DIY Beeswax Wraps

Do you use beeswax at home and would like to try and make your own wax wraps?

Beeswax wraps are a great eco-friendly alternative to plastic wrap (glad wrap), they are great for covering food in the fridge, covering cheese, and wrapping sandwiches.

Having all the components to make the wraps also means that you can re-wax the wraps you already have, giving them an extended life.

At the end of your beeswax wraps life, it can be composted or used at a firelighter.

Type of fabric needed:

Always choose 100% cotton. Natural fabrics like cotton will readily soak up the beeswax into their fibres.

You will need:

100g beeswax, grated or in small pellets.

20g pine rosin/resin

90g jojoba oil

4 square pieces of lightweight cotton fabric, washed and ironed (these can be any size, but no larger than the oven tray you will be working on).

A wide paintbrush – it will be unusable as a paintbrush afterwards so use a cheap one and reuse it for making more wraps.

Non-stick baking paper

Pinking shears or scissors

Iron

Method

1. Cut your fabric into sizes that will fit on your baking sheet. Pinking shears are good to use and will help prevent the fabric from fraying, but normal scissors are fine also.
2. Iron your fabric sheets and place your sheets onto compostable baking paper on an oven tray.
3. Evenly distribute (pour) the jojoba oil over the fabric pieces.
4. Evenly distribute a liberal amount of beeswax pellets and cut all over the fabric pieces. Make sure you get pellets near the edges of the fabric too.
5. Place the pine rosin in a bag and crush with a hammer or a mortar and pestle. Evenly distribute this over your fabric pieces.
6. Place the tray of fabric into the oven at 90 degrees Celsius for 4-8 minutes.
7. When the pellets and resin have melted completely, take the tray out and use your paintbrush to spread the wax evenly over the entire fabric.
8. Leave to dry.

Caring and washing your wax wraps

To wash soiled wraps after use, clean them gently with cold soapy cold water. Allow it to air dry, then store it in a cool, dark place like a kitchen drawer.

Other Tips

It may be a good idea to shut windows and doors as bees are attracted to the smell of melting beeswax and may come to visit.

With frequent use, beeswax wraps can lose their coating and stickiness after one year, recoat them with the above recipe for more use, or compost them.