Our Story
Rediscovering the wisdom of our ancestors
Philosophy
Ancestral Wisdom, Renewed
Rendered Traditions was born from a simple but profound realization: the ingredients our great-grandmothers relied on for daily care were not primitive — they were exceptional. Tallow, the rendered fat of grass-fed beef, was a household staple for skin, hair, and healing long before petroleum-based products flooded pharmacy shelves.
When founder Laura Borchardt discovered tallow at the start of 2025, it set off a chain reaction — one product replaced after another, each substitution revealing just how much we had traded away for convenience. What started as a personal mission to protect her family became a calling to share these rediscovered traditions with the broader community.
Every Rendered Traditions product is a marriage of ancestral ingredients and carefully chosen botanicals. We believe God has already provided everything our bodies need — in the plants, the animals, and the earth He created. Our role is simply to learn, to render, and to share.
From the Founder
A Message from Laura
“I discovered tallow at the beginning of 2025, and it changed everything.
Once I understood its remarkable benefits, I made my first batch of tallow soap for my family—and immediately removed every chemical-laden bar from our home. Then I asked myself: What else can tallow do? Lotions replaced commercial moisturizers. Vapor rub replaced petroleum-based products. Antibiotic ointment, lip balms, candles—one by one, I found cleaner alternatives.
This journey led me to a simple question: What has God already provided in creation to heal and nourish the bodies He designed? He knows us intimately and has given us everything we need. Yet somewhere along the way, we traded ancestral wisdom for convenient shortcuts—many containing petroleum, a known carcinogen, and countless other questionable ingredients.
I’m learning that convenience often comes at a cost, and our health shouldn’t be the price we pay. My mission is to rediscover the traditions that truly benefit our families—traditions rooted in ingredients that have served humanity for centuries, enhanced by the therapeutic properties of pure essential oils.
Every product we offer has been personally tested in our own home first. If we wouldn’t use it on our children, we won’t ask you to use it on yours.
We’re just getting started. More products are coming, and we want to hear from you. Contact us to request products or share feedback—your input helps us serve you better.
Thank you for supporting Rendered Traditions!
Thank you, God, for your wisdom in this endeavor. Thank you for the endless natural remedies you have provided. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude and awe.
Thank you to my husband Tim and my son David. You are right alongside me contributing 100% — this is a family business, and they have put in countless hours of work.
Thank you to the Guenther Family Farm for their amazing and quality supply of suet which we render to make the tallow, and especially to Therese, for encouraging me to take the leap.”
— Laura, Founder
Wisconsin-Sourced · Farm-to-Jar
Great skincare begins long before the first ingredient is measured. It begins at the source. Our tallow is rendered from premium beef suet supplied by the Guenther Family Farm — a trusted Wisconsin producer committed to quality at every step. We are deeply grateful to Therese Guenther, whose encouragement was the catalyst for this entire venture. Her belief in what we were doing gave us the confidence to take the leap from home kitchen to small business. Knowing our suet comes from a farm we trust — in the state we call home — is not a footnote. It is the foundation of everything we make.