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Chemical Suppliers
Posted: 30 Jan 2019, 10:17
by fishy
Hi just wondering if you could tell me where you buy the majority of your chemicals from? Do you only order from the one company or use a few depending on price and chemical needed? Many thanks.
Re: Chemical Suppliers
Posted: 30 Jan 2019, 10:45
by bigmack
Silform ...they are cheaper than most .
If its not a dangerous goods item then I will add it to any order to Seratta or Science supply Australia etc.
Re: Chemical Suppliers
Posted: 30 Jan 2019, 12:54
by Prima
I have found Labtek to be consistently reasonable.
Re: Chemical Suppliers
Posted: 31 Jan 2019, 06:40
by Merilyn1
I haven't used Silform - so curious what anyone thinks of them. They apparently have simplified SDSs, so I'm interested in what they look like and if they are compliant.
Otherwise I usually just add onto whoever I'm ordering from. If I have a lot of chemicals to order, I will order from Serrata as they have Chemsupply chemicals and the SDSs are easily obtainable.
Re: Chemical Suppliers
Posted: 04 Feb 2019, 10:53
by Lorikeet
I use Officemax or science supplies ... both use Chem supply
Re: Chemical Suppliers
Posted: 06 Feb 2019, 10:15
by fishy
Many thanks for your input. Greatly appreciate it! Merilyn1 I used Silform once and received a delivery of four bottles of concentrated Sulfuric Acid. Each of the bottles had leaked. It was delivered to our front office who signed for it without noticing the damaged carton by a relief SASS person who had worked in our school many times. General assistant brought round to Science Department for me and noticed leak whilst he was carrying. (GA was ok.) Not impressed with Silform. Had to go and clean up front office and warn the girls about what had happened.
Re: Chemical Suppliers
Posted: 06 Feb 2019, 12:51
by karend
Very unimpressed with Silform. We will not deal with them again. The quality of their goods/chemicals is tragic!
Re: Chemical Suppliers
Posted: 06 Feb 2019, 13:49
by bigmack
Surprised you guys have had bad experiences with Silform . Fishy , perhaps the issue with your leaking Sulfuric acid was the fault of the courier .
We have a great deal of Silform Chemicals and have not noticed any issues with poor quality .
Interestingly Silform did offer a special last year and on the back of it was an explicit explanation saying that they had been bad mouthed by the "big Boys" that charge ridiculously high prices for the same chemicals .
I'll PM a copy to anyone interested .
Regarding their SDS's , We use Chemwatch so can't comment .
Re: Chemical Suppliers
Posted: 06 Feb 2019, 14:39
by Merilyn1
fishy wrote: ↑06 Feb 2019, 10:15
Many thanks for your input. Greatly appreciate it! Merilyn1 I used Silform once and received a delivery of four bottles of concentrated Sulfuric Acid. Each of the bottles had leaked. It was delivered to our front office who signed for it without noticing the damaged carton by a relief SASS person who had worked in our school many times. General assistant brought round to Science Department for me and noticed leak whilst he was carrying. (GA was ok.) Not impressed with Silform. Had to go and clean up front office and warn the girls about what had happened.
Ouch, that could have had a nasty ending. Good thing no one was hurt! I guess you haven't bought from them again?
Re: Chemical Suppliers
Posted: 07 Feb 2019, 07:06
by AnnNos
I bought copper sulfate powder and when students dissolved in water and crystallised the solution many of the crystals were green. When I contacted them they advised they buy in bulk, make a huge pile to mix it up then bottle it themselves. Hence, some copper chloride might be present. I don't buy chemicals from them now.
Re: Chemical Suppliers
Posted: 07 Feb 2019, 08:55
by MariaQ
Westlab are also good, I compare with Serrata and buy the ones I want from the cheapest supplier.
Re: Chemical Suppliers
Posted: 08 Feb 2019, 09:17
by mtg
Westlab (given they also sponsor this forum) and delivery is free for over $100 which is great for us in the country, if the prices are OK, otherwise I try science supply, lab supply or Haines. But they are nearly all Chem Supply chemicals now.