Wednesday 23 August 2017

How to make beeswax wraps

At the risk of repeating myself (which I never do of course) I thought I would do a blog post specifically about how to make beeswax wraps to make it easier to find in the future even though I wrote about the process in my last post. Racheal now has the instructions written out in the post War on Waste and the Beeswax Wraps on our Simple Living Toowoomba website so it will be better to keep everything in the one post.



I will refer to Racheal's instructions as I go along but you might like to print them out from our Simple Living Toowoomba website if you plan to make some in the future. Firstly, you will need some cotton fabric and beeswax. There are usually local beekeeping clubs in most regions where you could buy the beeswax or try a market and if all else fails it is available online.


Racheal has experimented with using different methods and brought along the results for us to look at but for the workshop she demonstrated the beeswax/resin/oil option. The ratio is 1 part pine resin to 4 parts beeswax and 1Tablespoon of argan oil. She used 8T beeswax, 2 heaped Tablespoons resin and about 1T argan oil. Other oils can be used instead such as jojoba, olive, coconut and avocado oil.



Put the beeswax in a glass jar in a saucepan of water, add the resin and oil and melt. Then turn on the oven to about 150C and when the mixture has melted turn off the heat but leave it in the hot water to keep it melted while you prepare for it to go into the oven. 


 

 
Lay the cotton fabric on a baking tray and if your wrap is too big just fold the fabric in half. Then pour some of the mixture onto the fabric and....



....using a silicone brush or the back of a dessert spoon, spread it over the fabric. Put the tray into the oven for about five minutes by which time the wax would have spread and soaked into the cloth.





Take the tray out of the oven and quickly lift the fabric off the tray to let any excess drip off it. You might like to use tongs for this but Racheal used her fingers. An open window will help it set and then you can put it down or pass it around like we did at the workshop :-) 

There is no need to use pine resin but it makes the wrap more clingy apparently. Racheal bought hers on Etsy from Fine Cosmetics but it is also available from Ballina Honey.    Beekeep also sell a blend of beeswax, jojoba oil and pine resin.   

I hope this post as well as Racheal's instructions helps those who would like to use this method to make some beeswax wraps. Let me know how it turns out. 








19 comments:

  1. Nanachel you can buy beeswax at Nana's Pantry in Hervey Bay. Not sure whether the Bundy one has the beeswax there. Our local markets sometimes have it for sale.
    I have some beeswax in the cupboard so might give this a go. I can already tell you it will only be me using the wraps in this household. However by doing I may have some influence on other household members. We shall see.
    I have been trying to think of something for my eco queen sister as a Christmas gift. Looks like this might be one for her. I already have some lovely cottons in my quilting stash.

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  2. Thanks very much for this Chel. I would really like to try this one day.

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    1. The process looked fairly easy, Sherri. Hope it works out for you.

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  3. Just a thought, how do you store these wraps?

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    1. That's a good question, Jane. I will ask Racheal and get back to you.

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    2. Jane, Racheal keeps them with her tea towels. Just don't keep them in a hot area.

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  4. Thank you for this Nanna Chel. I have always wondered about how these wraps were made. I have beeswax and fabric, just need to make time and I am set! It is a fantastic way to prevent waste!

    xTania

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    1. Good on you Tania. I hope they work out. I think the resin helps to make the wraps cling more.

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  5. Hi, I think I must have missed the reason for the use of the wraps. What do you use them for?

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  6. Susan they are used instead of cling wrap. Not sure if you are in Australia but if not that is sticky plastic that goes over plates, bowls etc to keep things fresh.

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  7. I have a set of these I bought- I just need to buy resin so I can make them myself next time.

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  8. oops, I posted early - Great Tutorial Chel!!

    xx

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  9. Thanks for the detailed post! I have the beeswax (I also sell it, see my website), but I have been wondering how to make it without making a mess, how did you clean up the tray and did you end up with drips etc that we difficult to clean up? I melt the beeswax when we extract honey and we usually end up with it all around the kitchen! I have some wraps that I bought and they are so useful, I would like to make some more.

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  10. Liz, in her post on the Simple Living Blog http://simplelivingtoowoomba.weebly.com/simple-living-blog/war-on-waste-and-the-beeswax-wraps Racheal says the following... 'note on cleanup...resin/rosin and wax are messy! You can resurrect the baking tray you use by pouring boiling water over it. But it's much harder to recover the glass jar you use so pick something you don't mind being waxy for the rest of its days :-)' Hope this helps.

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  11. Thanks for this, Chel. I need to get stuck in and make some of my own wraps because the ones I bought a couple of years ago are just about worn out now. I'm going to try the beeswax, jojoba and pine resin blend from Beekeep I think. I'd like to make some for gifts too, think they'd make great presents:) Meg

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    1. It will be interesting to see how that blend works, Meg. Let me know.

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  12. Chel I just found this post again and found it interesting. I have some beeswax from our latest batch of honey now so would like to try these. Have you been to anymore workshops on this and seen any different methods? Anyway I will do some more research as well and read Rachael's instructions carefully. Thanks for sharing, Pauline

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  13. Pauline check out this post as well https://goinggreyandslightlygreen.blogspot.com/2018/05/simple-living-toowoomba-beeswax-wraps.html

    Suanne in the blog post sells the beeswax and resin mixture here in town at Green Dandelion. Let me know how yours go.

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  14. Thank you! My son gave me some beeswax and material to make my own for Mother's Day. Just need to get some pine resin now :)

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