I am actively transitioning my home into a plastic-free home. I’ve swapped plastic straws for stainless steel, copper and glass. I’ve begun using reusable grocery bags. My Tupperware was replaced with glass bowls. I threw out all of my plastic cooking utensils. Even sandwich baggies have been replaced with reusable, washable sandwich baggies. Plastic wrap is one of the last plastic items left to swap. Enter my Easy DIY Beeswax Wrap Recipe. Let me teach you how to make it.
Easy DIY Beeswax Wrap Recipe
Makes (2 to 3) 12 x 12 inch cloths (or more cloths of smaller sizes)
Ingredients
- (1) yard organic cotton fabric (washed and dried)
- (.5) ounce pine or copal resin (yes, you can harvest it yourself from pine trees near you)
- (1.5) ounce beeswax
- (1) tbsp. jojoba oil
- (1) popsicle stick
- Parchment paper
- Dedicated natural bristle paint brush
- Dedicated glass measuring cup and/or mason jar
Where to Buy Supplies
I absolutely love Bulk Apothecary and Mountain Rose Herbs Store. Both are online (click the links- no affiliation, just high-quality products). That is where I buy all of my supplies: resins, oils, waxes, etc.
Easy DIY Beeswax Wrap Directions
- Cut fabric into desired shapes and sizes. (I flipped my largest sized plate over and cut 1″ wider around them, then cut around my smaller sized plate, and also cut out a few to fit on my wide mouthed mason jars).
- Place the pine or copal resin in a double boiler or glass measuring cup and set in a saucepan. (Caution- when I made my batch, the copal resin I used ruined the glass measuring cup by sticking to the sides and hardening. I suggest using a dedicated dish or cup to make this recipe).
- Add water to saucepan until the mixture inside the double boiler or measuring cup is below waterline. Turn burn to medium-high heat.
- Preheat oven to 300° F.
- Make sure you have somewhere inside your home to hang up the wraps when you get them out of the oven. (For me, this meant stringing up some hemp string between my sliding glass door and window).
- Allow the resin to melt (it will still be quite thick), about 20 to 25 minutes- sometimes longer, mixing every 5 minutes with a popsicle stick. (Copal/pine resin takes a long time to melt. I found that covering my glass measuring cup with a small glass lid- to help trap the heat- really helped speed up the melting process).
- When the resin is melted, add the jojoba oil and beeswax and melt. Cover a large cookie sheet with a sheet of parchment paper larger than your biggest piece of fabric.
- Lay a fabric piece (or pieces, depending on size) flat on the parchment paper.
- Once your ingredients are thoroughly melted and mixed, brush the mixture lightly onto fabric. It might solidify, which is fine, as you’ll be able to redistribute later. It’s easy to over-saturate your fabric with the liquid, so remember that it’s easier to add more than take the excess away.
- Put the cookie sheet in oven for 2Â minutes, or until the fabric looks wet.
- Remove the cookie sheet from the oven and look for any dry spots. Brush mixture over these uncovered areas, applying more liquid as needed.
- Place the next wrap(s) you are going to make on top of the finished fabric to soak up any excess coating mixture. Work quickly, as you don’t want the wax to begin to solidify.
- Once you’ve pressed any excess onto the new cloth, peel apart and hang your completed wrap(s) to dry. Drying only takes a few minutes.
- Repeat steps with additional pieces of fabric until you are out of fabric and/or coating mixture.
You can easily double or triple this recipe, but please note that copal/pine resin should be added in slowly and melted, rather than trying to melt a large amount all at one time (I learned this lesson the hard way!). If you do double or triple your recipe and have left over liquid, pour the liquid in cupcake liners, let harden, and save it for later!
How to Clean and Store Easy DIY Beeswax Wrap
Cleaning
To clean the beeswax wrap, rinse under cool water. Wipe with cool, damp cloth. Let dry thoroughly.
Storing
Once clean and dry, I fold my large wraps into smaller squares and stack them. Then, I store them in a drawer in my kitchen.
See, there really isn’t anything too hard about this process.
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Happy Homesteading! (:
P.S. have any thoughts or questions? Tell me all the things in the comments! Also, contact us if you’d like to collab!
