Best place to buy flax seeds, preservatives and epsom salt?

sexyjacksparrow

Given all the rave reviews on here and the various recipes I thought I might have a go at making some flax seed gel. Unfortunately, I'm about to be made redundant so I can't afford to buy some of BB's.

Where in the UK is it best/cheapest to buy:

• Flax seeds
• Espom salt
• Grapfruit Seed Extract (or another suitable preservative!!)

For the seeds and salt I would prefer not to go online as cost of postage would be high (I found epsom salt online for less than £3 for a kg, but postage was about £6!).

Also for the epsom salt as I'll likely only want to use about 1g a time, I would rather buy in a smaller quanity than 1kg if possible.

If it helps, I live in a small town and we have a Holland & Barrett, Sainsburys, Waitrose, Boots and Superdrug.


Thanks!

K x

janeyliz

SJS, I'm really sorry to hear you're about to be made redundant - any sign of another job?

Flax seeds - local health store, ask for linseeds. They should be a few quid for a kilo.
Epsom salts - pet stores sell it (could be for fish tanks?????), or I bought some off Ebay as I don't get much time for browsing shops at the moment.
Preservatives - again, Ebay is useful for oils etc if that's what you're after, or I got citric acid from Tesco for 49p. As you only need a pinch it will last ages.

H & B are quite good and have offered to order stuff for me if the local shop doesn't stock something the bigger ones do.

MimsTX

My Walmart here had the epsom salts, so maybe Asda over there would?

sexyjacksparrow

Thanks girls.

Which aisle(s) in the supermarket would the citric acid (sounds like it would be cheaper than GSE) and the epsom salt be?

Unfortunately I don't have an ASDA near me, mims TX but maybe other supermarket chains would have it.

Janeyliz - thanks for the sympathies re redundancy. nothing specific on the horizon yet, although I've only really just started looking.

K x

janeyliz

I got my citric acid at the Tesco pharmacy counter. Surprisingly, Boots didn't stock it although they did offer to order some in for me. I suppose it could also be found in the jam making section??????

I have no idea what your career path is or where you're located but if you're looking for a stop-gap there could be something on here:
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/jobs/current-vacancies.htm

sexyjacksparrow

Thanks janeyliz! Weirdly cheapest place I have found for flaxseeds/linseeds so far was Waitrsoe - £1.99 for 500g. They were £3.99 for 500g in Holland & Barrett.

curlsAbound

Flax seeds: I'm not in the UK, but you might want to look for any stores that sell bulk foods (where you can scoop out as much as you need and they weigh it). Any grocery stores, health food stores etc might have this. This way, you can buy them fresh and just as much as you need ....

janeyliz

SJS, I've just moved house and finally managed to locate my Epsom salts (after a minor panic - thought I'd accidentally thrown them away!). If you want me to post a few tablespoons to tide you over until you locate some I'm happy to do so - you only need about half a teaspoon per batch. PM me with your address if you'd like me to post some.

sexyjacksparrow

Awww. Janeyliz that's so sweet and kind of you! I'll let you know if I need some. I'm not planning on making the gel just yet though - I just get excited looking for stuff once I make the decision