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How to make your own food wrap

How to make your own food wrap

Take a step towards being more environmentally conscious when it comes to packaging or storing food by making your own food wrap! Whether you want to wrap-up leftovers or packed lunches, beeswax wraps are a planet-friendly alternative to cling film.

Beeswax food wraps are simple to make, last a long time and you can customise them to your liking so they look great too!

What you will need

  • Cotton fabric
  • Pinking shears or scissors
  • Baking tray
  • Baking parchment
  • Cosmetic grade beeswax pellets (available from health food stores or online)
  • Pastry or paint brush
  • A pen
  • Washing line and pegs
Preheat the oven to 90°C and cut the fabric to the size food wrap you'd like to make

Using pinking shears will minimise fraying but scissors will do the job too!

Place your fabric on a baking tray lined with baking parchment

If the fabric you’ve chosen is one-sided, remember to place the patterned side facedown.

Sprinkle beeswax pellets evenly across the fabric. You want the wax to cover the fabric when melted but without any excess
Beeswax pellets on wraps

If in doubt, try a little and then if there are any gaps after step 4 (below) you can add more and repeat. 

Put the sheet in the oven for 5-10 minutes

IMPORTANT - Keep watching the fabric all the time it is in the oven as it is a fire risk!

When the pellets have melted completely, use oven gloves to remove the tray from the oven and spread the beeswax evenly over the whole fabric with a paint brush or pastry brush

You’ll have to be quick to spread the wax before it cools, but don’t worry, you can always repeat step 4 if it sets before you’ve finished.

Time to dry! Remove the fabric from the baking sheet using tongs, hang it up to dry over newspaper to catch any drips

Your home-made food wrap is ready to use once the beeswax has set and isn’t tacky.

Caring for your beeswax food wraps

Your food wraps can last up to a year or more if treated nicely and looked after. It’s recommended that you give them a refresh every 3 months or so by popping back in the oven on a baking parchment covered tray, but it depends on how often you use them. To clean, simply splash a little washing up liquid and gently wash with cold water. Avoid contact with heat such as hot water, microwaves or ovens – you don’t want to melt the beeswax! Not suitable for use with raw meats.

Enjoy!

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