Make your own beeswax food wraps
So easy ..... School holiday fun with the kids.
This environmentally friendly alternative to plastic cling film is easy to make at home.
Wax food wraps are made by infusing a mix of beeswax and almond oil into cotton fabric – they are an easy-to-make, environmentally friendly alternative to plastic cling film. A wrap becomes sticky when warmed in the hands, which makes it easy to fold and seal around food or a bowl. Wraps can be washed in cool, soapy water and reused. As they can’t be washed in hot water, don’t use them to cover raw meat.
INGREDIENTS
1/3 cup grated organic beeswax
¼ teaspoon of propolis (optional)
2/3 cup of organic almond oil
WHAT YOU NEED
3 x 30cm x 30cm pieces 100% cotton fabric, washed, dried and cut into squares with pinking shears to prevent fabric fraying
Small paintbrush
Clothes pegs for hanging waxed cloth
METHOD
Step 1
Add almond oil and propolis to a clean glass jar with a lid. Place on a sunny windowsill and allow to infuse for at least a week. Shake the jar daily.
Step 2
Remove propolis from the almond-oil infusion. In a double boiler add the infused almond oil and beeswax. Heat slowly to melt the wax.
Step 3
Lay cloth pieces flat on a clean baking tray and place in an 80°C fanbake oven for 10 minutes. Remove tray from oven and use the paintbrush to paint each piece of cloth with the hot wax and almond oil mixture.
STEP 4
Once painted with the wax-oil mixture, lay the fabric pieces on top of each other and return to the oven for a further 10 minutes for the fabric to become infused with wax.
STEP 5
bees wax wraps
Remove from oven and quickly hang each piece on the clothesline. Act fast to prevent the beeswax from cooling and sticking the pieces together (if this happens, reheat in the oven). After three minutes, the cloth squares can be removed from the line and used.
GO ORGANIC
Beeswax is fat-soluble which means it quickly soaks up and holds onto chemicals. For this reason, we recommend using organic-certified wax or capping wax when making beeswax wraps.