Finding the best melt and pour soap suppliers is one of the most important things you can do in the MP business. I have spent a small fortune over the past few years to do just that. Here’s what I learned, summarized in a quick access table, and then detailed below.
I’m always looking for the best way to bring value to my customers while increasing profits. Buying my melt and pour soap bases in bulk is the best way I’ve found, to accomplish both, for melt and pour soap.
| Supplier & Link | Var. | 1-2 lb | 10 lb+ | Loc. | Phone |
| Wholesale Supply Plus | 106 | Y | Y | OH | 1-800-359-0944 |
| Bulk Apothecary | 33 | Y | Y | OH | 1-888-728-7612 |
| Brambleberry | 12 | Y | Y | WA | 1-877-627-7883 |
| Chemistry Store | 25 | Y | Y | SC | 1-800-224-1430 |
| Candle Science | 15 | Y | Y | NC | 1-919-891-6226 |
| Candles and Supplies | 13 | Y | Y | PA | 1-800-819-6118 |
| Rustic Escentuals | 12 | Y | Y | SC | 1-864-384-5331 |
| Arizona Soap Supply | 18 | Y | Y | AZ | 1-480-401-1595 |
| The Gourmet Rose | 17 | Y | Y | OK | NA |
| New Directions Aromatics | 16 | Y | Y | Ont. | 1-800-246-7817 |
Melt and Pour Soap Suppliers Top Pick Ranking Factors
The above chart is ranked by the criteria I find most important in melt and pour soap base. It is all based on experience. Each year I make hundreds of MP batches in my handcrafted soap company, Goodlife Goods.
Please note however, that these suppliers also offer many other wonderful resources such as essential oils, fragrances, soap colorants, molds and more – that have NOT been factored into their ranking for this particular list.
Key Melt and Pour Base Factors
Variety
MP variety refers to both the types and “flavors” of soap bases.
Examples of “types” include:
- Organic
- All-natural
- Clear
- Opaque
- Detergent-based
- Suspension
- Cold process like (CPL or “no sweat”)
“Flavors” include:
- Goat milk
- Shea butter
- Coconut oil
- Hemp
- Coffee
- Oatmeal
- Castile (olive oil soap)
In the chart above you will see a number in the “Var” column (variety). The number in that column represents the combined types and “flavors” available by that MP soap supply resource.
Availability
Having great soap bases listed on the site is one thing. Actually having them in stock and available for purchase is another. If you rely on a single provider for any brand, type or flavor – make sure they can get you what you need, when you need it.
I also suggest having a backup supplier – just in case. There’s no such thing as being too prepared for an emergency. But there are far too many examples of being caught unaware.
A melt and pour soap business is one of those craft industries that depends on regular supplies from third parties. Although, in a pinch, you can get some basic MP types at Hobby Lobby or Michael’s, you will pay a premium and might not get the brand or exact type you want.
Soap Making VS Baking
Making soap is often compared to baking – and for good reason. They both rely on the maker’s ability to follow a recipe.
As you know, a recipe is a combination of specific ingredients to be combined in a particular order under exact conditions. This is true whether the recipe is for making cake batter or soap batter.
The main difference is that finding everything you need to make a cake can be accomplished at a local grocery store. Aside from lye, this is pretty much true of most soap oils too. However this is far from true for specialty items such as blocks of melt and our soap in whatever type of flavor you might like.
Craft Stores as Melt and Pour Suppliers
As we discuss melt and pour soap base supply options, you will see I lean heavily toward buying in bulk from wholesale resources. This is my preference because melt and pour soap keeps for a long time with minimal storage requirements.
For me, buying form a wholesale supplier is like buying long-lasting goods at BJ’s as opposed to Publix. As long as I have the storage space, I’d prefer to save 40% and not have to make a dozen trips to the supermarket. But, the supermarket is still where I buy plenty of other things.
But I did not start by buying in bulk. It was far more reasonable to spend $8 to $10 per kilo for whatever type or flavor of glycerin soap I wanted at the local Hobby Lobby or Michael’s.
Local craft supply stores are a great resource for getting product. I also feel they are important to support – as long as you can do so without hurting your own business.
In a moment we will discuss using the purchase of MP soap in large blocks. Please don’t think this is a must. You can buy small pound or kilo packs from Walmart, craft stores or any of the vendors listed above as well.
How Melt and Pour Base is Made
Before we get into a lot of detail about costs associated with melt and pour soap base creation labor and packaging – here is a two minute video to help explain it all. It was produced by Crafter’s Choice; one of the top-selling melt and pour soap base manufacturers in the world.
MP Block Sizes
Most vendors will sell soap by the US pound (16 ounces) and/or by the kilogram (2.2 US pounds). These are the most expensive way to purchase glycerin soap base as they offer the lowest quantity.
If possible, consider buying your bases in 10 lb or 25 lb blocks. It is far less expensive in both product cost and shipping fees. I buy in blocks of minimum 10 lbs and get free shipping from my primary vendor.
We have an article, on this site, dedicated to making MP soap in bulk batches. Check it out if you’d like to learn how to save two-thirds of your time and money on larger projects – or multiple smaller projects.
Spend Less – Do More
Keep in mind that properly stored melt and pour soap base will stay “fresh” for months – or even years. you can save a small fortune when purchasing several months worth of product during a special promotion.
I do this every chance I get, with Wholesale Supply Plus, and save an average of 25% ON TOP OF the 33% I already save by buying in bulk – AND getting free shipping.
Most MP suppliers offer similar deals so find your favorite brands and get in on the deals!
Why Melt and Pour Blocks are Cheaper
Glycerin soap costs a lot more in small volumes due to packaging and labor. As you are about to see, a one kilogram block of MP soap from a craft store shelf costs:
- 6x as much in packaging cost as needed for one 25 lb. block
- 4x the labor time to package one kilogram versus one 25 lb. block
The Cost of Clamshells
The next time you are in a craft supply store, check out the melt and pour soaps available. Pay close attention to the packaging and cost. Once you start buying in bulk, you will see a direct correlation between the two.
A one Kilogram (2.2 lbs. US) package of glycerin soap comes in a hard transparent HDPE plastic molded container. This container is resealable and reusable. It is known as “clamshell packaging” and can be expensive.
After checking with five clamshell packaging vendors, I found the average cost per unit to be $0.53 per one kilo clamshell.
Affixed to the top and sometimes bottom of these packs are full color printed labels. These are not only to tell you the type of soap enclosed, and ingredients – but also to act as marketing material.
Some of these labels are as cheap as $0.0223 each, when purchased in bulk printed volume. The average cost I found for medium quality however was $0.041 each.
MP Soap Clamshell Packaging Hard Costs
The cost per clamshell and label is $0.57 in our medium volume example of buying clamshell packages in volume of 1,000 to 1,499 and pre-printed labels in quantities of 10,000.
The labor involves filling each, applying labels, sealing, and stacking. If done manually, it is roughly 7x the effort of manually managing 25 lb. blocks. I am assuming a modernized automation process, with automated dispenser hoppers, machine-fed label application low to moderate human interaction.
This level of automation puts as at about 4X the effort of an apples to apples comparison of managing 25 lb. clocks of melt and pour soap base.
Melt and Pour Block Costs
The total packaging need of a full 25 lb. block of melt and pour soap base is a single thick-walled plastic bag. It does not even need to be sealable. It can simply be wrapped and taped shut for less than one cent.
Extra thick solid black bags that emit no light and can hold double the 25 lb. load they are used for – can be bought for $0.06 each, in the same volumes outline above.
You don’t even need special molds. many MP suppliers line the shipping box with the plastic bag, disperse 25 lbs. of soap via the hopper then fold the top of the bag over, sealing it with tape.
The label affixed to this bag is normally printed in-house and costs only $0.02 each.
MP Block Packaging Hard Costs
This brings the total cost of the packaging for a single 25 lb. block of melt and pour to about $0.09 – including the cost of tape. This is the same melt and pour soap as in the kilo clamshells
With little more to do than open and close a plastic bag, the labor is is minimal. The main job after the bag fills is sealing it with tape and then taping the box shut.
Shipping Boxes
Of course, clamshell or block packages must also be shipped in strong cardboard containers whether as a single unit or with multiples in a carton. This expense, however, is generally accounted for in the shipping costs.
Soft Costs of Melt and Pour Soap
All of the aforementioned factors represent the hard costs of melt and pour soap as it related to packaging and labor per unit. But it does not consider the soft costs that can really rack up.
We know these soft costs as “cost to make a sale”.
It costs money to market your products so every sale counts. And, simply put, when a consumer buys in lower quantity – they pay a higher premium. This is true in nearly all areas of commerce.
Have a Coke and a Smile
Have you ever noticed that a 12 oz. bottle of soda often costs more than the 2 liter bottle bottle of the exact same product sitting on the shelf beside it?
In this case, the packaging almost certainly cost more – but selling in higher volume allows the manufacturer to cut marketing costs significantly. Much of their marketing (not advertising) is placement on the store shelves.
If Coke can sell you 5x the product for the same marketing cost as the single bottle, think how much marketing cost must play a role in pricing. This is what paid my bills as a marketing professional for twenty years. It is a whole huge industry.
Customer Service
True customer service is more than just having a department to contact. Anyone can list an email address or post a contact form to complete. You need more.
To get any meaningful level of customer service there needs to be ease of making contact and then actually getting responses. The time to discover how responsive the manufacturer is, is not when you need them to respond. It’s well in advance of that time so you know they will be there when you need them. I speak from experience.
Do Some Reconnaissance
I know this sounds like overkill but consider calling the published phone number of your potential vendor to make sure someone either picks up or gets back to you in a timely manner. If you don’t want to call, at least send an email or complete a form submission.
The premise can be something as honest and innocent as explaining you are looking to build a long-term relationship with a supplier and wanted to interact with a real human first. There is nothing wrong with that.
Melt and Pour Costs
In general, you can expect to pay about $4.00 to $5.00 per pound of melt and pour base in a retail environment – if buying just a single pound.
That same soap should cost about $8.50 per kilo, which translates to about $3.86 per lb.
As mentioned briefly above, and extensively in our Making Melt and Pour Soap in Bulk post, you can get great deals when buying in bulk. I have personally paid as little as $1.39 for a pound of soap that would have cost $4.94 as a single 1 lb unit (not including shipping).
Melt and Pour Soap Suppliers’ Distribution Locations
In today’s world of super-fast shipping, physical location might not seem like a big deal. It can be, however, given the right (or wrong) circumstances.
For example, my soap shop is located a few miles outside of Richmond, Virginia. If a vendor tells me the shipment will take “5-7 days ground” coming from Seattle – I’m going to err on the long side and figure on waiting seven days.
This is especially important when considering special circumstances such as tornadoes in the Great Plains and Midwest, hurricanes in the east and some extreme blizzards in northern states four to five months a year.
Reviews
Finally, I like to look at reviews from other customers – usually through Google. Most sizable companies will have at least one or two less than stellar reviews.
I take this opportunity to see how the company responded to anything negative. For me, this is often more telling than the number of good reviews.
As much as we all want the ideal customer experience, I want to know that the vendor will do everything possible to make good should something go sideways.
If you come across a supplier with too many bad reviews, you will likely skip them based on common sense. However, if you come across one with a few bad reviews that they either ignored or responded unprofessionally to – it might be time to take them out of the running. That’s a headache you don’t want in the future.
Don’t get me wrong. It’s good to give them a chance to explain if they offer a good product at a good price. However, if they are disrespectful of the one who complained – take it as a warning.
Don’t be shy about picking up the phone and asking what went wrong if bad reviews are a small percentage overall. It might be a fluke or a strong indication of potential problems to come. The only way to get a better understanding is to ask.
You are choosing your melt and pour soap suppliers for the long haul. It is important to build trust early on.
Good Business Tip!
It is also important to build a rapport with your suppliers. If you take a few extra minutes to occasionally provide feedback to suppliers that can go a long way in relationship building.
Also, provide ratings and endorsements IF it is genuine and deserved. This can be far more important than profit alone for a company. Just consider…
How did you feel when you got your first positive feedback as a soap maker? Pretty amazing I’ll bet!
In closing
I hope this information proves helpful and you decide to give melt and pour soap making a try, if you’re not already doing it. It is not only easy and inexpensive to try – it is also a great deal of fun and a chance to try out some artistry with which you see instant results.
I learned to do swirl patterns using melt and pour base because I got instant feedback by looking at the bars an hour after pouring. I also learned it’s more difficult to swirl in MP than in cold process, but that’s a story for another time 😊
>>> Get the Inside Edge
If you decide to make melt and pour soap, more than a few bars at a time, we have a post that can help. Making Melt and Pour in Bulk will show you how to increase efficiency by 200% and save a fortune!
As always, happy soaping!