Sciencemadness Discussion Board

Best way of locating local chemical supply places?

Electra - 18-2-2014 at 14:20

Recently we've been getting a lot of assignments to perform basic experiments with common chemicals that I can't seem to find anywhere besides places like Ebay or online supply places.

I've seen a lot of talk about people just buying basic chemicals such as sodium hydroxide, methanol, and other common reagents, at chemical supply places. I live in a fairly big city (considered one of the fastest growing in the country) and I have yet to ever in my 25 years of living here to see a chemical supply place that I can just walk into and buy reagent chemicals that wouldn't be found at a hardware store. Looking on the yellow pages came up with very obscure results and more than 80% of the companies listed had very little to do with chemicals, or lab supply glass ware. While I do know of a major local supplier of glassware, I have no idea how to locate chemical supply houses.

Any suggestions?

ACE, Home Depot,

Zyklon-A - 18-2-2014 at 14:35

According to Praxichys,
At ACE: KNO3 (stump remover)
Na2S2O5 (stump remover)
NaHSO4 (Pool pH down)
Na2CO3 (Pool pH up)
CH2Cl2 (Paint stripper)
H3PO4 (Deck cleaner, rust remover)
NaCl (Salt for ice melting)
KCl (Water softener salt)
(NH3)2CO (46-00-00 urea fertilizer)
CaSO4·½H2O (Plaster of paris)
MgSO4·7H2O (Epsom salt)
NaBr (Spa brominator)
H3NSO3 (Sulfamic acid tile haze cleaner)
CaCl2, HCl, CuSO4, H2SO4, MeOH, EtOH, iPrOH, (CH3)2CO, CH3COC2H5, C6H5CH3, C6H4(CH3)2, C6H4Cl2, NH4OH, Ca(OCl)2, TCCA
If you include NaOH and H2SO4, that is 30 common and extremely useful reagents all under one roof. There is also all the stuff with non-chemical usefulness like sand for sand baths and cat litter to help with lab spills, plus buckets and other containers, disposable stirring impliments, safety goggles, face shields, gloves, and other PPE... ACE is a lab supply in disguise.


Electra - 18-2-2014 at 15:14

I need reagent grade chemicals for class work though. Rarely are any of the above chemicals pure from Ace/Home Depot. Even Ace's Toluene and Xylene which are advertised as pure have slight contaminants in them, as I have found by contacting the company.

Zyklon-A - 18-2-2014 at 15:16

Oh, sorry then. I think you'll have to go online in that case.

bismuthate - 18-2-2014 at 15:18

Well It would be nice to know what county your in because the definition of a "fast growing city" differs. For example if you lived in sealand I doubt you'll find much local.:P

hyfalcon - 19-2-2014 at 04:44

One must hone one's skills of distillation and re-crystallization when presented with impure reagents.

Mailinmypocket - 19-2-2014 at 04:54

The problem with chemistry as a hobby is that not a lot of people do it, therefore having a physical store that sells chemicals almost nobody needs is not profitable(rent, power, heat, etc)

Therefore it is much cheaper to have an online store that ships chemicals. Besides hardware stores you can try places that sell soap making supplies, they carry both NaOH and KOH. Small hardware stores tend to sell nicer chemicals that are harder to find than the big box stores like lowes etc. Pool and spa supply places have bromides, TCCA, BCDMH etc for your halogen needs. Art stores frequently have some good solvents. Photography suppliers such as artcraft chemicals have a good selection of some harder to find stuff as well.

Otherwise eBay is an excellent place, I have also heard elemental scientific has a great selection :)

Zyklon-A - 19-2-2014 at 05:52

And don't forget pottery supply stores, they apparently have tons of chemicals, like nitrates, sulfates, and oxides of many different metals. I've never been to one before (I get most of my chems online) but lots of people here have suggested them many times.

Dr.Bob - 19-2-2014 at 06:09

If you are in the US, and have any academic credentials, there are companies that have branches all over, like Fisher Scientific, VWR, E-Merck, and Carolina Biological which likely have a depot somewhere nearby, although most prefer to deliver. Janitorial supply companies often sell many chemicals, just not by the chemical name. And Granger and similar companies sell many chemicals as well. For lab ware you are better to buy off the internet, from what I have seen, new stuff is so overpriced via the science supply companies.

confused - 19-2-2014 at 06:24

not to nitpick, but if you need them for class, shouldn't the school provide them?

Unless you are doing analytical work, using purified household chemicals should suffice, if not, it depends on how pure you want it and the quantity of the chemical (and other associated shipping/hazmat fee depending on chemical)

[Edited on 19-2-2014 by confused]

Local Chemical Supply

tomholm - 24-2-2014 at 19:12

Elemental Scientific was recently acquired by my company, BME Lab and Science, based in St. Paul, MN. First, I want to second earlier comments on how wonderful and knowledgeable the previous owners are. We, too, were customers of theirs prior to purchasing the company.

BME Lab and Science is also a family-owned business that has was founded over 25 years ago. BME provides a wide range of lab supplies and repair services. Over the past month, BME has been busy moving into a larger, retail space and moving Elemental's inventory from WI to MN. We apologize for any disruption in service this may have caused.

Our new store is in Little Canada (St. Paul), MN and has over 2,000 sq ft. It is filled with glassware, chemicals, and other basic lab supplies. Our goal is to provide the best of both worlds - a brick and mortar store for our local customers and a responsive, knowledgeable online resource for customers unable to visit our store.

We at BME-Elemental Scientific appreciate your patience during this transition and look forward to getting to know you and service your laboratory needs. Call or email just to say, "Hi"!

sargent1015 - 24-2-2014 at 22:09

Quote: Originally posted by Electra  
I need reagent grade chemicals for class work though. Rarely are any of the above chemicals pure from Ace/Home Depot. Even Ace's Toluene and Xylene which are advertised as pure have slight contaminants in them, as I have found by contacting the company.


As I am doing right now with my toluene, and as hyfalcon said, you can purify these chemicals yourself. Not only is it good practice, but much more satisfying when you get to the end product.

Toluene is easy to clean up and cheap as a paint thinner!

Metacelsus - 25-2-2014 at 05:53

I have bought many of my reagents from BME over the years, and am happy with its service. It's good to know Elemental is in competent hands.

zed - 27-2-2014 at 12:09

I suggest you just type in the name of the material you are interested in....comma, buy or bulk, and google it.

Many chemicals are sold by non-chemical companies, and they would love to have your business.

Tartaric Acid......

http://www.nuts.com/cookingbaking/salts/tartaric-acid.html

http://www.sigmaaldrich.com/catalog/product/aldrich/t400?lan...

note the price difference.
[Edited on 27-2-2014 by zed]

[Edited on 27-2-2014 by zed]

[Edited on 27-2-2014 by zed]

Electra - 27-2-2014 at 14:31

I have no issue finding sources for chemicals online. I am just an incredibly impatient person haha. I come across some experiment I want to try and never would I opt for waiting 4-5 days to receive some reagents if I could go for a 30 minute drive and pick up what I need. Stock piling thousands of dollars worth of chemicals in my house just doesn't seem like a reasonable solution to my impatience when it comes to wanting to try new experiments.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_commonly_available_chem...

Is a very good above link that has come in handy.... but some of the reagent grade chemicals I require at times are not satisfied by diluted hardware store mixes.

thebean - 27-2-2014 at 18:09

Quote: Originally posted by tomholm  
Elemental Scientific was recently acquired by my company, BME Lab and Science, based in St. Paul, MN. First, I want to second earlier comments on how wonderful and knowledgeable the previous owners are. We, too, were customers of theirs prior to purchasing the company.

BME Lab and Science is also a family-owned business that has was founded over 25 years ago. BME provides a wide range of lab supplies and repair services. Over the past month, BME has been busy moving into a larger, retail space and moving Elemental's inventory from WI to MN. We apologize for any disruption in service this may have caused.

Our new store is in Little Canada (St. Paul), MN and has over 2,000 sq ft. It is filled with glassware, chemicals, and other basic lab supplies. Our goal is to provide the best of both worlds - a brick and mortar store for our local customers and a responsive, knowledgeable online resource for customers unable to visit our store.

We at BME-Elemental Scientific appreciate your patience during this transition and look forward to getting to know you and service your laboratory needs. Call or email just to say, "Hi"!


This is good news for me! So you can just walk in and buy chemicals and glassware? I think I'm dreaming.

BobD1001 - 27-2-2014 at 18:43

Quote: Originally posted by tomholm  
Elemental Scientific was recently acquired by my company, BME Lab and Science, based in St. Paul, MN. First, I want to second earlier comments on how wonderful and knowledgeable the previous owners are. We, too, were customers of theirs prior to purchasing the company.


Great to hear that Elemental is in good hands! Would you folks happen to offer a catalog you could mail out? Or perhaps a PDF of the chemical list with pricing?

Bob

cyanureeves - 27-2-2014 at 19:24

i second the second to hyfalcon and zyklonb because waiting 4-5 days for reagents may one day be 365 days to never.

jamit - 28-2-2014 at 01:00

@electra - don't be in a rush and don't let your excitement get ahead of you. Plan out what you want to do, that is, do some research and read up on this forum everything about the subject. Then go and buy and/or purify the chemicals needed. I found that chemistry as a hobby is best enjoyed safely when you do the experiment without rushing... that has often lead to some mistakes and thank God, I did not get hurt or burn the house down.

Also, its fun to go "chemical hunting" OTC and gratifying to turn technical grade chemicals into lab grade or higher.
Good luck!

Finally, I've ordered from elemental scientific and they are a great supply house for the amateur chemists. It's good to know that they are in good hands. I only wish they were closer to where i lived.

[Edited on 28-2-2014 by jamit]

tomholm - 2-3-2014 at 08:09

Quote: Originally posted by thebean  


This is good news for me! So you can just walk in and buy chemicals and glassware? I think I'm dreaming.


Absolutely! We welcome walk-in customers. While we have many chemicals and much labware readily available, you are also welcome to call ahead to ensure that we have what you are looking for in stock.

BME Lab and Science/Elemental Scientific is now located at:

78 Minnesota Street
Little Canada, MN.

It's right next to Hub Hobby and McDonald's at Hwy 36 and Rice Street. Phone: 651-646-5339.

Thanks.

[Edited on 3-2-2014 by tomholm]