Wondering if you can make beeswax food wraps? You bet you can and it's easy. Also, STOP worrying that they don't work or they're hard to clean. They do work and they're easy to keep clean. Here's how to make them.
Reduce, reuse, recycle.
I do those things. Sometimes. When I feel like it. More often than not, I do do those things, but I'm a human person living in modern times so sometimes I don't.
I'm a firm believer in doing what you can when you can. Use your recycling bins, but if you're close to a mental breakdown from cooking, working, cleaning the house, dealing with a broken toilet, a screaming child and/or a slightly insane boss ... don't beat yourself up over throwing that one recyclable container in the garbage because the ease of doing so is the only thing keeping you from jumping into the nearest volcano.
The 5 people who live in a pile of leaves and do everything possible to not make an imprint on Mother Earth - including not wearing clothing and eating only bugs, (that have died naturally) - aren't the only ones saving the planet.
Your small contribution as a regular person living in a regular home has a huge impact. Even if you don't feel like it does.
Which brings us to my next point of interest. Using beeswax wraps for storage instead of plastic bags. More specifically - making your own!
No matter how good hearted we are, we were born into a world of convenience so just because something is better for the environment doesn't mean we're going to immediately convert to it.
If something doesn't perform well, isn't easy to use or costs too much we aren't going to use it. Which is why I have this next question:
SO WHY AREN'T YOU USING BEESWAX WRAPS, YOU LUNATIC??!
Beeswax wraps are easy to use and do exactly what they're supposed to. If cost is the issue, then you can stop relying on that excuse because you can make a whole drawerful of beeswax wraps with some fabric and beeswax.
No more excuses.
Table of Contents
How do beeswax wraps work exactly??
These sheets of fabric covered in a thin layer of beeswax will warm up in your hands making them moldable. You can shape them to a fruit, bowl or cut onion just like you would cling wrap.
Beeswax wraps not only seal your food, but they also let it breathe! Plastic doesn't do that.
How to Make Beeswax Wraps
WHAT YOU NEED: Beeswax (candle remnants or a block), organic cotton fabric & an oven.
(you can use any cotton, but if you're an organic kind of person you're going to want to make sure you're using organic cotton)
- Gather a few pieces of 100% cotton fabric and put them on a baking sheet lined with tin foil.
I used leftover fabric scraps for this project and flour sack tea towels from my screen printed tea towels that didn't turn out great.
- Preheat your oven to its lowest setting. 150°F is ideal, but up to 170°F is fine too.
- Shave and then chop a couple of ounces of beeswax.
You can use an old candle or buy beeswax beads, or a whole hunk of beeswax for this.
Amazon sells Beeswax beads for $10 for a pound of them. And they claim they're cosmetic grade!!!!! (I'm feigning excitement over this. Cosmetic grade is a made up thing. It literally means nothing, it's just a marketing scheme)
- Sprinkle the fabric with a light layer of beeswax.
About this much. Maybe a teensy bit more.
You might have heard about adding pine resin to beeswax wraps. And you can! But if the thought of sourcing tree resin is what's stopping you from making beeswax wraps, good news - you do NOT need tree resin to make good wraps.
- Put them in the oven for 10 minutes (or until wax is melted).
The fabric will be soaked through with wax when you remove them.
- Take them off the hot baking sheet IMMEDIATELY.
If you leave them on for even a few seconds they'll cool down and stick to the tin foil or the beeswax will become clumpy.
They're beautiful. I love them.
Now it's all about finishing them.
You can leave them just as they are as squares or you can finish the edges with pinking sheers.
I've also added a couple of buttons and some butcher twine for closing one of mine to make a beeswax sandwich wrap or snack bag.
I know you're worried about the ick factor. Don't be.
Are beeswax wraps hygienic?
You bet they are. I know, it seems weird to reuse something over and over but beeswax wraps have the benefit of being partly made by the world's most magical creature. The bee.
Beeswax is a natural antibacterial. See here for scientific reference on that.
How long do beeswax wraps last?
If you take care of them and learn to revive them (you learn how to revive your old beeswax wraps in this post) these wraps will last for years. I'm personally on year 7 of some of mine.
Care. All you need to do is rinse the wraps under warm water and give them a rub with a dishcloth and some mild soap. Don't use really hot water or your beeswax might melt but warm water is fine.
If your beeswax wraps (homemade or purchased) start to get dry or cracked you can revive them to their original state using this method.
Use. I've used my original wraps since 2013 and revived them once. They're still performing perfectly. I use the Beeswax wraps to wrap cheese, sandwiches, carrots, Portobello mushrooms, bowls of soup cut vegetables and more.
Just ignore the text in the video below, I grabbed it from my Instagram account to show you how easy they are to use and how well they work.
Opinion. They're great. They really do work. The warmth of your hands allows you to mould the beeswax to whatever shape you want and it stays there. Everything has stayed as fresh as can be with the exception of a sandwich I left wrapped for 2 days, which started to get stale around the edges.
Problems. They smell like beeswax. I do NOT see this as a problem but if you have an aversion to how beewax smells you won't like it.
How to Make Your Own Beeswax Food Wraps.
Easy, fast beeswax wrap tutorial for the DIYer.
Materials
- 100% cotton fabric cut into squares or rectangles.
- 100% beeswax (beads, blocks or candle remnants)
Tools
- Oven
- Knife
- Scissors
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to its lowest setting. 150°F is ideal, but up to 170°F is fine too.
- Gather a few pieces of 100% cotton fabric and put them on a baking sheet lined with tin foil.
- Shave and then chop a couple of ounces of beeswax.
- Sprinkle the fabric with a light layer of beeswax.
- Put them in the oven for 10 minutes (or until wax is melted).
- Take them off the hot baking sheet IMMEDIATELY.
- Hold the wraps up until they cool and solidify (this will just take a few seconds) then lay them down flat.
Notes
If your wraps get cracked or worn over time, just stick them back in the oven at the lowest temperature and remelt them. They'll come out like new!
Some people add resin to their wraps. This helps the wraps to "cling" to glass and itself. It isn't mandatory to use resin! They work extremely well without it.
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Amy
This may be my favorite post you've done to date. I had been wishing that I knew a way to make beeswax fabric so I didn't have to go buy it. You must be a mind reader. :)
Marion
What an awesome idea! My husband could (tries to) eat sandwiches every day. This would be much better than going through all those sandwich bags. Sometimes I just hate (HATE!) washing them out. I do it because if I don't I feel guilty, but still, I cannot stand it. Something about the way they feel in the water with soap. ick.
Barbie
I am going to do this as well! I have lots of scraps of cotton and we have just recently gone vegan and all natural. So this is perfect timing.
PS: The vegan thing.....kinda hate it.... vegetarian ...I can handle that, but the vegan part is killing me. NO FLAVOR! I miss cheese! This foodie is having a hard time with that.
Miia
I love your sanity clause.
Also the project is great!
my honest answer
I made one last night! Just wanted to report back that it was super easy (honestly, active time involved, about 2 minutes to cut the fabric and scatter on the wax).
I cut it with pinking shears first, then after it had been in the oven, put it on a wire baking rack to 'dry'. It hardened up, and then I wrapped my cheese in it! It molds to the shape of the food really easily, and I found I didn't need a string, it stayed shut just fine.
Going to make more tonight. Thanks Karen, I love this site.
Tricia Rose
What an idea! don't want the plastics guilt-trip, love beeswax, and I have rather a lot of fine linen scraps which would be even better than cotton! (I hope). My main use would be for cheese: plastic makes them sweat so.
Brenda Watts
These are wonderful Karen..I am so going to make some...especially love the one with the buttons.
Karen
Brenda - Thanks. I know. I love them too. The fella's taking toast in his lunch tomorrow and it got wrapped in that one. I said "I would be so happy if I had a packed lunch and this was holding my toast. Don't you love it?" He just laughed. Men. ~ karen
Amy
This is a great idea and I'll have to give it a try. Also, my brother-in-law travels and stays in hotels every week so he brings home the shower caps the hotels provide. They're great for covering bowls and things. And then I turn them inside out, wash in hot water and reuse. They make great stocking stuffers in our family!
alayn
Love your blog, you are so fun to read. I may be letting everyone know how old I am, but there use to be wax paper bags for sandwiches, they stopped being available at grocery stores about 7 years ago. Wax paper is biodegradable. Let's try to bring this product back!
Karen
Alayn - I used waxed paper all the time. I love it. I had no idea that most people didn't use it until my fella came home and told me someone commented on the waxed paper in his lunch. And I'm finding it more and more difficult to find in the grocery store. Weird. ~ karen!
Patti
Waxed paper is my favourite!! I use it like a pro star! And yes! It is getting difficult to find!
kate-v
I also love it when I get that perfect plastic wrap covering over a container in the refreigerator -- it truly is a work of art! Such a feeling of accomplishment!! But, I love this idea in spite of my "artistic endevours" with plastic wrap. I always feel the contradiction between 'reuseable' and 'throw away plastic' - between 'wholesome' and adding more 'questionable molecules' to my environment when I use plastic anything. I will make these and the first person I gift with a set will be my hairdresser Annette; she and I both wash out plastic bags for reuse. Thank you very much for this idea.
Shauna
LOVE! Thank you for always taking the time to figure this stuff out for us Karen.
Nancy Blue Moon
OK..I have beeswax for making candles and I have stacks of fabric scraps..I just need to know how do you store them when not in use?? Great idea Karen..Thanks!
Naomi
Very cute! I have a suggestion for meat sandwiches - my friend Corry sells reusable sandwich bags in her Etsy shop, called Pepper Picnic (the bog is at http://www.pepperpicnic.com). You can wash these babies in hot water daily and even pop the washing machine once a week for a deep clean.
Karen
Hi Naomi - Thanks. You can absolutely use these for meat sandwiches though. You just might not want to wrap a pound of ground beef in it. :) ~ karen
Mel
Okay so first I chuckled at 'do do' in the first paragraph. Yep, I'm mature. Next I marvelled at this project. I use fake tupperware to bring sandwiches, cheese, etc to work, but although it is reusable plastic, it is still plastic. So this is getting added to my to-do list. Thanks!
Feral Turtle
What an interesting product. Can't say I have ever heard of these. The enzyme cleaner was definitely a bust though!
Catherine Fairs
Karen , my sister told me of your blog and I love it. Your sense of humour kills me. I wanted to let u know about my sisters art show opening at the Carnegie fri March 1 7-930
She,s your neighbour Jane Hill I can tell from your blog ,you will absolutely love her paintings.
Catherine fairs
Karen
Hi Catherine - I've seen her paintings! In her house, LOL. I go the email invite and am hoping to go. ~ karen!
Rondina
I'm the one that has a guilt-trip over throwing one container away that could have been recycled. At some point I have to calculate how much water it will take to clean a container; factor in that I live in an area experiencing a long-term drought, and say---no. However, although they are cute with the button and string closure, no way I'm going to try this one.
Kim from Milwaukee
Again another brilliant 'how to' Karen. Thank you!! I abhor plastic and this will allow me to completely get rid of ziploc bags and saran wrap forever, and use up my scrap fabrics as well!
Candice
My new year's goal last year (2012) was to purge plastic from my kitchen. A little over a year later, I've put a dent in it but it is waaaayyy more daunting than I'd imagined. I love the idea of these baggies! I'll check out their website as well as MelissaM's above suggestion for the Snacktaxi's. I'll be buying since I'm not sure I have the patience or sense enough to replicate yours.
mayr
You are wonderful.