Chemical Suppliers

A general discussion and Q & A forum.
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fishy
Posts: 22
Joined: 07 May 2009, 12:25
State/Location: NSW

Chemical Suppliers

Post 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. :-)
bigmack
Posts: 816
Joined: 15 Dec 2015, 10:49
Job Title: Lab Technician
School: FCAC
State/Location: QLD

Re: Chemical Suppliers

Post 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.
Prima
Posts: 150
Joined: 02 Dec 2014, 11:20
Job Title: Lab assistant
State/Location: NSW

Re: Chemical Suppliers

Post by Prima »

I have found Labtek to be consistently reasonable.
Merilyn1
Posts: 1476
Joined: 12 Mar 2013, 08:10
Job Title: Labbie
School: Wollondilly Anglican College
Suburb: Tahmoor
State/Location: NSW

Re: Chemical Suppliers

Post 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.
Lorikeet
Posts: 116
Joined: 30 May 2015, 17:47
Job Title: Purveyor of stuff
School: Broughton Anglican College
Suburb: Menangle
State/Location: NSW

Re: Chemical Suppliers

Post by Lorikeet »

I use Officemax or science supplies ... both use Chem supply
With thanks Kate :coffee:
fishy
Posts: 22
Joined: 07 May 2009, 12:25
State/Location: NSW

Re: Chemical Suppliers

Post 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.
karend
Posts: 57
Joined: 10 Aug 2012, 14:13
State/Location: NSW

Re: Chemical Suppliers

Post by karend »

Very unimpressed with Silform. We will not deal with them again. The quality of their goods/chemicals is tragic!
bigmack
Posts: 816
Joined: 15 Dec 2015, 10:49
Job Title: Lab Technician
School: FCAC
State/Location: QLD

Re: Chemical Suppliers

Post 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 .
Merilyn1
Posts: 1476
Joined: 12 Mar 2013, 08:10
Job Title: Labbie
School: Wollondilly Anglican College
Suburb: Tahmoor
State/Location: NSW

Re: Chemical Suppliers

Post 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?
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AnnNos
Posts: 190
Joined: 17 Nov 2011, 07:32
Job Title: Science Assistant
State/Location: NSW

Re: Chemical Suppliers

Post 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.
MariaQ
Posts: 84
Joined: 02 Sep 2015, 08:41
Job Title: Boss
School: Central Coast Grammar
State/Location: NSW

Re: Chemical Suppliers

Post by MariaQ »

Westlab are also good, I compare with Serrata and buy the ones I want from the cheapest supplier.
mtg
Posts: 510
Joined: 15 Aug 2011, 10:48
Job Title: Lab Tech
School: NDSC
Suburb: west gippsland
State/Location: VIC

Re: Chemical Suppliers

Post 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.
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