In brief: Treatment rooms buy Thailam by the litre. The classical oils used most come in 1 litre and 5 litre formats, sold to verified businesses, and the right format for each oil depends on how quickly it turns over.
Which Thailams come in professional formats
Thailams (herbal oils prepared by slow decoction into an oil base) are the working material of every Ayurvedic treatment room. The oils below are the ones treatment rooms use in volume. Each is also sold in retail bottles on this site; the 1 litre and 5 litre formats are sold through Shop Ayurveda EU, which is why their size appears here without a price.
| Thailam | Retail sizes | Professional sizes |
|---|---|---|
| Brahmi Thailam | 200 ml, 450 ml | 1 L |
| Chandanadi Thailam | 200 ml | 1 L, 5 L |
| Dhanwantharam Thailam | 200 ml, 450 ml | 1 L, 5 L |
| Karpooradi Thailam | 200 ml, 450 ml | 1 L, 5 L |
| Kottamchukkadi Thailam | 200 ml | 5 L |
| Ksheerabala Thailam | 200 ml, 450 ml | 1 L, 5 L |
| Mahanarayana Thailam | 200 ml, 450 ml | 1 L, 5 L |
| Prabhanjanam Thailam | 200 ml | 1 L, 5 L |
| Prasarini Thailam | 200 ml | 5 L |
| Sahacharadi Thailam | 200 ml | 1 L |
The wider professional range, including the oils supplied in retail sizes only, is set out on our wholesale page.
1 litre or 5 litres?
Choose the container you can finish while the oil is still good. As a working rule, an oil that turns over more than roughly two litres a quarter belongs in the 5 litre format; below that, 1 litre is the better purchase. The saving on a larger container disappears if part of it is thrown away.
Work it out from your procedures rather than from client numbers. A full-body Abhyanga uses about 100 to 150 ml, a Shirodhara session keeps 1.5 to 2 litres in circulation, and a Pizhichil session draws 3 to 5 litres. A room running twelve Abhyanga sessions a week uses around 1.5 litres of its main oil every week, far more than two litres a quarter, so its main oil belongs in 5 litres. An oil used for one or two localised applications a week does not.
Choosing the oils for a room
Most rooms run on a core of four to six Thailams rather than a full catalogue. The general Abhyanga oils, such as Dhanwantharam, Ksheerabala, Mahanarayana, Karpooradi or Prabhanjanam Thailam, carry most of the volume, and one or two further oils cover the rest of the menu. Plain sesame oil in 1 or 5 litres belongs alongside them, for dilution and table work. Our guide to a new practice's first order sets out how to build that core.
Decanting and working bottles
Keep the 5 litre container closed, cool and out of the light, and decant the day's requirement into a working bottle. Never pour warmed, used or filtered oil back into the master container. Label each working bottle with the oil, the batch number and the date it was filled.
Warm only what the session needs. Repeated heating and cooling of a large volume is hard on an oil and shortens its useful life in a busy room.
Storage and rotation
Store below 25 degrees Celsius, away from direct light, with lids fully closed. Mark every container with the date it arrived and rotate by that date, oldest first. An oil whose smell has changed noticeably comes out of use, whatever the date on the label.
Ordering the professional formats
The 1 litre and 5 litre formats are sold to verified businesses through Shop Ayurveda EU. Registration is free, and once the account is approved the formats and their trade prices appear in the catalogue. Orders ship from warehouses inside the EU, so deliveries to EU addresses involve no customs clearance. Centres that plan their oil by the quarter will find the working figures in our note on planning oil quantities for a Panchakarma room.
Common questions
Why do the 1 litre and 5 litre sizes show no price on this site?
They are professional formats, sold to verified businesses through Shop Ayurveda EU, where the price appears once your account is approved. The retail sizes of the same oils keep their public price on this site.
How long does an opened 5 litre container last?
Plan to finish an opened container within a few months, decanting as you go. Sealed containers stored cool and dark keep considerably longer. Any oil whose smell has changed noticeably comes out of use.
Is plain sesame oil available in bulk too?
Yes. Sesame oil comes in 1 litre and 5 litres, and it is also sold at its public price on this site, as it is a base oil rather than a classical preparation.
Which Thailam is used for Shirodhara?
The choice belongs to the practitioner and the client. Ksheerabala, Brahmi and Chandanadi Thailam are common choices, and all three are part of our range.
