Pure Skincare

Pure Skincare

If you’re looking to transform your skincare routine to pure, natural, and uncomplicated ingredients look no further than tallow!

What is tallow?

Tallow is the rendered fat of ruminants, cattle being a big producer of tallow and lesser-so sheep. Tallow is created when you take the fat from these animals and slowly render it (like lard) into a pure product. Rendering helps take out the impurities in the fat, making it last a long time on the shelf, naturally.

Tallow was used for centuries

Tallow seems to be a ‘revolutionary’ product making it’s way into the natural skincare world. But, in fact it is a centuries-old concept dating back to the earliest civilizations. This traditional product used to be common in both cooking and hygiene centuries ago before industrialization took over the nation.

Tallow is all-natural and healthy for your skin

Tallow is the best natural moisturizer for your skin, in fact, it shares the same biology of your skin. This shared biology is what helps your skin get maximum moisture and promotes healing. Since tallow is a natural product requiring no preservatives making it into skincare products requires very minimal ingredients. Ingredients that are healthy and chemical-free.

The purest skincare solution

If you’re looking for an all-natural skincare solution that is good for you and the planet, made from few and wholesome ingredients you’re going to want to try tallow. Tallow is also useful for those suffering with eczema and other skin irritation since it shares biology that won’t disrupt your skin further. For those suffering with sensitive skin, tallow is going to be your new best friend.

You can try tallow today, made on our farm and only with the purest ingredients.

tallow skincare solutions

Tallow Face & Body Cream

$30.00

Tallow Hand Salve for Hard-Working Hands

$25.00

Three Reasons to Invest in Wool Bedding

Three Reasons to Invest in Wool Bedding

I get it, wool bedding is an investment, but it’s one worth making. Here are three reasons you should invest in wool bedding.

Better Sleep

It’s been proven throughout the centuries that sleeping on wool is a great way to get a better night’s sleep. With its natural ability to aid your body in regulating temperature you’ll stay more comfortable at night. Restless sleep due to heat or cold doesn’t have to be your sleep story. Wool helps your body adjust more easily keeping you warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer, keeping you comfortable all night long.

Longevity

Wool is a natural fiber that doesn’t break down with age. While some wool bedding might need to be re-carded, meaning sent back to the wool mill, it won’t be something you throw in the trash after a few years of use. In fact, re-carding your wool bedding can bring new life into your wool bedding over and over again.

Earth-Friendly

Wool is a 100% natural fiber that is harvested from sheep, each season. Shearing has gotten a bad wrap but is actually the most humane way to keep sheep comfortable during our hot summers here in Wisconsin. So, wool is harvested for the welfare of our flock. It also is bio-degradable meaning it can be composted rather than contribute to our growing landfills. Wool is also a product that can be cleaned and made into bedding without the use of chemicals.

Building a bed with wool

Building a bed with wool

You’ve read the benefits tied to sleeping on wool, now you’re wondering where to begin with building your bed as a haven for better sleep.

Our wool bedding allows you to sleep more comfortably using a layering technique. Today I am going to share some of these tips with you.

Raw wool mattress pads

Let’s start with what I mean by ‘raw wool’. Our wool mattress pads are raw in the fact they are not covered with a cotton cover like you might be used to. They are left exposed for better cleaning and should be cared for differently when building your bed.

Place our raw wool mattress pads directly on your mattress. Then place a 100% cotton fitted sheet over the top to secure your pad and to keep it from slouching. After that you can put on your 100% cotton sheets as you would normally to make your bed.

Wool Comforters

Unlike our wool mattress pads our wool comforters have a 100% cotton muslin cover on them. You can use them directly but I recommend using a 100% cotton duvet cover to keep them clean and make it easier to wash your bedding.

100% Cotton

As you find sheets and blankets to layer your bedding it is very important to seek out 100% natural cotton linens. Cotton helps your wool breathe, giving you better and more comfortable results. I use Redland Cotton sheets because they are so thoughtfully made and of such high quality.

Three Ways Dryer Balls Reduce Waste

3 Ways Dryer Balls Reduce Waste

You’ve heard the hype in the eco-living community about wool dryer balls and how they’re helping reduce the waste of dryer sheets. BUT, did you know that using wool dryer balls saves more than just dryer sheets? Today I’d like to share with you three ways that using dryer balls reduces waste, beyond the sheets.

they are compostable

Did you know that dryer balls last YEARS with regular use? That’s right, they can last two to three years as reliable laundry companions. But, after their best years are over they are completely compostable. Meaning you can add them to your backyard compost pile, or stick them in with your houseplants to help them retain moisture longer!

they save your clothes

We know the harsh realities of the fast-fashion world. If you’ve been starting to buy clothes with more intention wool dryer balls can help you keep your most precious clothes fresher, longer. The biggest problem that faces our clothes, if they are made from natural fibers, is the use of harsh chemicals when washing them. That’s right, you think you’re getting your clothes clean and fresh with each load of laundry, but instead, you might be taking the life right out of your linens. By eliminating dryer sheets and using wool dryer balls you aren’t introducing extra chemicals in your wash, keeping your clothes fresh and bright longer. By reducing the wear on our clothes through laundering we can be more responsible consumers by taking care of what we already love!

made from a material produced naturally

Unlike dryer sheets wool dryer balls, when purchased from local farms and makers, are produced using natural and traditional felting methods. So, even in the process of making them small, local makers use responsible and conscious decisions to reduce waste. On another note, most wool in raw form is nearly worthless to small farms unless made into a product. For our farm taking our wool and making it into wool dryer balls helps us reduce our farm waste by utilizing a product that has no use to us otherwise.

Start your waste-free laundry journey by purchasing your wool dryer balls below.

Tallow Salve or Cream, Which is Right for You?

Tallow Salve or Cream, Which is Right for You?

You’ve probably heard by now how special tallow is when it comes to moisturizing your skin. But, now that you know the benefits, which product should you buy? Today I’ll share the differences in tallow salve and tallow cream, and which one will serve you best. Or, if you’re like me, you’ll start with one and see so many benefits to your skin, you’ll want the whole collection.

Hand-Salve | Our salve is good for areas that are in need of extra love and not just your hands. This salve is formulated to be a balm that is easy to rub on your hands, feet and elbows, all those pesky places that need super-intense hydration. It has a harder texture that helps you stretch it further, much like a deodorant stick. It is great for those problem areas, especially after walking barefoot on the beach. PS. The men in your life really want this.

.Face + Body Cream | This is a multi-purpose cream designed to offer a 'lighter' application, but still holds true to be the best hydration you'll find. Our tallow cream is lightly whipped and also includes arrowroot powder which cuts some of the extra 'grease' making it perfect for your face. BUT, if you're like me you won't stop there, you can use it anywhere else you wish. I personally love it after shaving! A little 'dollop' on your finger goes a long way.

So, which tallow product suits your needs best? You can snag it below!

Tallow for Skincare

Tallow for Skincare

Ok, if you’ve done your research on alternatives to chemical-ridden skincare products you may have landed here. But, what in the heck is tallow, really, and why am I standing by it as the best product for your skin?

What is tallow?

Tallow is rendered fat from ruminants (cattle and sheep). In raw form it comes from the fat surrounding the animals kidneys and is rich in vitamins and minerals. We make tallow from our 100% grass-fed and grass-finished herd/flock which keeps our tallow clear of un-natural elements that could harm your skin.

How do you get tallow?

It will certainly come up in my discussions about tallow, so let’s lay this one out. On our farm we primarily raise livestock for meat. However, I am passionate about utilizing more of our livestock in a responsible and ethical way. So, traditionally the fat from beef and lamb is not saved, but we’ve chosen to change that and render it into a product that is healthy for your skin. By utilizing tallow for skincare products you’re part of a bigger cycle of leaving less of our meat animals in a landfill.

What are the benefits of tallow for skin?

Tallow is an intense moisturizer that your skin already shares biology with. Yes, your skin recognizes ‘ruminant (cattle and sheep) fat’ as it has similar biology as the oils in our skin. Because of this it is able to utilize the hydrating properties in tallow more efficiently. For this reason, it works better than plant-based hydration.

• Since your skin already recognizes tallow as a beneficial helper your skin is less likely to break out with acne or inflammation.

• Tallow is naturally filled with incredible nutrients, vitamins and minerals for your skin and has been used for centuries to help skin heal naturally. It naturally possesses vitamin A, D, K, E and more!

• Tallow is a 100% natural ingredient, it isn’t filled with chemicals or ingredients that make you question their long-term effects on your health.

• Tallow is naturally anti-aging because it helps your skin heal and repair, helping keep your skin more youthful!

Tallow for your skincare

Tallow has so many incredible benefits once you take a look into the research. I am thankful to be a part of offering a clean, healthy alternative for skincare through better utilizing our farm bi-products. While using ‘beef fat’ on your face might sound odd at first, I am confident you’ll love it.

Try our farm-direct Tallow creams and salves

You can order our hand-made tallow products and try it for yourself.

Benefits of tallow for your skin

Tallow Skincare

With the release of our tallow skincare products, I wanted to share what makes tallow so special. I mean putting beef fat on your skin seems a bit crazy AND logical all at the same time.

What is tallow?

Maybe we should start here. What in the heck is tallow? Tallow is the product produced from fat found in ruminants (buffalo, beef, sheep) which are cooked down and ‘rendered’ into an oil. It is purified through this process making it shelf-stable and nearly odorless. It can be used for cooking like lard (from pigs), or as you see here, can be made into many beneficial skincare and household products.

Utilizing fat from ruminants for skincare goes back as far as history itself. When the use of the whole animal at harvest was standard practice. In the past century with the industrialization of well, everything, we stepped away from this practice. So, it isn’t a surprise that with our recent switch back to ‘natural’ we find ourselves here again, being more responsible with our resources and learning about the benefits of 100% grass-fed fat for our skin.

Benefits of tallow

So, today I’m going to cover just the tip of the iceberg of the benefits that stuck out to me because there are many highly educated resources if you want more detail on the biological breakdown of ‘beef fat’.

The highlights of using tallow for your skin

• Tallow is an intense moisturizer that your skin already shares biology with. Yes, your skin recognizes ‘beef fat’ as it has the same biology as the oils in our skin. So, when you use it on your body it recognizes it and welcomes it with open arms. For this reason, it works better than plant-based hydration.

• Since your skin already recognizes tallow as a beneficial helper your skin is less likely to break out with acne or inflammation.

• Tallow is naturally filled with incredible nutrients for your skin and has been used for centuries to help your skin heal naturally.

So, say goodbye to dry, itchy and cracked skin and say hello tallow.

The Benefits of Wool Dryer Balls

The benefits of using wool dryer balls

Since we introduced our flock in December 2018 I’ve been researching and learning all the benefits of wool and how we might best utilize this annual resource. It is truly incredible how many uses it has in our homes and I have been blown away by how it performs in bedding. So, I’m excited to be sharing today a new use that I am sure won’t disappoint either.

Introducing wool dryer balls, a natural alternative that is good for your clothes, your dryer, and of course the environment.

Better for your Linens

Let’s start with absorbency. You love a soft towel that helps you get dry after a warm shower. Chemicals from dryer sheets build up on your towels and linens and overtime decreases their absorbency, which leads to the replacement of the towels, landfills, you get the bigger picture. By using wool dryer balls you eliminate the chemicals and will extend the life of your towels and other linens.

Let’s talk about wrinkles while we’re at it too. Remember the tennis ball trick? Imagine wool balls doing the same thing in every dry cycle. While it isn’t magic it can’t hurt to have some help keeping your clothes and linens a little less, wrinkly.

better for your dryer

Chemical build-up on your dryer can’t be good for it, right? Right. Wool dryer balls are chemical-free and also help reduce your drying time. Both wins for laundry day.

better for the environment

While this one seems obvious I thought I’d get on my horse and talk about it anyway. We all know the benefits of less consumption, dryer sheets are an obvious waste-product that is easily eliminated with the use of wool dryer balls. But let’s go beyond that. Fewer chemicals on your clothes keep them brighter, fresher, and absorbant longer. Meaning those sweaters, bed linens and towels you LOVE won’t end up as ‘hot messes’ before you get the best out of them. When we purchase with intention we’d like to see that through the whole process, wouldn’t we? So, extend the life of your most favorite linens by using wool.

Alright, if you’re convinced that you need these dryer balls in your life, you can purchase them directly from the flock below.

How to Clean Your Wool Mattress Pad

How to clean your wool bedding

One of the greatest features of wool mattress bedding (mattress pads and comforters) is that they are simple to clean 100% naturally. Since they are naturally hypo-allergenic and odor-resistant they are a wonderful clean-living option.

So, how do you clean 100% wool bedding?

With the SUN! Yep, that’s right, that fireball in the sky has some magical cleaning powers. Simply remove your mattress pad or wool comforter and lay it out in the direct sun. Laying it outdoors will give it the rays it needs to be naturally clean and the fresh air couldn’t hurt either.

It is strongly advised that you use this method of cleaning. Why? Wool naturally mats when wet, so if you place it in a washing machine to ‘traditionally clean’ it, your wool bedding will end up with a clumpy and un-usable clump of wool.

How often should you clean your wool bedding?

I recommend leaving your wool comforter or mattress pad out in the sun in the spring and fall (for anyone who has snow covering the ground six months out of the year). But, this really depends on your level of comfort. Honestly, I’m proud if I can remember to do this once a summer. Lucky for me they are naturally odor-resistant.

Shop Wool Bedding

Benefits of Wool for Your Baby

Benefits of wool for your baby

Wool is used as a sustainable fiber throughout the marketplace. It is sought after in the clothing industry for keeping wearers warm and dry, but did you know it has incredible benefits for your baby’s sleep and play?

Its greatest benefit for use with your baby is that it helps babies regulate their body temperature, something that is harder for infants than adults. Wool helps aid in keeping baby’s cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

You know the saying ‘counting sheep?’ I’m pretty sure this is where that sweet phrase came from.

Benefits of wool for your baby’s comfort

1. Wool helps your baby regulate their body temperature. It keeps them cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter

2. Wool is naturally hyper-allergenic meaning it is safe for your baby to lay on or play on.

How to use wool in your baby’s life

Place a wool ‘mattress pad’ under your baby’s cotton sheets. Be sure that your pad is not too plush!

Let baby relax and play on a sheepskin rug. This one is for the mama’s too, sheepskins are LUSH and are therefore wonderful places for Mama to sit while playing with your youngster.

Leather + Wool | The Makers Behind The Products

Midwest Crafted Wool and Leather Goods

This collection is inspired by generations past when quality goods, buying local and responsibly using the whole animal at harvest was the norm. It is ‘Grandpa’s thinking’ that inspires us to utilize the incredible talent that surrounds us to keep more of what is harvested from our animals in our local economy and serving our local community. So, how does this get achieved?

hides

We save our cattle hides at harvest and send them to be processed by a micro-tannery in Iowa. After they are processed into leather they are crafted into the products you in the collection by my sister-in-law, A Well Worn Story. Each item is 100% Midwest made by three small businesses that believe in continuing the values of generations past by using our resources more thoughtfully.

During sheep harvests we save the hides as well and they are turned into beautiful sheepskin rugs by an incredible group of women just 8 miles from our farm in Paoli, Wisconsin.

Wool

Once a year our flock is sheared to help our sheep stay clean and comfortable during the hot summer months. We collect this wool and have it processed into mattress pads. Our wool mattress pads are processed at a small woolen mill in Appleton Wisconsin that is still doing things the way they were done in the 1800s. Some of our wool goes to a one-woman shop in Illinois to be spun into the felting that is used for our leather + wool items.

It is with these many loving hands that we offer our collection of wool and leather goods to you.

100% Wool Mattress Pads

100% Wool Mattress Pads

WHY WOOL?

Once a year we shear our wooly sheep, just before lambing season. It is a good health practice and absolutely necessary and humane care for our flock. Without shearing sheep are extremely uncomfortable in Wisconsin’s summer heat and giving them a fresh cut allows them to rid themselves of any debris that they’ve collected on pasture. Since wool is a ‘bi-product’ from our sheep I wanted to make sure to use it instead of letting it go to waste. Hense, wool mattress pads.

WHY BEDDING?

After a farmer friend mentioned bedding I was on the hunt to learn more about how I might take my wool and produce wool bedding. That's when I found a woolen mill in Appleton, Wisconsin. Quickly after visiting the website I knew I'd found my match! Mattress pads made locally by another small family-owned business was all I needed to know to pick up the phone and call. Courtney Woolen Mill has been in operation since the 1800's and has been Courtney family-owned since 1904.

Not only do I want my own wool bedding but I figured you may just want it too.

WHY SHOULD I GET WOOL BEDDING?

Wool is naturally moisture-wicking. This means that it keeps you cool in the summer and warm in the winter. So you can count on a good night sleep counting sheep! Wool is also able to be refreshed when your bedding ages. These mattress pads should last five years, but once they are worn they don't need to go in a landfill. Simply return them to Homestead and we will get it re-carded into a 'new' mattress pad for you at a discounted rate. Your mattress pad can last a lifetime if you let it!

HOW DO I KEEP IT CLEAN?

Do not wash or dry clean your mattress pad. They can be cleaned naturally by placing them in the sun and letting them air out. I recommend you do this every few months to keep it smelling fresh!

our raw wool mattress pad right out of the box

wool adds both cooling and warmth to your bed

Benefits of Wool Bedding

Benefits of Wool Bedding

Wool is used as a sustainable fiber throughout the marketplace. It is sought after in the clothing industry for keeping wearers warm and dry, but did you know it has incredible benefits for sleep?

Wool is incredible for staying comfortable throughout a long summer or winter night. Its greatest benefit is that is helps you regulate your body temperature, keeping you cool in the summer and warm in the winter.

You know the saying ‘counting sheep?’ I’m pretty sure that they’re talking about wool bedding…

the benefits

1. Wool helps you regulate your body temperature. It keeps you cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter.

2. Wool is naturally hyper-allergenic

3. Wool is easy to clean, simply air it out on a sunny day to keep it fresh

4. Wool is a durable material that can be re-felted into bedding several times over its lifetime

5. Wool mattress pads give you extra support for better sleep

6. Harvesting wool keeps our sheep comfortable too. Wool is harvested before the spring and summer heat, so harvesting wool helps our ewes have a light summer jacket that helps keep them cooler.

Stay comfortable, sleep on wool