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 it 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 it 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 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 it 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 wrap collection!
This mixture is for one beeswax wrap, so simply multiply by 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