Three threads that cover the questions moderators field most often: gel that will not set, water that leaves a film, and butter that sits too heavy. Each one is written from batch notes, not marketing.
Recipe troubleshooting
A thin 1:8 pour for fine hair, a 1:5 simmer for coily lengths, and the boil times that stop the gel turning rubbery. Members in Cape Town add a spoon of glycerin at the end because humidity changes the set.
Read the ratiosRegional water problem
A diluted apple cider vinegar pour, a citric acid rinse measured by the quarter teaspoon, and a rosemary infusion as a final cold rinse. Notes on how often to use each without stripping the scalp, and what changes when members travel to softer water in Durban.
Compare the rinsesIngredient swap
Whipped batches cut with a light oil, ratios that stay spreadable through winter, and mango or cocoa butter swaps for when shea runs out. Batch photos show the colour differences between unrefined lots.
See the swapsModerators pin these three because they answer the same questions new members ask in the welcome thread. If your batch failed for a reason none of them cover, post the ratios and a photo in the troubleshooting board.
A few ground rules keep the recipe boards useful. They are not rules about taste or hair type, they are about what counts as a usable post and what gets moved or trimmed.
A post saying a rinse was "strong" tells nobody anything. Grams of seed to millilitres of water, or teaspoons of citric acid to a litre, is what gets kept. If a member cannot remember the exact numbers, the thread asks them to say so rather than guess.
Flaxseed gel, whipped shea and herbal infusions all behave differently in a warm kitchen. A batch note without a storage line is treated as incomplete, because what worked on day two may not be what a member should use on day nine.
Threads where a batch separated, went stringy or left a chalky film are not deleted. They are usually the most read posts on the board, and moderators will link them from newer threads instead of letting the same mistake repeat.
When shea or a specific oil is out of stock around Johannesburg, Cape Town or Durban, the substitute goes in a separate line with a note on what changed in texture or hold. It is not presented as the same recipe.
No before-and-after claims, no product pushing, no medical advice about scalp conditions. Members describe what they mixed and what happened. Anything about a persistent scalp issue belongs with a doctor, and moderators will say so plainly rather than let a thread drift.