FAQ
Questions, answered plainly.
Where we ship, what is in each jar, and how to reach an actual person. If your question is not here, ask it. We answer every one.
Shipping
Hard Red Wheat Flour, White Wheat Flour, Pure Vanilla Extract and Fresh Wheat Germ ship to Michigan addresses only.
Michigan cottage food law does not allow us to ship them out of state. That holds however you order, and it is not something we can waive.
TaloVera Skin Cream, TaloVera Lip Balm, Gilded Parrot Beard Oil and Gilded Parrot Beard Balm ship anywhere in the United States.
Online checkout is open. We also sell in person and by email, and the Michigan rule applies exactly the same way.
Where do you ship?
TaloVera Skin Cream, TaloVera Lip Balm, Gilded Parrot Beard Oil and Gilded Parrot Beard Balm ship to all fifty states.
Hard Red Wheat Flour, White Wheat Flour, Pure Vanilla Extract and Fresh Wheat Germ ship to Michigan addresses only. Michigan cottage food law does not allow us to send them out of state, and we cannot waive it for anyone. EmberLeaf Oregano Infused Olive Oil is Michigan only as well, for now.
We do not ship outside the United States. Online checkout is open, and we also sell in person at markets.
- TaloVera Skin Cream: Ships anywhere in the United States.
- TaloVera Lip Balm: Ships anywhere in the United States.
- Hard Red Wheat Flour: Ships to Michigan addresses only. Michigan cottage food law does not allow us to ship this product out of state.
- White Wheat Flour: Ships to Michigan addresses only. Michigan cottage food law does not allow us to ship this product out of state.
- Pure Vanilla Extract: Ships to Michigan addresses only. Michigan cottage food law does not allow us to ship this product out of state.
- Fresh Wheat Germ: Ships to Michigan addresses only. Michigan cottage food law does not allow us to ship this product out of state.
- EmberLeaf Oregano Infused Olive Oil: Ships to Michigan addresses only. We sell EmberLeaf in Michigan for now, at markets and by post within the state.
- Gilded Parrot Beard Oil: Ships anywhere in the United States.
- Gilded Parrot Beard Balm: Ships anywhere in the United States.
Why are some products Michigan-only?
Because they are cottage foods, made in our home kitchen rather than a licensed plant, and Michigan cottage food law says cottage foods are sold direct, inside Michigan. We are not hiding the reason: it is the trade for making food the way we make it, and we took the trade. The skincare and beard lines are not foods, so they are not covered by it, and they ship everywhere.
That is Hard Red Wheat Flour, White Wheat Flour, Pure Vanilla Extract and Fresh Wheat Germ. It is not a shipping preference and we cannot make an exception for anyone.
EmberLeaf Oregano Infused Olive Oil is Michigan only for a different reason. It is not a cottage food, so no law is keeping it here. We sell it in Michigan for now, at markets and by post within the state.
What happens if I enter an address outside Michigan?
The address step refuses it, before any payment is taken. We cannot send Hard Red Wheat Flour, White Wheat Flour, Pure Vanilla Extract and Fresh Wheat Germ out of state, so we tell you at the address step rather than after your card has been charged.
You can send the order to a Michigan address instead, or take those items out and we will ship the rest.
Can I put Michigan-only and nationwide items in the same order?
An order ships to one address, so if there is anything Michigan-only in it, the whole order has to go to a Michigan address. If something needs to go out of state, place it as a separate order and it will ship normally.
What does shipping cost?
$6.00 flat. Free at $35.00. If your order has flour or wheat germ, free at $50.00. Pickup is always free.
- $6.00 on every shipped order.
- Free at $35.00 when everything in the order is light: TaloVera Skin Cream, TaloVera Lip Balm, Pure Vanilla Extract, EmberLeaf Oregano Infused Olive Oil, Gilded Parrot Beard Oil and Gilded Parrot Beard Balm.
- Free at $50.00 when the order has Hard Red Wheat Flour, White Wheat Flour and Fresh Wheat Germ in it. One bag puts the whole order on the $50.00 rule.
- Free local pickup on every order, with no minimum.
The threshold is measured on the subtotal in your cart, after any code you have applied, so you can see where you stand before you order.
How quickly do orders go out?
Orders are packed by hand around milling days. We tell you the day yours goes out, and we are not going to promise you a courier's timetable we do not control.
TaloVera Skin Cream, TaloVera Lip Balm and the beard goods usually ship within a few days. Hard Red Wheat Flour and Fresh Wheat Germ go out early in the week so they are not sitting in a truck over a weekend.
Ingredients
What is in each product?
Every product page lists its ingredients and where they come from, and the full list is printed on the label of the thing you actually receive.
If anything on a list is not clear, email us and we will read you the list off the batch we are packing.
Do you make everything yourselves?
Yes. Everything is milled, rendered, poured or bottled by hand, in small batches, in Michigan. See how a batch comes together.
Are there allergens I should know about?
Hard Red Wheat Flour and Fresh Wheat Germ both contain wheat and gluten. The flour is milled from whole wheat berries, and the wheat germ is nothing but wheat.
TaloVera Skin Cream and TaloVera Lip Balm are both built on beef tallow we render ourselves, so neither one is vegan. They are not the same recipe otherwise. TaloVera Skin Cream is tallow, aloe, plant oils, shea butter and vitamin E. TaloVera Lip Balm also contains beeswax, mango butter, shea butter, fractionated coconut oil and jojoba oil.
Gilded Parrot Beard Oil contains coconut, jojoba, sunflower, argan, pumpkin seed and castor oils, vitamin E, and cedarwood, pine needle and vetiver essential oils.
Gilded Parrot Beard Balm contains beef tallow, shea butter, jojoba, coconut, olive squalane, argan and castor oils, oat silk, beeswax, vitamin E, and the same three essential oils. Tins printed before this season also list mango butter, rosehip seed oil and pumpkin seed oil, so anyone avoiding those should read the tin they have.
EmberLeaf Oregano Infused Olive Oil is olive oil and dried oregano, and nothing else. Anyone avoiding olives should know what is in the bottle.
Every ingredient is on the product page and printed on the label. If you need to check something before you order, ask us. We will answer from the batch in front of us rather than in general.
Is there a preservative in TaloVera™ Skin Cream?
Aloe gel is mostly water, and anything with water in it will grow mold unless something stops it. Most big brands stop it with parabens, phenoxyethanol or a formaldehyde releaser. We use two things. Radish root ferment, which is exactly what it sounds like: radish roots fermented by the same bacteria that ferment kimchi. And a pinch of potassium sorbate, the salt of an acid first found in rowan berries, the same preservative in a bottle of wine, a wedge of cheese or a bag of dried fruit. Less than a quarter of one percent of the jar. Both are on the label. We would rather name them than sell you a jar that grows something.
Hard Red Wheat Flour, Fresh Wheat Germ, Pure Vanilla Extract and EmberLeaf Oregano Infused Olive Oil have no preservative at all. Flour and germ are kept frozen. Vanilla is preserved by the alcohol. The oregano oil has no water in it, which is why we use dried oregano and not fresh.
What does TaloVera™ Skin Cream actually do?
It is a rich handmade moisturizer for dry, rough, flaky-looking skin, and it leaves skin feeling soft and moisturized. That is the whole claim. We do not make health or medical claims about anything we sell, and we are not going to start.
If you want to know whether it suits a specific skin condition, that is a question for a doctor, not for us, and we would rather say so than pretend.
Keeping flour and wheat germ
Why does the flour need to go in the freezer?
Because the germ is still in it. The germ carries the oil, and oil goes off. A bag from a big mill can sit in a warm cupboard for a year precisely because the part that would spoil was taken out before it was bagged.
Keep ours in the freezer or the fridge. We freeze every bag the day it is milled, and we do not sell a bag more than six months old.
Do I have to thaw it before I bake?
No. Scoop it straight from the freezer and use it. It is not going to clump and it does not need to come up to room temperature first.
What about the wheat germ?
Same rule, more so. Refrigerate or freeze it, and use it within a few months of opening. Stir it into yogurt, oatmeal, a smoothie, pancake batter or bread dough.
Can I feed wheat germ to my chickens?
We are not going to pretend we have never done it. But it is the most nutrient-dense part of the grain and it costs more than scratch, so your hens are eating very well and you are eating the cheaper option. Your call.
Lot numbers
What is the lot number on my label?
Every batch we make gets its own lot number, printed on the label. It tells us exactly which batch your bag, jar or bottle came out of, and when it was made.
How do I look a lot number up?
Type it into the lot lookup page.
Why do you bother with lot numbers?
Two reasons. It lets us answer a question about the exact batch you have rather than about our products in general. And if we ever need to reach the people who bought a particular batch, the lot number is how we know who to tell.
Orders and returns
Can I return something?
The full policy is on the refunds page. The short version: food cannot come back to us once it has left, but if anything arrives damaged, wrong, or not the way we would want to receive it, email us and we will sort it out.
Can I change or cancel an order?
Email us as soon as you can. If the box has not been packed yet we can change it or cancel it. Once it has shipped, the refunds page takes over.
Reviews
Are the reviews on this site real?
Every one. Reviews come from the form on this site or from messages customers send us directly. We trim a review only where the law makes us (a skin condition, or a claim like "organic" that we are not allowed to make), and we never add a word. Nothing is invented.
Nothing goes on the site until the person has said we may publish it, in their words. We do not write reviews, we do not buy them, and we do not trade product for them. If you ever see one that looks wrong, tell us.
You can leave one at four-waters.com/review.
Markets
Where can I find you in person?
We sell in person at markets in Michigan. Rather than publish a schedule here and let it go stale, email us and we will tell you where we will be next.
Can I pick an order up instead of paying for shipping?
Yes, and local pickup is free on every order. No minimum, and no shipping charge at all.
Most pickups happen at a market, because we are at markets often enough that meeting you there is the easiest way to do it. If that does not suit, email us and we will find a time.
Still have a question?
Ask before you buy. It is the whole reason the contact page exists, and questions about ingredients and batches are the ones we most like getting.
We answer every message within 1 business day.