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Frequently Asked Questions

Wooden Items:

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Q: How do I care for my wooden toy/items? 

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Wooden toys/cutting boards can be passed down to future generations if taken care of properly. Thankfully, caring for them is pretty easy. It’s best to store your wooden items indoors, away from the elements. Here’s what we recommend:

 

  • Toys: when dirty, wipe with a damp (warm water) lint-free cloth. Recoat with coconut oil every few months or as needed.

  • Cutting Boards: hand wash after each use and recoat with coconut oil.

 

To simplify the process even more, we offer a “Butter Me Up” wood conditioner which is made of the exact ingredients we use to coat all our wooden items: organic coconut MCT oil and local beeswax.

Coconut MCT oil is antimicrobial and helps to moisturize the wood while also coating and doesn't go rancid. Beeswax helps to seal the wood, making it harder for liquid to penetrate.

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Q: Why not use mineral oil like others?

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Although these products have been declared as “food-safe” by the FDA, we all know that doesn’t mean much. Mineral oil is typically petroleum and that’s not something we want in our children’s mouths or on their bodies.

 

Q: Why are you now using shellac?

 

Shellac provides the option for another natural finish without having to recondition, and it is safe enough for the smallest image bearers. Currently, we will only be using shellac on most products in our Home & Gifts section, but not on our cutting boards since it isn't practical to re-coat a cutting board with shellac and cutting onto it would cut through the shellac. It's best used on decorative pieces.

 

While shellac is advertised as non-toxic and did have a promising beginning in how it was made, we have found that with most products out there it is no longer just a bugs secretion and some alcohol. Beside the added ingredients, there’s also concern with residual chemicals on the machines used for processing.

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Insecticides/pesticides/herbicides are harmful to all of creation and the use of this along with the disregard for the life of the farmers is why our family chose not to pursue this path for a long time and instead only used organic coconut MCT oil and local beeswax. However, we have recently found a company that direct imports and works with farmers in Eastern India. After emailing back and forth with the owner many questions about both sustainable and ethical concerns, we were confident to prayerfully move forward with them. We are now in the process of expanding our Home & Gifts line to include much more with a shellac finish (because who wants to periodically condition their shelves, furniture, decorations, etc.?).

Here's a word from his company, "Our products benefit the finisher and the cultivators of shellac as a whole. Our consumption of naturally cultivated shellac, given to us by Mother Nature, encourages a sustainable life for the cultivators by discouraging deforestation for agriculture and industrial use. Our entire planet is affected by deforestation. We at Shellacfinishes work to save our natural resources."

 
We use shellac flakes which means Josh is the one mixing the alcohol and shellac to coat- no other ingredients! Once the shellac is applied, the alcohol evaporates as it dries so there is no concern about remaining alcohol on products (this is why it's used in the food industry to coat many candies, though they're not using the pure form of shellac). Since shellac comes from the lac bug and the farmers harvesting and processing the shellac use the traditional method, there is no concern over harmful chemicals leaching into the shellac. Lastly, the quality of life for the farmers, their families, and community is akin to Fair Trade standards without going through the expensive process to receive that label. So, no slave trade, intimidation methods, etc. Thanks be to God!

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Q: Does coconut MCT oil go rancid?

 

Unlike other oils, coconut MCT oil has a higher saturated fat content and is, therefore, unlikely to go rancid. This is the same ingredient we use in our Butter Me Up wood conditioner, along with local beeswax, and makes an excellent conditioning and coating for wood, especially cutting boards.

 

Q: How do you color your toys?

 

Most toys are left as their natural wood color and the coconut MCT oil helps to enhance its woodenness; however, there are a few that have been colored using the following:

  • Red – homegrown beets

  • Yellow – organic turmeric

  • Blue – spirulina

  • Brown – Fair Trade Organic coffee grounds (roasted and freshly ground in our home)

 

Q: Who makes the toys?

 

Josh makes the toys and does all the cutting and using of the bigger equipment while Levi (5 yrs old) helps to sand and coat and Augustine (2 yrs old) helps to pass tools. Sometimes all hands are on deck with coating toys when orders are many and Ciara helps with the lasering. As the boys grow, naturally more and bigger jobs will be given. All of our children happily work as toy testers for new ones and they also happily receive the ones that don’t make it through quality control 😉

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Herbal Remedies:

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Q: Why don’t you use essential oils, aren’t they natural?

 

Here’s a loaded one! Yes, they’re natural in the sense they typically come from plants but not everything that’s natural is safe. Essential oils are VOCs (volatile organic compounds) and the damage they cause is similar and often the same that other ingredients like “fragrance” and “parfum” cause- hormone and endocrine disrupters. They’re harmful in every form- using them internally, externally/topically, and diffusing/oxidizing them into the air.

 

Essential oils are the most volatile part of a plant, and when you take only that part you’re not just working with one chemical, you’re dealing with hundreds of chemical compounds. They negatively impact all systems of your body in various ways (in any form they’re being used) and they’re also creating superbugs like man-made antibiotics do.

 

Beside the tremendous harm it does to us, families, homes, and the environment it’s also not sustainable (like agricultural farming where acres of woods are torn down to grow one crop and then needed to be helped by chemicals to now ward off unwanted bugs/plants). There are tons of scientific research that has been done on the safety concerns of essential oils and a great book on this topic is "Essentially Deadly: The Unspoken Dangers of Essential Oils" by April Graham.

 

Most of our products have mild to no scent due to the nature of the plants/fungi/lichens we work with; however, we do make a slow, traditional infusion of some plants in order to capture their scent in a safe and effective way. We process our infusions the traditional way which means that instead of speeding up the process and degrading the properties by using the double-boiler method, we instead fill a jar with that dried plant, cover it in organic cold-pressed avocado oil, and let it sit about 8 weeks (or more), then strain. Not only does this capture the scent but it also captures its medicinal properties while still being gentle enough to be applied to your body.

 

We use avocado oil instead of olive oil or seed oils because your skin is the largest organ and it matters what you put on your body since it will absorb. Avocado oil not only absorbs better and quicker, but also the fat it contains are fats our bodies crave (similar, not equal, to animal fats), and it is less likely to go rancid compared to commonly used oils so it makes the product more shelf-stable.

 

Q: What does “wildcrafted” mean?

 

Wildcrafted is another term for foraging but the understanding is that it has been ethically/sustainably sourced. What this means for our family is that beside not foraging near roadsides, places that have been sprayed with chemicals, or near train tracks, we also don’t disrespect creation by taking as much as we can just because we can.

God has given us dominion over creation and we want to be good stewards with what we’ve been given, so we take what we need and plan for the future. It would be unwise for us to take everything because then we can no longer go back to that spot and harvest in the future. It also does not consider the long view of future generations.

 

As Christians, we're working to further Christendom and another way we do this is by teaching other image bearers free herbalism our YouTube channel! Herbalism is a field that has been flooded by those who hate our Triune God and by teaching others to confidentially take dominion in this area, not only does that impact them and their families through their health, but also generations to come with knowledge passed down, and those currently around them. Our family is deeply grateful for all the wonderful *FREE* and potent medicine He has spoken into existence all around us, even in our backyards!

 

Christians ought to be learning and working towards understanding why God has made these plants and then given them to us- see Proverbs 25:2. We also make sure to praise God from whom all blessing flow each time we forage and our children are fond of saying “Thanks be to God!” whenever we get to picking 😊

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Q: Who makes the herbal remedies?

 

While Ciara handles the pouring of the alcohol for tincture making and hot infusions for salves, our daughters (6 and 3) help with packaging and labeling in our kitchen. We also forage as a family and everyone is involved in the “hunt” and gather, so all children possess a varied level of foraging and understanding some of the different purposes God has given to plants/lichen/fungi.

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Q: Is there a difference between wildcrafted/foraged plants verses domesticated/homegrown?

 

Yes, when foraging in the right areas plants and fungi that grow wild are superior medicinally to homegrown/domesticated plants. This is due to environmental factors which encourage higher concentrations of beneficial properties as a defense mechanism, greater genetic diversity, and soil quality (undisturbed and nutrient-rich).

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Q: Do you use fresh or dried plants for tinctures?

 

We use fresh mushrooms and lichen, and fresh and dried plants for all our tinctures/salves. Fresh plants/mushrooms/lichen is best for tinctures as it provides a well-balanced herbal remedy with both the water and alcohol soluble properties and most of our tinctures are made this way (the label will indicate "wildcrafted" for plants we foraged and tinctured fresh). There are a couple of tinctures, like our digestive bitters, that are made from dried organic plants because we have not found them growing wild in our area. For mushrooms and hard berries/roots/bark, we always use them fresh and a decoction is necessary to penetrate the cell wall and obtain all the beneficial constituents it has to offer. 

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