This has to be one of the most anticipated DIY recipes. Reusable food wraps are super trendy now, how cool is that! The best thing about beeswax wraps is that you can choose whatever pattern you like to make them your own! Using 4 ingredients and a couple of minutes on a weekday night (these took 20 minutes on a Monday evening!) you can reduce your plastic impact on the planet.
Now without further ado let’s get into it! You can get your kit here:
Ingredients
- 20g Natural Beeswax*
- 8g Pine Resin
- 1/2 Tbsp Jojoba Oil (this is antibacterial so makes your wraps food-grade!)
- 2 x 30cm/30cm 100% cotton fabric in any colour you wish (if you have any spare scraps at home from old projects this is even better. These are from old curtain offcuts)
Method
- Preheat your oven to 100°C or 210°F.
- Line a baking tray with baking paper. This will protect your tray from the mixture which can be very difficult to remove. Place your cotton fabric on top, making sure that it fits comfortably.
- On low heat, melt your pine resin and beeswax in a stainless steel pot. Melt slowly otherwise, the pine resin will caramelise and no longer melt. As soon as it is all melted take off the heat.
- Add in your jojoba oil and mix.
- Using a brush that is clean but you aren’t very attached to, brush the mixture onto your fabric. Start off with a very thin layer that just coats the whole sheet. (If it is too thick it leaves a waxy residue on the container that you are attaching it to and it sticks to your hands as well, not very desirable.)
- Put this in the oven for a maximum of 1 minute. Take out of the oven and carefully peel your beeswax wrap away from your baking paper and hold it up to the light. If there are any bald patches, place your wrap back onto the baking paper and brush over with more mixture.
- Place back in the oven and repeat step 6.
- Dry your beeswax wrap by swishing it in the air for a few seconds. Once cooled hang it up for a couple of hours to fully set.
- Repeat the process to expand your beeswax wraps collection!
This mixture is for one beeswax wrap so simply multiply with how many you plan to make. I also found that if you want to make one large beeswax wrap, you can cut it into smaller pieces and it doesn’t fray the edges.
How to Clean Your Beeswax Pot:
Once you have used up your mixture, pour boiling water into your stainless steel pot. Bring to a boil and tip the waxy water outside so that the wax doesn’t clog up your kitchen drain. Wipe the pot with a serviette or paper towel and finish by giving it an extra wash with soapy water.
Please feel free to send us pictures of your creations via the Green Living Australia Facebook page or tag us on Instagram. Happy Making!
How to Clean Your Beeswax Wraps:
We have had a lot of questions in the comments regarding cleaning your beeswax wraps. This is best done in cold water and with a mild detergent, natural detergents are preferable. Hot water will melt off the wax and harsh detergents will remove most of the product that you have purposefully added to create your wraps in the first place!
If you are finding that after a couple of months, your beeswax wraps are developing cracks or the mixture is becoming uneven you can place your beeswax wrap between 2 pieces of non-stick baking paper, making sure to leave a 5cm border on the outside. Then using a hot iron quickly run it over your beeswax wrap until the whole wrap is melted, peel off your baking paper and leave to dry. You have now refreshed your wrap!
As always, live well.
Valerie
Hi Valerie am very excited about making these. Do I only coat one side of the material with the beeswax ?
Yes, you do! By placing it in the oven for 1 minute it ensures that the mixture melts evenly through the fabric so both sides will be coated in the end 🙂
Hi Valerie, Where can I find pine resin please?
Love your website. I am new to fermentation.
We have pine resin on the Green Living Australia website.
https://www.greenlivingaustralia.com.au/pine-resin-100-grams-colophony-balm-resin
It is currently out of stock, but if you go to that link you can pop your email address in the Notify Me and you will get an email as soon as it comes back into stock.
Valerie
Hi Valerie,
‘Further or do’? I think you mean ‘further ado’.
You are absolutely right Graham, it has now been changed 🙂
Hi Valerie, I don’t quite understand how the beeswax wrap is used. Does the wrap cling to the jar/vessel that is being covered? Also, how do you clean them?
Hi Jean, Beeswax wraps are a great replacement to your plastic cling wraps. For instance, instead of covering a bowl in cling wrap to put in the fridge, you can use your beeswax wraps. Place your beeswax wrap on the top of your bowl and, using the heat of your hands, mould the wrap around the top so it stays in place. Once it is in the fridge it firms up so that it holds its shape. You can clean your wraps by handwashing with cold water and mild dishwashing soap, and hang to dry 🙂
Hi Valerie,
How do you clean your beeswax cloths?
Hi Debborrah, The best way to clean your beeswax wraps is to use cold water and mild dishwashing soap. If you use water that is too hot then the wax will wash off 🙂
Do the wraps just wipe clean ?
How many times are they able to be used?
Do we just discard or can we heat them again put more mixture on them ?
Hi Elizabeth, Beeswax wraps can be used over and over again. To clean them you should use cold water and a mild detergent, if looked after they can last for a year or more. It is always best to refresh your beeswax wraps by sandwiching it between some non-stick baking paper, making sure there is about a 5cm border to catch any escaping wax, and quickly running a hot iron over it. This disperses the mixture over the material and fills in any large cracks that have formed. After about a year and when it is looking a bit rough you can compost your wrap and begin again with another funky pattern!
Valerie can I please be informed when the resin is back in stock Thank you
Maryanne
Maryanna;
we have them on the website now. Here is the link. https://www.greenlivingaustralia.com.au/pine-resin-100-grams-colophony-balm-resin
Have a great day.
Can you use silk or other natural fabrics?
Hi Nakia, you want to make sure that your fabric is quite sturdy and can handle washing, scrunching and folding for many months. 100% cotton, linen and hemp-based fabrics are great choices for your wraps and try to avoid any that are see-through or sheer. 🙂
I made beeswax wraps which are rather rigid as I didn’t have jojoba oil or pine resin. Is it possible to put these on afterwards or will I need to start again from scratch?
Gwyneth,
I think you are going to have to start again as all of the ingredients need to be melted and mixed together before they are applied to the fabric. Take a look at the kit on the Green Living Australia website. It has everything you need. the ingredients are also sold individually if that suits you better. Look here: https://www.greenlivingaustralia.com.au/beeswax-wrap-kit
Thanks Valerie. Now I know you have them I will get them before I make more
Thank you for posting it will caramelize if it’s heated too quickly. I couldn’t figure out what was happening!! Ive made them many times and I guess I got them too hot this time around! Thank you.