Beeswax Wraps. Handmade!

jowitt.europe

Beeswax Wraps. Handmade!!!!! And so easy to make!!!

Oh yes! It is easy to make them yourself. I have managed and they have replaced all other wrappings in our house. We got rid of aluminium foil a long time ago, immediately after we read reports that aluminium is found in the brains of all Alzheimer’s patients! We have rejected plastic wraps because it is plastic. The Earth has more than enough plastic rubbish without any additional waste from us!

And beeswax wraps? For them I use old cotton cloths or old linen, washed of course. We all have old tablecloths, old bed linen, old kitchen towels...

Beeswax I buy from local bee shop. neighbour the beekeeper. Next summer I will have beeswax from my own bees. 

The process is easy. 

You need an old glass or a can for melting the beeswax, a brush, baking paper, an iron.

Put a cloth over a sheet of baking paper. Melt the beeswax and spread it with a brush over the cloth. Cover the cloth with another sheet of baking paper and iron with a medium hot iron until all corners of the cloth are soaked in beeswax. Remove the cloth and put it to dry flat. 

If you buy beeswax pellets, it is even simpler. You do not have to melt them. Put a cloth over the baking paper then just spread the pellets over it - not too many. Cover the sheet with baking paper and with a medium hot iron melt the wax into the cloth. Add more pellets if necessary.

For keeping bread I made a bag. You need to sow it before soaking it with wax.

I wrap my cheese, lettuce, sandwiches, in fact all the leftovers which I put into the fridge....

These wraps are reusable. The natural antibacterial properties will help to keep food fresh and allow repeated usage. Just wash them with lukewarm water and a little bit of detergent if necessary. If a wrap is worn just puts it between two sheets of baking paper and iron it again...

Making beeswax wraps for me is an enjoyable activity. An enjoyable activity that is helping to preserve nature and reduce rubbish.

I hope that you have also made some or are going to make a few for your household. Enjoy experimenting 😊

jowitt.europe

These are my Beeswax Wraps and Bags 😊

VickiP

I have read about this before but never tried it. Those are lovely.

tomandcara

@jolanta.wittib Thank you for this posting. I have kept bees for years and have an abundance of wax. This is a great idea. Our daughter tried to tell me about this several tears ago, but it didn't click like it did this morning. Strange. She even made some of the wraps when she was visiting us and telling me about it.

Dave S., Zone 5B, 1300 ft, 11" rain

We did this with beeswax ordered from Amazon and it was great! We gave them out as holiday gifts.

Now, my new problem for the smart people here-- I got a great deal from a local beekeeper on unfiltered beeswax. It looks disgusting and has a lot of debris and organic material in it.

Any ideas on how I would go about filtering this natural but yucky resource into something I can actually use?

LaurieLovesLearning

I have considered these before, but never made them. To buy them is too expensive...certainly if I can make them for less...I am sure that many here understand that line of thinking.

I also have a question. Can you fold the flat ones over an open bowl?

Merin Porter

Love, love, love these, @jolanta.wittib!

So, a quick question -- we store most of our leftovers in glass containers that have accompanying airtight lids, but there are times when I have to refrigerate in glass bowls that I don't have airtight lids for. I do use plastic wrap to cover them when I put them in the refrigerator, but I would love to have a more eco-friendly alternative that actually seals well to the glass bowl. So my question is, if I make these wax wraps as large squares, would I be able to get them to seal to a glass bowl in an airtight fashion? Would they need to be heated somehow to make that work?

Thank you so much for your help and for posting this brilliant idea!

hmsadmin

These are amazing!

I've been looking at recipes/methods to make my own like this, and I've seen a lot that recommend using jojoba (or other long shelf-life oil) and pine resin to give the wraps pliability and add just enough stickyness. MRH has a recipe I have pinned and intend to follow when I get around to ordering the pine resin - https://blog.mountainroseherbs.com/the-complete-guide-to-diy-beeswax-wraps-including-a-beeless-vegan-food-wrap

But, I do like keeping things simple, and already have several oz of beeswax..

@jolanta.wittib Like Merin asked, do you have any issues getting the beeswax-only covers to stick and stay put, especially when they're used in the fridge?

jowitt.europe

@LaurieLovesLearning Oh yes, you can fold Wraps over anything you want. You hold them with hands and from the warmth of hands the wax gets the form you need. I attach a photo.

Concerning costs, I use old table cloths or bed linen, so it costs nothing. Wax from the local bee keeper is not expensive. I make a lot for myself and for my family and friends.

jowitt.europe

@Merin Porter thank you for your question. The warmth of the hands is enough to give the wraps any form. If you need the cover to be very tight, you could put a rubber band over it. I consider my wrap covers to be tight enough.

jowitt.europe

@seasparrow32 you could melt this wax in a water bath and then strain through a cloth. The wax will be hot, so I would advise to wear thicker gloves and disposable gloves over them.

jowitt.europe

@Linzi I prefer natural beeswax. It is antibacterial and anti fungal, it has a very pleasant smell, the material impregnated with beeswax is very easy to fold and keeps a form you give it with the warmth of your hands. I have been using the same wraps for half a year and still did not have to refresh them by ironing again.

JodieDownUnder

@jolanta.wittib what a great discussion. I've been meaning to do this. I bought my first set of 3, different sizes and a friend made me 3 more. She bought mens shirts, cotton from her local thrift store. Now you've given me the enthusiasm to get started. Thanks

maimover

These are amazing. Have a few that I purchased but am interested in making my own. Thanks for posting the “how to”

annbeck62

Fascinating, I can't wait to try it. Thanks for sharing.

JodieDownUnder

@jolanta.wittib do you wax only 1 side of the cloth?

jowitt.europe

@jodienancarrow Hello! Yes, because when I go over with a warm iron, the wax goes through, cloth is impregnated on both sides. Sometimes, there is too much wax, so I put an additional cloth over, to soak the abundance. I always make more than one wrap. It needs a bit of practice until one gets the feeling of how much wax per piece one needs. It depends on the thickness of the cloth. Linen takes much more than cotton.

GardenMama

Thanks for sharing this! We gave made several over here too. And it's been an enjoyable activity that tends to be safe enough for the kids to do on their own (with supervision) which has been a huge blessing.

Jens the Beekeeper

@seasparrow32 as @jolanta.wittib mentioned you can heat the raw beeswax with water until it boils. I filter it through a woman trouser were the legs are knotted and cut. Let it very slowly cool down. The slower it cools the better the separation of the wax and debris. The wax will float to the top and the debris will sit under the wax above the water.

You can repeat the procedure as often as you like but two times is normally enough to produce clean wax.

A food grader is a good way to shred the wax for doing the bees wraps.

I personally use broken foundation to do the wraps.

solarnoon.aspen

One of our neighbours decided he couldn't burn the fir logs that had resin. I took them - a truck load - and I'm chipping off the resin. So far I've got two containers full. I know there are lots of other things to do with it, but I've been waiting until I was able to get it myself before I made these covers as I've noticed that many of the recipes call for it.

You just reminded me - I'd better get going on it. Thanks for the great discussion here.

jowitt.europe

@solarnoon.aspen Oh but resin is not beeswax!!!

i do a lot of things with resin, but I melt it first in oil and use as basis for ointments. I also use resin as fragrance material for smoking lamps together with other herbs.

aurora.rebecca

https://community.thegrownetwork.com/discussion/comment/869623#Comment_869623

Not only are they adorable, but so practical.

Thanks again for sharing and inspiring me to try out new things!

MelissaLynne

Thanks for sharing! This is an awesome little home project I will have to try out.

your wraps are darling!

jowitt.europe

@MelissaLynne @aurora.rebecca Thank you very much 😊

marjstratton

And so much less expensive than the ones you can buy in the store!

marjstratton

I checked out Linzi's post of the Mountainrose Herbs article. I have all the ingredients for their recommended recipe, so I think I'll give that a try. Thanks for all the information.

solarnoon.aspen

jolanta.wittib

I've seen recipes that include resin in the ingredients. Not sure what quality it brings to the project.. I've also seen recipes that are just beeswax.

jowitt.europe

@solarnoon.aspen i would be very much interested to know, how it workshop with resin. It is antibacterial, antiviral, anti... Everything one wraps in would keep even better. May be one melts resin in wax? Or melts it in oil, as I do and mixes it with wax? Very interesting.

HearthForYou

@jolanta.wittib What a GREAT idea! These would make great gifts. Thanks for the idea.

Would t-shirt material be too thin? Is there an advantage to using thicker material/woven cotton?

jowitt.europe

@HearthForYou t- shirt material is not too thin, but, I think, it might be difficult to iron wax into it. But one does not know without trying. I prefer material of bed linen, kitchen towels or thin table cloths. Or cotton shirts. This material does not stretch and thus is easier to soak it with beeswax.

fivelawrences

Thank you so much! I have heard about making beeswax wraps, but it always seemed so messy! This sounds super easy and neat! I will definitely try it out!