Business Network – IBN offers insurance + organization membership to makers of handmade items including soap, toiletries, jewelry and more. Check out all of the benefits of joining IBN! My favorite thing about IBN is the online community on Facebook. The group is such a wonderful resource for information and help when you need it.
If you’re looking for affordable insurance as a soapmaker, check out Handmade Artisan Insurance.
These are some of my favorite things! What are some of yours?
Happy Soaping!
-Amanda Gail
Amanda, you are awesome! Thanks so much for including me in your blog post!
I love craftees choice…wholesale plus…and bescented for fragrances
I get my oils from Soaper’s Choice as well. I prefer Wholesale Supplies Plus for fragrance oils. I find the reviews very helpful when planning out a recipe when using a new FO. I also like that they give you a discount for loyalty. Bramble Berry’s molds are first class!
I love Brambleberry, Wholesale Supplies Plus, and Nature’s Garden (for FO’s). I’m still a new soaper but oh how far down the rabbit hole I have fallen. Lol!
You mentioned several of my favorites and some that I need to look into. Bramble Berry is probably my favorite. For one thing, they tell you how the essential and fragrance oils will affect the soap, how well they hold over time. Same thing with their colorants. Love their wooden molds especially. Great customer service. I had ordered a mold from them 3 years ago that turned to be a popular one with my family. When I went to order more, they weren’t carrying it anymore. I tried to find it from other suppliers and they didn’t have it. So I emailed Bramble Berry with a picture attached and they found 3 suppliers that carried that mold. They didn’t have to do that, most companies wouldn’t.
I’m lucky to live close to 3 suppliers and get my supplies from Wholesale Supplies Plus, Bulk Apothecary for supplies, essential oils, etc. (20 minutes away so I pick up with no shipping charges) and Natures Garden (One hour away, no shipping charges with pickup). I also use Restaurant Depot for oils, Olive Oil when it is on sale and coconut oil. Local is great!!
Wow, similar favorites!
Soapies-supplies.com has great sturdy green silicone loaf molds- best price I’ve seen.
Agree mad oils are the best for Mica.
Still cheaper to buy my lye at Ace hardware locally~$3lb no tax and no shipping. I also get my oils locally at Jedwards, no shipping.
I have a Bud loaf wooden cutter, but now I’m wishing I had bought the single bar cutter, much more versatility in soap width.
Love BB 1/2 round silicone mold for salt bars too, thanks to your suggestion!
Keep up the good work you do and that we all love.
I love to use a battery operated milk frother to mix my mica. Just add a little of one of your carrier oils with the amount of mica you are using in your soap recipe and mix before adding to the main batch. It will get rid of all the little clumps. I ordered my frother years ago from IKEA dirt cheap and it’s still going strong!
Great list-thanks for the info!
I love the silicone molds from Bramble Berry and I also find unique ones on ebay.
I have a favorite type of spatula. It’s from the Giada De Laurentiis cookware collection. It is not too hard and not too soft. Expensive and worth it to me.
I love all my silicone molds from Brambleberry but my new favorite soaping tool is my digital laser infrared thermometer. It makes taking the soap temp so much easier!!
I only make soap for personal use and gifts. I have so much soap and donate boxes to our local food pantry. My favourites are Nurture Soap Supplies for mica’s, ES for lye, wish there was a closer chemical plant to purchase from. I have a few EO, however can never get a scent to smell good, not good at mixing. FO I’ve bought many trying to find just the right scent I guess Mad Oil’s and Tamera Jenkins have been my favourite so far. My favourite molds are silicone from Nurture Soap Supplies and American Soap supplies. Favourite and most informative blog is Amanda Gail Aaron. Favourite monthly challenge group is Amy Warden’s. I’ll throw in best class was with Benjamin Aaron, my first and only class. I do watch lots of YouTube videos to learn swirls.
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Sometimes if you live near a local chemical plant or even a couple miles away you can get lye and chemicals such as citric acid for your bath bombs. We live near a big metropolis city and get our lye for pennies.