How to create a beeswax wrap
Things you’ll need
To create eight wraps, up to 40x40cm, you’ll need approximately 1m of 100 per cent cotton fabric, cut into squares with pinking shears so it doesn’t fray. The fabric must be flat, so if you are reusing material you must iron it first to get rid of wrinkles or the wax risks pooling and cracking. You will also need baking parchment, 120g solid beeswax, 40g pine-resin powder (optional but desirable), one tablespoon jojoba oil (optional but desirable), a 2.5cm-width paintbrush, a metal container to fit into a saucepan, and an oven heated to 100ºC.
Step One
Lay a single square of fabric flat on a piece of baking parchment. Mix the wax with pine-resin powder and jojoba oil (if you are using them) in a small metal pot and place this over a pan of hot water, stirring all the time. Wax melts fast but can be reheated and remelted as many times as you need. The resin and oil make the finished wraps more flexible and therefore better for moulding and remoulding over storage containers, but pure beeswax wraps perform the same function – they just won’t last as long.
Step Two
Brush the wax mixture swiftly over one side of a piece of fabric, covering as thoroughly as you can. Work fast so you can get the wrap into the oven quickly as wax solidifies swiftly. Don’t use an oven hotter than 100ºC because wax is highly flammable. You can fold the fabric and parchment to fit the size of your oven, then leave the wrap to cook for one minute only before removing it and checking for coverage. Waxed areas will be darker than any unwaxed areas and if necessary brush on more wax to make sure there are no bare spots and return to the oven for a further minute.
Step Three
After the minute’s cooking, remove the wrap from the parchment and place it straight on a rack. Take care as a wrap is hot when it comes out of the oven. Follow exactly the same process for further wraps. The wraps can be used as soon as they are cool. They should last for years with reasonable care – wash them in cool or lukewarm water – but if they start to crack or bobble you can simply reheat them.
It’s a process that produces something universally useful, environmentally friendly and long-lasting