Make your own beeswax wraps – using fabric and beeswax

Canadian-American studyMake your own cling film – out of fabric and beeswax! Beeswax wraps are a great idea for avoiding plastic! I’ll show you how it’s done!

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Make your own cling film – it's easy in no time at all

My family and I have a firm New Year's resolution: avoid plastic! My second (very personal) resolution: use up my fabric scraps. :) But even if you want to give up cling film, you still occasionally need something to wrap food in or to cover bowls and dishes. Here comes the solution – and it’s not just eco-friendly, it’s also upcycling: I made my own cling film out of natural beeswax, a few drops of jojoba oil, and my great-aunt Anna's old damask bed linen. It’s almost as easy as it sounds. A small tip: beeswax residue on surfaces can be removed wonderfully with oil (I use olive oil)! :) Important: Beeswax residue is difficult to remove from tools. I recommend using old pots, bowls, or brushes. Or cleaning the equipment after use with balsam turpentine^*.

A word about beeswax first

The life cycles of wild bees should not be interfered with by humans. However, since the number of insects, and thus the pollinators of wild and cultivated plants, is decreasing dramatically in many regions, beekeeping is becoming increasingly important for maintaining plant stocks and for yields in areas like fruit growing. In beekeeping, honeycombs are not reused directly after the honey harvest because they can be chemically and biologically contaminated. The beeswax is melted and then processed further. Each colony produces about a dozen combs per year. Beeswax is capable of storing fat-soluble pollutants. Therefore, the fresh, pollution-free wax from the comb cappings is separated from the rest and can be used directly for the production of foundation sheets as a basis for the new combs to be built. The potentially contaminated wax is cleaned by the beekeeper or in wax-processing plants. Afterwards, besides being used for beehive foundation sheets, it can be processed into candle wax, for example, or serve as a base material in the production of cosmetics. High demands are placed on the purity of the natural material here; the same applies to all organically certified qualities. Removing old combs is also important to curb bee diseases. Old wax can be infested with wax moth larvae, Varroa mites, viral pathogens, or fungi, for example. Beeswax is therefore a valuable natural resource. Only a small portion of it is needed by the bees for the foundation sheets used to build new combs. The scent of beeswax candles creates a particularly atmospheric mood; however, processing the wax into beeswax wraps is particularly valuable from an ecological standpoint as a sustainable and environmentally friendly alternative to cling film or aluminum foil; the problems surrounding the immense amounts of plastic waste and the extremely high energy demand in the production of aluminum are widely known. A Canadian-American study from 2017 (University of Victoria and University of Nebraska-Lincoln) demonstrates the antibacterial activity of wax- and oil-containing textiles when used as food packaging material. A commercial product (Abeego) was tested, whose coating contains beeswax as its main component. Further studies confirm this result.

To make your own cling film, you need the following materials

• Cotton, e.g., muslin fabric^*
• Beeswax pellets^* (available in yellow or white^*)
• Parchment paper
• Baking sheet
• Iron
• Brush
• Pot
• Balsam turpentine^* for cleaning the tools

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The film can be smoothed into shape very easily with warm hands. If you have cold hands: hold the film briefly under warm water, and it will be pliable again. One more note on cleaning: you can clean the film with lukewarm water and a little dish soap. Then simply let it air dry. Gradually, the wax wrap will get crease marks and wrinkles from use. That is not a problem at all. Simply place the wax wraps in a warm oven for a moment (be sure to place parchment paper underneath!). The wax will liquefy, redistribute evenly, and then be like new!

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Do you like my idea for using up fabric scraps? Then don't forget to pin it for later! Happy simple waxing, your Sabine