Making Reusable Beeswax Food Wraps at Home

Why Make Your Own Food Wraps?

If your kitchen drawer is full of cling film that clings to itself rather than anything useful, beeswax wraps make a lovely alternative. They are squares of cotton soaked in a blend of beeswax, pine resin and a little oil, which makes them pliable, slightly tacky and able to hold their shape around a bowl or a half-eaten sandwich. Better still, they last for about a year, can be refreshed rather than replaced, and cost far less than buying a set.

Making them takes an afternoon, fills the house with the smell of warm honey, and gives you a genuinely useful thing at the end of it. This is a wonderfully forgiving project — the sort you can do at the kitchen table with a pan of water and a baking tray. Once you have made a batch, you will wonder how you managed without them.

What You Will Need

The recipe is simple, but the ingredients matter. Choose supplies that are food-safe and, where possible, British-made.

• Cotton fabric: a tight weave is essential. Quilting cotton, poplin or cotton lawn all work well. Avoid anything stretchy, loosely woven or coated, and give new fabric a hot wash first to remove the sizing that stops wax soaking in.
• Beeswax: about 100g grated or in pellets. Yellow or white both work; yellow gives a lovely golden tint.
• Pine resin: roughly 25g. This is the magic ingredient that makes the wraps grippy rather than just greasy.
• Jojoba or food-grade coconut oil: one tablespoon, to keep the wraps supple.
• Equipment: a baking tray, greaseproof paper, a bain-marie or heatproof bowl over a pan, a pastry brush kept for wax only, pinking shears or sharp scissors, and a wire rack.

Cut your fabric into squares — 20cm for a jar or lemon, 25cm for a sandwich, 30cm for a small bowl and 35cm for a mixing bowl. Pinking shears give a neat edge that frays far less.

Melting and Coating the Fabric

Preheat your oven to 100°C (gas mark ¼) and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper. Melt the beeswax, pine resin and oil together in a bowl over gently simmering water. Stir until the resin has completely dissolved — it takes a few minutes longer than the wax, so be patient.

Lay a fabric square on the tray, brush the melted mixture generously across it, then add the next square on top and repeat. For a thinner finish, brush one side and then turn the square over to catch the excess. Alternatively, sprinkle grated wax and resin over each square and pop the tray in the oven for five to eight minutes until everything has melted through, spreading with the brush while still hot.

Lift each wrap with tongs while it is warm and drape it over a wire rack. They will feel tacky at first — that is exactly right. Leave them to cure for a few hours, or overnight, until they are dry to the touch and no longer leave a mark on your fingers.

Using Them Around the Kitchen

The warmth of your hands is what activates a wrap. Cup it around the top of a bowl and press the edges down firmly; the resin will hold it in place on its own. Fold it around a sandwich, a chunk of cheese or a bunch of herbs, and it seals with the same gentle pressure.

• Bowls and jugs: cover leftovers, proving dough or a jug of custard.
• Sandwiches and wraps: fold in the corners like an envelope and press.
• Cheese and vegetables: wrap firmly; they breathe, so cheese sweats less than it does under plastic.
• Jars and bottles: a small square over the top makes a reusable lid for jam jars.
• Picnics: use as a parcel for oatcakes or fruit, then reshape for the journey home.

Keep them away from raw meat and fish, and never use them over a hot pan or in the microwave.

Washing, Refreshing and Replacing

Warm water is the enemy of a good wrap. Wash yours in cool water with a little mild washing-up liquid, rinse, and hang to dry. Never put them in the dishwasher, the washing machine, or near a radiator, and avoid anything hotter than lukewarm — hot water melts the coating and leaves a waxy film on everything.

After six months or so, a well-loved wrap starts to look creased and loses its grip. This is not the end of it. Lay it back on the baking tray with a light sprinkling of grated beeswax, warm it through in the oven, and it will come back to life as good as new. Once it is properly tired — stained, torn, or simply no longer tacky after a refresh — cut it into strips for firelighters or add it to the compost, where the natural wax and cotton will break down.