I've not been able to find a reasonably priced source for lip balm tubes. Once you add shipping and handling, forget it! Someone recently mentioned paying .15, I think. Any help out there? I have a recipe for a nice simple lip balm, but I really don't care for the little tins that you have to put your fingers in. Yuck! Thanks, Cathy in NY

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), October 15, 2000

Answers

I have successfully washed and reused my old tubes for this purpose; I, too, hate the thought of using my fingers, esp. since I work at a school...some of those kids never seem to wash their hands unless I stand over them! Clean out the old chap-stick leftovers with a Q-tip. Wash tubes with hot soapy water. Use hot water and a bit of bleach, if you want to disinfect the tubes. Let dry well, and twist them all the way to the bottom, and fill carefully; it just takes a bit to fill them, and they overflow easily. I place the tube in a saucer, to catch the drips and reheat them. A small funnel helps the process. Then cool the tubes, until the mixture solidifies. Vola, yer OWN chapstick. If you don't like the labels on the recycled tubes, a lot of time they will peel off or scrub off.

-- Leann Banta (thelionandlamb@hotmail.com), October 15, 2000.

Leann, it seems that once the tube is pretty much gone, I've past the point of being able to turn it back down. I can't seem to remember to stop turning before it's too late. Any tricks to pass on? (I have two tubes that are ready to fill if I could turn them down.) Thanks.

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), October 15, 2000.

How about sharing your recipes ?

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), October 15, 2000.

Hi Cathy and Everyone, You can order lip balm tubes from Sunburst Bottle Company, 1-916-348-5576, 100 are $30.00 plus shipping, lesser quantities a little more per each. They are the only company that sells them that I've found. My lip balm recipe is simple and flexible, equal parts beeswax, coconut oil, and cocoa butter. Add a little more or less beeswax to match your personal preference for softness/hardness, test a drop on the back of your hand when you have it melted to adjust. Family favorites for essential oil scents/flavors are : orange, vanilla, sassafras, rose water, and peppermint; available from Lorann Oils, 1-888-456-7266, or www.lorannoils.com . They sell both wholesale and retail, and sell soapmaking supplies and oils also. Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), October 15, 2000.

I have a lip balm that I like that comes in a small tin (the balm is made by a small company). I don't share my balm. I use the tip of my little finger nail to scrape out the tiny amount needed and then rub it on my lips. I massage any excess into either a dry patch or just the back of my hand. Thought you might like another idea that would possibly make the tins acceptable.

-- Joy Froelich (dragnfly@chorus.net), October 15, 2000.

Does anyone have a recipe for medicated lip balm?? Would really appreciate being able to make my own! Thanks--

-- Lynn Royal (homesteadmama@aol.com), October 16, 2000.

I'm with Patty and Lynn, would love the recipe to make our own, and I don't care if I have to put it in a tin, or bowl, if it is cheaper and better than store bought.

-- Carol Waldrop (cwaldrop@peoplescom.net), October 16, 2000.

Cathy and Everyone, Re: above mentioned lipbalm recipe; I left out the fourth ingredient, sweet almond oil! So, it's equal parts (by weight not volume) sweet almond oil, cocoa butter, coconut oil, and beeswax. Vary amount of beeswax to alter hardness/softness; add a 1/4 teaspoon or so of camphor (more or less to preference) and contents of 1000mg. vitamin E capsule to make medicated. Also, anise is a very popular request for flavor addition. See above mentioned sources. Sorry for the error! Annie in SE OH.

-- Annie Miller (annie@1st.net), October 16, 2000.

OK, after playing with my almost empty tubes for a while, I've found that if you push down while turning down, it works. So, I'll clean and refill as suggested above. (Lavender Lane carries tubes for .40 each.) The recipe I use is 1/2 cup sweet almond oil, and 1/2 oz. beeswax. I grate the beeswax into a glass jar with the oil and heat in a double boiler. I like mine a little on the firm side, so I use more beeswax. Now I remember where I heard about cheap tubes--in this new copy of Countryside!! Duh-I had it mixed up with the forum!

-- Cathy Horn (hrnofplnty@webtv.net), October 16, 2000.

I was playing on the web and found a good site with lots of balm recipes.go to soapnuts.com and check it out .

-- Patty Gamble (fodfarms@slic.com), October 16, 2000.

I've just started making my lip balms,also healing salves.They're so easy!There's lots of good herbal recipe books available.Purple Shutter Herbs in Burlington VT. has dried herbs,beeswax,containers,tubes,etc.They are fun to visit but they probably also do mail order.You could find something close to you,herbs have become very popular,not just for us back to mother earth people.Good luck,if you're looking for aspecific herbal remedy,e-mail me and I'll try to find it for you.gayle

-- Gayle Torrey (gayletorrey@yahoo.com), October 20, 2000.

Try From Nature with Love and Snowdrift Farms. They both have on- line catalogs and print catalogs.

-- Linda Al-Sangar (alsangal@brentwood-tn.org), October 22, 2000.

Check out Majestic Mountain Sage website: www.the-sage.com they have lip balm tubes and also tins and small jars. Pretty good prices too!!

-- Cate (frame@vcn.com), November 24, 2000.

You can purchase lip balm tubes from www.stuffjulielikes.com for about 25 cents. As far as I know there's no minimum order.

-- Lisa McDonald (JazzGrrlie@aol.com), December 17, 2000.

Lip baum tubes are available at wellnaturally.com is a really good place and it is in Canada! yeah no converting to the american dollar! shipping is quick and reasonable. check it out!

-- Vanessa Voisard (sessa22@hotmail.com), January 12, 2001.

sweetcakes.com has lip balm flavoring and sweeteners..probably containers too.

-- clara (shutterbug@popstar.com), April 12, 2001.

I am looking for a company that can make lip balms beeswax that I can buy in bulk. My company logo has a bumble bee on it, and we need lip blams (in tubes or pots) that we can put our logo on and give to clients. We will also promote the product on out web site. Does anyone have a source? Thank you, Ericka -Product Manager Bee line

-- Ericka (erickad24@aol.com), April 25, 2001.

www.betweenfriendstoo.com

Tubes: $18/100 Pots: $19/100

So far this is the cheapest I've found. They also sell shrink bands for the tubes - $1 for 100.

-- Merin M (dollface@dollface.net), May 02, 2001.

betweenfriendstoo has a ton of great products and great prices. I recommend them too.

-- Marianne Cole (xyz@hotmail.com), May 06, 2001.

I am looking for lip balm tubes too, but living in the UK, shipping from the US/Canada is prohibitively expensive. Can anyone direct me to a UK supplier? (Also looking for lotion bar tubes)

If you can help, please email me at rebecca_j_wood@yahoo.co.uk, as I may not be able to find this thread again!

Thanks for your help,

Rebecca

-- Rebecca Wood (rebecca_j_wood@yahoo.co.uk), November 25, 2001.

Hey Annie,

I finally plan on ordering through Lorann. (You have earned the right to say I told you so-I always recommend a few other choice companies- like Snwodrift Farms. They still have better prices on quantity oil purchases-but I am so excited about the sassafras oil!) Lorann is the only one where I can find inexpensive sassafras oil (not food grade) for soap. And they have the Elaine White book "Soap Recipes" for a decent price. I keep borrowing it from the library for ideas, so I need to just buy it.

-- Anne (HealthyTouch101@wildmail.com), November 25, 2001.

just wanted to let everyone know about an EXCELLENT WEB SITE I often log onto for lip balm/soap supplies.It's called Mango Butter. com. If you can't find what you're looking for here..it doesn't exist!!! You can even search by state and by supplier name. Please check it out...it has definitly saved me from many a headache!!!

-- phoebe kennedy (phoebe215@hotmail.com), February 03, 2002.