The very first thing I ever researched when I first attempted a zero-waste lifestyle was how to make beeswax wrap. I saw a cool facebook commercial about how you can use them over and over, just wash them with mild soap and water, and when they are done just cut them up into your compost. WOW! Who needs saran wrap then? But then I looked online to buy myself a few squares of these pieces of zero-waste gold....
"HOW MUCH does it cost again for three measly sheets of beeswax wrap? $19?? That's nuts, I'll just have to figure out how to make it myself!"
--famous last words.
Today is the day that I finally get to write about how I made my own beeswax wrap! I took a lot of pictures of the process, so maybe I can help someone out there in the internet world. And maybe after you read about it, you can decide to get dirty like me, or skip all the mess and purchase some instead. It's so great that we have choices today!
At first I had no idea what exactly went into the process of beeswax wrap making, but I figured like most things it couldn't be too hard with the right amount of persistence and dedication. First I set out to find myself some beeswax. Who sells beeswax around Connecticut? Thankfully I got SUPER lucky, and there is a bee keeping store in Newtown called "Bee-Commerce." The woman sold me a small hunk of beeswax for $5, and told me to let her know how the experiment goes.
Next I needed to find jojoba oil, and I couldn't seem to find any without a plastic bottle, so I opted for the plastic in the hopes to save reams of saran wrap, and I could recycle the bottle later. Give and take I suppose! The brand I got was called Desert Essence, and I bought the bottle at whole foods. But I don't remember the price, so let's just say it was $8. Researching why one puts jojoba oil into the wraps, they said it has antibacterial properties.
The last and hardest element I needed to purchase was pine resin....PINE RESIN? This is actually the secret ingredient that gives the wraps their tackiness. When molding the wrap to a bowl or dish, the tackiness of the pine resin will allow the fabric to stick to the bowl and to itself, along with the warmth of your hands. So this was an important ingredient, and I couldn't get it anywhere but on Amazon. I ordered a lot of it for $20, in the hopes I make a lot of wraps, or have a big beeswax party in the future. Since I'll be living without saran wrap from now on, I figured this was an investment piece, and I wanted to get the wraps just right. What good is a beeswax wrap if I can't get it to stick?
Now here's what a lot of blogs didn't tell me, which was HOW to make the wraps! Sure, they gave me the ingredients and the amounts, but not the exact process. Well I am here to tell you my process, and it was completely done by getting creative.
My first attempt was without the pine resin and with an iron. I thought it was a good idea at first because it looked like it was a clean and easy way to work. That method didn't work for me so well because it was a pain to grate the beeswax. That block is almost as hard as a rock! I needed to melt the whole block if I were going to be successful.
I used the ratios from this website, which are as follows:
1 cup beeswax (chunked or pastilles)
1/4 cup tree resin
2 TBLS jojoba oil
Because I only had a hunk of beeswax, I didn't know exactly how much I had. How was I going to measure this beeswax? Looking at my handy glass ball jars, I saw that there are cup measurements on the side of the jar. So I cut up the chunk of beeswax so it would fit into the jar, boiled some water and then stuck the jar into the water. The water came about halfway up the jar. I only needed to melt the wax, not cover the jar. I covered the pot with a lid so the hot water and steam could help with the melting process.
Once the wax was melted, I saw from the jar that I had a cup and a half of pure melted beeswax, then I did some math to get the correct ratios with the pine resin and the jojoba oil. I put the mixture back into the boiling water bath to melt the resin, then mixed it around with a metal knife. There was some resin that couldn't seem to solidify on the bottom, but I felt it was ok to go ahead with the mixture.
I removed the hot beeswax mix with a jar grabber, the ones usually used for canning. I preheated the oven temperature to 200 degrees.
Next question: what do I use to brush the liquid onto the fabric? and what goes under the fabric so I won't destroy anything underneath? With some thinking, I found an oven liner and a disposable sponge my kids use for crafts. Perfect!
As quick as I could, I brushed the fabric until the entire piece was covered in beeswax. It dries VERY quickly!
Next I placed my beeswax wrap into the warm oven so that the beeswax could evenly melt into the fibers of my fabric.
As soon as I stuck it into the oven, I took the jar and put it back into the hot water pot to help maintain its melted state. This included the sponge, or else the wax on the sponge would solidify as well.
It only took a minute or two, and the beeswax wrap was ready to come out.
I had set up a clothesline of string, and some magnetic clips from my fridge that I used to clasp the fabric so it dried. I kept the pan underneath the fabric to catch the drips. It didn't take long at all before it dried, like a minute or two!
This was the part where I made a huge mess. I somehow tipped over the pan onto the floor, spilling the beeswax on the floor and my pants!!! I thought my pants were ruined! :( But thankfully my loving husband came to the rescue, and with google directing him how to remove it, he did some kind of iron job to get the wax off, then threw it immediately in the wash. Amazingly the stain was gone. I don't know how he did it, but I'm sure you can look it up yourself on how to get beeswax out of clothes. The one thing I did learn, however, is to WEAR GRUBBY CLOTHES WHEN DOING THIS KIND OF WORK! I don't know why I thought I was invincible to this part, but you and I are not invincible!
You do not want to get this stuff on your nice clothes!
You have been warned!
Once the wrap was dry, I took out the jar from the hot water bath and pored the leftover wax back into the jar so I could use it all again. This helped me use most of the wax, and not waste any.
I trimmed any stray edges I saw after the wraps were dry.
Look at that cling! Who needs saran wrap when you have this really cool fabric instead??
How many pieces of beeswax wraps did I make with 1.5 cups of beeswax? 13 pieces!! It costs about $42 if you were to buy amazon's 7 piece set. It cost me around $33 to just about double that amount, and I have extra jojoba oil and pine resin leftover for plenty more if I wanted to make it. This would not be something I personally would enjoy doing as a business, or even to give as homemade gifts because it is too messy for me to enjoy doing it. But for my own personal use, it is something I will probably attempt to do again, but with grubby clothes next time!
The cool thing about these beeswax wraps is when they are crinkled and creased up from lots of use, I can lay it flat on my same oven sheet I've saved, stick it back in the oven and the wax will melt again to reset itself, making it fresh and new. And when I truly am done with it, I can cut it up to have it go back into the earth through composting. I'm not sure with all the supplies if my beeswax will save the earth on a huge scale, but I'd like to think so, and maybe I'll get a couple of years worth out of these.
I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and that it might help you on your own beeswax wrap adventures. The best part about them is the smell. I love sniffing my beeswax wraps! yum!
Time to celebrate with a zero-waste treat!!
Cheers!
Laura
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